Scottish Immigration to America

 

Scottish Immigration to America - A Different Story

Why Scottish Immigration Often Gets Overlooked

The Confusion Factor:

  • Often lumped with "Scots-Irish" (Ulster Scots)
  • Sometimes counted as "British" in records
  • Smaller numbers than Irish or Germans
  • More dispersed = less visible
  • Better integrated = less distinct

Three Different Groups:

  1. Lowland Scots - Protestant, English-speaking
  2. Highland Scots - Gaelic-speaking, clan culture
  3. Ulster Scots/Scots-Irish - Scots who settled Ireland first (covered earlier)

The Numbers - Scottish Immigration

Colonial Era (1600s-1770s):

  • ~150,000-200,000 Scots arrived
  • Mix of Lowland and Highland
  • Many Highlanders after failed Jacobite rebellions
  • Forcibly transported prisoners
  • Indentured servants
  • Some wealthy landowners

Post-Revolution (1783-1820):

  • ~15,000-20,000 Scots
  • Smaller trickle
  • Economic migrants
  • Skilled tradesmen

Peak Scottish Immigration (1820s-1920s):

  • 1820s: ~3,000
  • 1830s: ~3,000
  • 1840s: ~3,000
  • 1850s: ~38,000 (starting to grow)
  • 1860s: ~38,000
  • 1870s: ~87,000 (big jump)
  • 1880s: ~149,000 (peak decade)
  • 1890s: ~44,000
  • 1900s: ~120,000
  • 1910s: ~78,000

Total Scottish-born in America:

  • 1850: ~71,000
  • 1880: ~170,000
  • 1920: ~254,000 (peak)

 

Compare to Irish Immigration

The Contrast:

  • Irish 1850s: 914,000 arrived
  • Scots 1850s: 38,000 arrived
  • Irish were 24x more numerous

Why Such Different Numbers?

  • Scotland never had a famine catastrophe
  • Scottish economy more diversified
  • Industrial jobs available at home
  • Better integrated into British Empire
  • More opportunities within Britain
  • Emigration not desperate survival

 

Who Were the Scottish Immigrants?

Highland Clearances Era (1750s-1860s):

  • Landowners evicted tenant farmers
  • Replaced people with sheep
  • Forced Gaelic-speaking Highlanders out
  • Many went to Canada (Nova Scotia = "New Scotland")
  • Some came to America
  • Traumatic but not starvation-level

Industrial Era Scots (1870s-1920s):

  • Skilled workers from Glasgow, Edinburgh
  • Engineers, mechanics, shipbuilders
  • Textile workers
  • Miners (coal experience)
  • Stonemasons, ironworkers
  • Professional class

Key Difference from Irish:

  • Scots came WITH skills and some capital
  • Irish came with nothing, desperate
  • Scots = economic migrants
  • Irish = refugees

Where Scots Settled in America

Colonial Period:

  • North Carolina - largest Highland settlement
  • Cape Fear Valley
  • Named places like Fayetteville (after Scottish town)
  • Upstate New York
  • Virginia
  • Georgia (Darien settlement)

19th Century:

  • New York City - skilled workers, professionals
  • Pennsylvania - coal mining, steel
  • Michigan - Detroit auto industry
  • Illinois - Chicago industry
  • California - Gold Rush era
  • Wisconsin, Minnesota - farming

Scottish Pattern:

  • More dispersed than Irish
  • Not concentrated in ethnic neighborhoods
  • Blended into mainstream faster
  • Less visible as distinct group

Scottish Occupations in America

What Made Scots Different:

  • Arrived with industrial skills
  • Higher literacy rates than Irish
  • Engineering expertise
  • Business experience
  • Professional education

Common Scottish Jobs:

Skilled Trades:

  • Engineers (mechanical, civil)
  • Machinists
  • Shipbuilders
  • Stonemasons
  • Carpenters (fine work)
  • Blacksmiths
  • Pattern makers

Industrial Positions:

  • Factory supervisors/foremen
  • Mill managers
  • Mining engineers
  • Railroad engineers
  • Textile mill operators

Professional Class:

  • Teachers and professors
  • Doctors and surgeons
  • Architects
  • Accountants
  • Businessmen and merchants
  • Bankers

Agriculture:

  • Farm owners (not laborers)
  • Livestock breeders
  • Dairy farmers

Scottish vs. Irish Experience

Category Scottish Irish
Numbers Moderate (150K-200K peak) Massive (1.5M+ in decade)
Timing Steady over centuries Explosive 1845-1855
Reason Economic opportunity Survival/starvation
Skills Skilled trades, educated Unskilled laborers
Capital Some resources Destitute
Religion Presbyterian (Protestant) Catholic
Language English (or Scots) English but heavy accent
Reception Generally accepted Heavily discriminated
Settlement Dispersed, integrated Urban ghettos, concentrated
Jobs Supervisors, skilled work Ditch diggers, servants
Social mobility Immediate middle class 2-3 generations to middle class
Discrimination Minimal Severe ("No Irish")

