James Smith - The First American Rebel

Colonel James Smith (1737 -1813)

Eight years before the Boston Tea Party and ten years before Lexington and Concord, many believe the first shots in the American Revolution were fired in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1765. Known as the Smith Rebellion or the Black Boy's Rebellion, this crucial turning point in American history set the stage for modern American politics.

The Smith family were Scots-Irish Presbyterians and originally from the Isle of Skye in Scotland.  They moved to the north of Ireland and a few generations later emigrated to Pennsylvania from southern Ulster around 1720.  James Smith’s family were early settlers in Chester County, Pennsylvania. In 1755, during the French & Indian War, 18 year old James was hired to help cut a wagon road from Fort Loudon, Pennsylvania to join with the British General Braddock’s Road to Fort Duquesne (later Fort Pitt).  He was attacked and made captive by a war party of Indians, forced to run the brutal Indian gauntlet, given a complete physical transformation and adopted by the Caughnawaga Mohawk tribe.  He lived with them as an Indian for the next five years.  He learned their language as well as other Indian languages, acquired their skills of hunting, fishing and survival.  He read his Bible and kept a journal.  The detailed account he published in 1799 is one of amazing adaptability to and understanding of the ways of the Indian. He escaped near Detroit and walked back to his home in Franklin County, PA.

By 1765 this western part of Pennsylvania was often under attack by Indians. The Scots-Irish whom took the brunt on the frontier became aware that illegal trade goods, such as tomahawks, scalping knives, and gun powder, were being transported to Fort Pitt by a British official to rearm the Indians. James Smith's community believed they had a right to stop it.

Smith during the Black Boys Rebellion

Pocket guide issued to US troops in Northern Ireland during WWII

During WWII over 120,000 American troops were stationed in Northern Ireland, with over 300,000 passing through during the course of the war. During these years one in every ten people in NI was an American serviceman!
Every US soldier was issued with a pocket guidebook explaining the people, culture & history of Northern Ireland., and how a G.I. should conduct himself when interacting with locals. You can read this fascinating guidebook below.....

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A POCKET GUIDE TO NORTHERN IRELAND

prepared by

SPECIAL SERVICE DIVISION, SERVICES OF SUPPLY UNITED STATES ARMY

WASHINGTON, D. C.

CONTENTS

• There Are Two Irelands
• The Country
• Government
• Eire Border Problems
• The People—Their Customs and Manners .
• About Arguments
• Difference in Language
• The Girls
• Ulster at War
• Pay-Day Blues
• Conclusion
• Money, Weights, and Measures

THERE ARE TWO IRELANDS

John Dunlop, the printer of our Declaration of 
Independence was born in that little town of Strabane

YOU are going away from home on an important mission—to meet Hitler and beat him on his own ground. For the time being you will be the guest of Northern Ireland. The purpose of this guide is to get you acquainted with the Irish, their country, and their ways.
You will start out with good prospects. The Irish like Americans. Virtually every Irishman has’ friends or rela­tives in the United States; he is predisposed in your favor and anxious to hear what you have to say. This, however, puts you under a definite obligation: you will be expected to live up to the Irishman’s high opinion of Americans. That’s a real responsibility.
The people of Northern Ireland are not only friends, but Allies. They are fighting by the side of England, the United States, the rest of the United Nations. Thousands of Irishmen are hefting steel in the hot spots of the war, doing their share and more. It is common decency to treat your friends well; it is a military necessity to treat your allies well.

Every American thinks he knows something about Ire­land. But which Ireland? There are two Irelands. The shamrock, St. Patrick’s Day, the wearing of the green— these belong to Southern Ireland, now called Eire (Air-a). Eire is neutral in the war. Northern Ireland treasures its governmental union with England above all things. There are historic reasons for these attitudes.
Ireland has sent many gifted and valuable citizens to the United States. Irishmen from North and South, Prot­estant and Catholic, began to emigrate to America in early colonial days. Nine generals in the American Revolution were of Irish birth. Four signers of the Declaration of Independence were born in Ireland and four were of Irish descent. Fourteen Presidents of the United States have carried the blood of Ireland in their veins.
There are many of you soldiers who are of Irish descent. Some of you, Protestants or Catholics, may know at first hand or second hand about the religious and political differences between Northern and Southern Ireland. Per­haps they seem foolish to you. We Americans don’t worry about which side our grandfathers fought on in the Civil War, because it doesn’t matter now. But these things still matter in Ireland and it is only sensible to be forewarned.
There are two excellent rules of conduct for the Amer­ican abroad. They are good rules anywhere but they are particularly important in Ireland:

(1) Don’t argue religion.
(2) Don’t argue politics.

AUDIO: Ulster-Scots in the American colonies in first half of the 18th century.

Conceived in Liberty Vol. II

Conceived in Liberty, authored by Murray Rothbard, is a 4-volume narrative concerning the history of the United States from the pre-colonial period through the American Revolution. The volumes, released in the 1970's are beloved by specialists and respected by historians.

The 12 minute audio excerpt presented below is from Volume II, Chapter 10: "The Ulster Scots". Volume II - "Salutary Neglect" covers the American colonies in the first half of the 18th century. 
Chapter 10 details the arrival & settlement of the Scots-Irish in Pennsylvania, as well as the reception they received from the Puritans in an earlier settlement in New England.

10. The Ulster Scots. Conceived in Liberty: Vol. II - "Salutary Neglect": The American Colonies in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century.

An early 18th century Ulster-Scots homestead.

"We're nothing like THOSE Kennedys!" - Book review of 'The Other Irish'

From the Huffington Post...

Book review of 'The Other Irish' by Karen McCarthey.
by: Court Stroud

Click to buy at Amazon

"We're nothing like those Kennedys. They're Catholic!" my petite, schoolmarm grandmother chided through pursed lips. Her terse reply startled me since Kennedy was her maiden name. I never mentioned the matter again, but often wondered why my query upset her so much.

Ulster born fathers of US Presidents

Before Barack Obama became President of the United States of America, only three previous U.S. Presidents had fathers that were born outside of the United States... 

All three of those "First Fathers" were born in Ulster! 

No other US Presidents could claim closer connections to their ancestral homeland.


Those three Presidents were:

Andrew Jackson. His father was born in Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim

James Buchanan. His father was born in Ramelton, Co. Donegal

Chester Alan Arthur. His father was born in Cullybackey, Co. Antrim

At least 17 US Presidents have Ulster-Scots ancestry.