The Irish migration to North America had convoluted causes. The times described in the paper were times of uneasiness in Ireland with the religious persecution and active British conquest, which sometimes led even to crop failures. Those issues forced many Irish to seek a better life elsewhere. Like their English and Scottish neighbours, they participated in the “race for the American colonies” in the early seventeenth century. Political and other prisoners were sent to America without their consent and transported to New England, Virginia, Barbados, and different places. The circumstances forced some ordinary Irish who chose to change their lives to volunteer to become indentured servants for long periods as payment for conveyance, food, and shelter.
Irish people, though not as deprived of rights as the enslaved Africans, also endured much suffering and fought slavery to the best of their ability. The famous Irish abolitionist Daniel O’Connell came to America much later: “and here I find slavery, which they not only tolerate but extend, justified and defended as a legacy left them by us” (1860). His rejection of slavery is evident in his every statement. His public activity, speeches, and contributions to the abolition are quite remarkable.
Both the times of slavery and its abolition had lasting consequences for American society. It is one of the most severe blows to the ideology of freedom, which was proclaimed primarily as independence from Europe, yet somehow allowed one person to be the property of another. O’Connell wrote: “dare not to stand up boasting of your freedom or your privileges, while you continue to treat men, redeemed by the same blood, as the mere creatures of your will” (1860). African Americans still sometimes face echoes of times that were very hard for their ancestors in the form of contemporary racism. The abolition of slavery was the most crucial step toward a truly free society.
In modern times there is ample evidence of the negative impact of slavery on young American society at the time. It is one of the most influential problems in American and world history. Among many others, Daniel O’Connell spoke out against subservience in all its manifestations in many countries. He collected and recorded the testimonies of the Irish aimed at the same goal (1860). After all, slavery was banned in the United States in 1865, but this social activist never knew it – what he fought for happened almost twenty years after his demise.
Reference
O’Connell, D. (1860). Daniel O’Connell upon American slavery: With other Irish testimonies. American Anti-Slavery Society.