History of the United States by Mary Ritter Beard;Charles A. Beard
page 26 of 800 (03%)
page 26 of 800 (03%)
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sections.
=Other Nationalities.=--Though the English, the Scotch-Irish, and the Germans made up the bulk of the colonial population, there were other racial strains as well, varying in numerical importance but contributing their share to colonial life. From France came the Huguenots fleeing from the decree of the king which inflicted terrible penalties upon Protestants. From "Old Ireland" came thousands of native Irish, Celtic in race and Catholic in religion. Like their Scotch-Irish neighbors to the north, they revered neither the government nor the church of England imposed upon them by the sword. How many came we do not know, but shipping records of the colonial period show that boatload after boatload left the southern and eastern shores of Ireland for the New World. Undoubtedly thousands of their passengers were Irish of the native stock. This surmise is well sustained by the constant appearance of Celtic names in the records of various colonies. [Illustration:_From an old print_ OLD DUTCH FORT AND ENGLISH CHURCH NEAR ALBANY] The Jews, then as ever engaged in their age-long battle for religious and economic toleration, found in the American colonies, not complete liberty, but certainly more freedom than they enjoyed in England, France, Spain, or Portugal. The English law did not actually recognize their right to live in any of the dominions, but owing to the easy-going habits of the Americans they were allowed to filter into the seaboard |
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