Historian’s Forum: Ulster Scots Migrations in Early America

For generations, the Ulster Scots were a people on the move. From their home in the Scottish Lowlands, these Presbyterians ventured first to Ulster, and then across the Atlantic, where they carved out lives in Britain’s North American colonies, including what became the state of Maine. By the American Revolution, 200,000 Ulster Scots had crossed the sea. In North America, the Ulster Scots had a profound influence in shaping the culture and politics of the British colonies and their borderlands. Their story is one of rich contrasts. This special Historian’s Forum features a conversation with two eminent historians of the Ulster Scots experience in Early America. Host Ian Saxine (MHS Coordinator, Historian’s Forum) speaks with Patrick Griffin (University of Notre Dame) and T.H. Breen (University of Vermont) about the Ulster Scots migrations, with a particular focus on what brought them to Maine and New England, and what their experiences can tell us about religion, community, war, empire, and globalization in the colonial era.