Westward Cork Migration by Sail 1815-1860 by John Sutton

PART II EMIGRANT PERSPECTIVE

1831, Irish literacy, as judged by Census reading and writing skill reports, was relatively high by European standards, perhaps facilitating the dispersion of news arriving from America. So how did Ireland, with a population of 6.8 million in 1821, view the two vast transatlantic lands with two separate political realms ? British North America (BNA) to the north with a population of just 450,000 in 1820, and the United States of America (US) to the south with a population of 9.6 million (including 1.5 million slaves) and a frontier expanding westward over the Appalachians, and beyond the confines of the original thirteen American colonies. The remainder of Part ll seeks the answer to that question and provides an emigrant perspective covering five topics, each with two chapters : 1. Evolving Changes in North America up to 1820: BNA and US - Chapters 1A and 1B 2. Subsequent Developments in North America 1820-46 and 1846-60 - Chapters 2A and 2B 3. Irish Emigrants Arriving at BNA and US Ports - Chapters 3A & 3B 4. Irish Emigrant Dispersal beyond BNA and US Ports - Chapters 4A and 4B 5. The Aftermath in BNA and the USA - Chapters 5A and 5B. ****************************** CHAPTER 1A EVOLVING CHANGES IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA UP TO 1820 TERRITORY OF BNA. Britain took possession of the French colony of Canada by treaty in 1763 and retained Cape Breton Island which, after British capture of the French Fortress of Louisbourg in 1758, was then joined to Nova Scotia. The Maritime Colonies and Newfoundland remained in the British fold, and the French were permitted fishing rights off the west coast of Newfoundland. The border with US neighbors to the south was less well defined until the conclusion of the Revolutionary War in 1783 and the War of 1812 in 1814. HISTORY 1763. The Treaty of Paris (first). This Treaty marked the end of the 1756-63 Seven Years War, which ran concurrently with the 1754-63 French and Indian War and the 1762-63 Anglo- Spanish War, resulting in France ceding the French Colony of Canada to Great Britain - renamed the Province of Quebec. Britain followed with the Royal Proclamation Act of 1863 , which forbade settlements west of the Appalachians, in order to mitigate conflict with the Native Indian population. However, despite this proclamation, westerly migration continued. George Groghan, Deputy Indian Agent, wrote on May 24, 1766, from Fort Pitt: “As soon as peace was made last year (by Colonel Bouquet) contrary to our engagements to them (the Indians) a number of our people came over the Great Mountain and settled in Redstone Creek, and upon the Monongahela, before they (the Indians) had given their country to the King, their father”. (Albig, 1919, 115-116) Also, a letter written from Winchester, Virginia, under the date of April 30, 1765, stated: “The frontier inhabitants of this colony and Maryland are removing fast over the Alleghany Mountains in order to settle and live there”. (ibid) 1774. The Quebec Act. This Act extended the Province of Quebec west to lands surrounding the Great Lakes, in part to placate the newly arrived British subjects. The Act also provided Catholics with religious

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