Why Scots Had It Easier

Protestant Factor:

  • Presbyterian church = respected
  • No Catholic prejudice
  • Fit into Anglo-Protestant America
  • Shared religious culture with dominant group

Education & Skills:

  • Scotland had strong education system
  • Literacy rates high
  • Industrial revolution experience
  • Valuable to American economy

"Whiteness" Factor:

  • Considered "white" immediately
  • Part of British cultural sphere
  • Anglo-Saxon appearance
  • No racial theories against them

Cultural Prestige:

  • Enlightenment thinkers (Adam Smith, David Hume)
  • Engineering prowess respected
  • Presbyterian work ethic valued
  • "Thrifty Scot" = positive stereotype

Scottish Contributions to America

Founding Era:

  • John Witherspoon (signed Declaration)
  • James Wilson (Constitution signer)
  • Alexander Hamilton (Scottish-Caribbean ancestry)

Industry & Innovation:

  • Andrew Carnegie (steel magnate)
  • Alexander Graham Bell (telephone)
  • John Muir (conservation)
  • Thomas Edison's mother (Scottish)
  • Railroad building (many engineers)

Education:

  • Founded universities
  • Presbyterian colleges
  • Emphasis on public education

Business:

  • Banking (many Scottish bankers)
  • Insurance companies
  • Trading firms
  • Industrial enterprises

Scottish Presence in Cleveland

Much Smaller Than Irish:

  • Maybe 5-10% the size of Irish community
  • More middle-class from start
  • Less concentrated geographically

Scottish Clevelanders:

  • Engineers in factories
  • Skilled tradesmen
  • Small business owners
  • Presbyterian church members
  • Blended into "white" mainstream quickly

No "Scottish neighborhood" like Irish had:

  • Too few to cluster
  • Too integrated to need ethnic enclave
  • Homeowners in mixed areas
  • Not poor enough for slums

The "Invisible" Immigrant

Why Scots Don't Feature in Immigration History:

  • Numbers too small for political machines
  • No dramatic crisis story (no famine)
  • Integrated quickly = lost distinct identity
  • Protestant = no religious conflict
  • Skilled = no poverty narrative
  • "British" cultural overlap

By Second Generation:

  • Scottish kids spoke standard American English
  • Intermarried with other Protestants
  • Moved to suburbs
  • No ethnic markers remained
  • Became just "white Americans"

Compare to Irish:

  • Took 3-4 generations
  • Catholic identity persisted
  • Ethnic neighborhoods lasted century
  • Political machines kept identity alive
  • "Irish-American" still meaningful identity today

Highland Scots - The Exception

More Similar to Irish Experience:

  • Gaelic speakers (language barrier)
  • Clan culture (tight-knit communities)
  • Evicted from land (Highland Clearances)
  • Poorer, less skilled
  • Cape Fear Valley, NC maintained distinct identity longer

But Still Different:

  • Protestant (Presbyterian)
  • No mass starvation
  • Smaller numbers
  • More rural settlements
  • Eventually assimilated

Scottish Immigration After 1920

Sharp Decline:

  • 1920s quotas favored them but few came
  • Scotland industrialized, jobs at home
  • Welfare state developing in Britain
  • Empire opportunities (Canada, Australia, New Zealand)
  • America less attractive

Today:

  • ~5-6 million Americans claim Scottish ancestry
  • Compare to 30+ million Irish-American
  • Mostly symbolic identity (clan gatherings, tartan)
  • No distinct Scottish-American communities
  • Cultural heritage tourism

The Bottom Line

Scottish Immigration Pattern:

  • Steady trickle, not flood
  • Skilled and educated
  • Protestant and "acceptable"
  • Quick assimilation
  • Middle-class trajectory immediate
  • Invisible within 1-2 generations

Irish Immigration Pattern:

  • Catastrophic flood
  • Desperate and unskilled
  • Catholic and "threatening"
  • Slow, painful integration
  • Working-class to middle-class took generations
  • Distinct identity persisted century+

In Cleveland specifically:

  • Scottish presence = minor, middle-class, invisible
  • Irish presence = major, working-class, dominant
  • Scots became "Americans"
  • Irish stayed "Irish-Americans"

The Scots came to America and succeeded quietly. The Irish came to America and changed it loudly. That's why we talk about Irish immigration history and barely mention the Scottish.

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