Smith has recorded that "Servants sailed from every port in
the British Isles, but by far the greater number came from
London, Bristol, Liverpool, Dublin and Cork, and, doubtless, it
was principally the merchants of Bristol, Whitehaven and
Liverpool which conducted trade with Ireland."(27) Emmet
clarifies Smith's statement in detail by asserting: "the early
and continued emigration of the Irish to this country during the
17th century has been lost sight of in consequence of this change
to English surnames and from the fact that no vessel was
knowingly allowed to sail from Ireland direct, but by law was
obliged first to visit an English port before clearance papers
could be obtained. Consequently, every Irish emigrant (slave,
servant, etc..) crossing in an Irish or English vessel from
either England or Ireland, appeared in the official records as
English, for the voyage did not begin according to law until the
ship cleared from an English port, and all passengers on arrival
in this country (American Colonies) were rated as English."(2
It is also of importance to be aware of the fact, as Dunn
confirmed, that most population lists for Barbados, Jamaica and
the Leeward Islands concern only parish registers of the Church
of England, all other people were essentially ignored in the head
count."(29)
The English government variously referred to Irish to be
transported as rogues, vagabonds, rebels, neutrals, felons,
military prisoners, teachers, priests, maidens etc. All
historians call them servants, bondsman, indentured servants,
slaves, etc., and agree that they were all political victims. The
plain facts are that most were treated as slaves. After their
land was confiscated by England, which drove them from their
ancestral homes to forage for roots like animals, they were
kidnapped, rounded up and driven like cattle to waiting ships and
transported to English colonies in America, never to see their
country again. They were the victims of what many called the
immense "Irish Slave Trade."
All writers on the 17th century American colonies are in
agreement that the treatment of white servants or white slaves in
English colonies was cruel to the extreme, worse than that of
black slaves; that inhuman treatment was the norm, that torture
(and branding FT, fugitive traitor, on the forehead) was the
punishment for attempted escape. Dunn stated: "Servants were
punished by whipping, strung up by the hands and matches lighted
between their fingers, beaten over the head until blood ran,"
--all this on the slightest provocation.(30) Ligon, an eyewitness
in Barbados from 1647-1650 said, "Truly, I have seen cruelty
there done to servants as I did not think one Christian could
have done to another."(31)
It is a matter of great importance to realize that most of
the white slaves, servants and small farmers abandoned the West
Indies for the mainland colonies in America. Dunn reports:
"Between 1678 and 1713, Leeward sugar planters became more rich
and powerful and controlled all local councils and assemblies so
white servants and small farmers abandoned the Leeward
Islands."(32) Craven said that between 1643 and 1667, about
12,000 left Barbados for other plantations(33) and Dunn said the
white population of the Leeward Islands was reduced by 30 percent
between 1678 and 1708.(34) According to Craven, in Colonies in
Transition, prior to the 1680's, the hopes which sustained the
Carolina venture continued to depend chiefly upon the migration
of settlers from the older colonies, especially from the West
Indies.(35) Smith asserted that after 1670, the emigration of
whites from the smaller islands at least equalled the
immigration.(36) Condon declared: "In [the] course of time many
of those who had been transported to the West Indies in this
manner found their way to the colonies on the continent, in
search of greater freedom and a more healthful climate."(37)
All writers on the 17th century history agree that between
one-half and two thirds of white immigrants in the British West
Indies and mainland America were servants, most of them severely
mistreated. Most all Irish immigrants were 'servants.' Irish were
almost exclusively Catholic (at least they were when they left
Ireland) and most were of ancient Irish families even though they
appeared in English records as English, if recorded at all.
After 20,000 Puritans arrived in the American colonies from
1630-1640, migration of English colonists all but subsided. Some
writers say after 1640 only a trickle of English colonists
arrived. In 1632, many Irish were on Antigua. In 1637, 69 percent
of whites on Montserrat were Irish. In 1650, 25,000 Irish were on
St. Kitt's and Nevis and some were on other Leeward islands. In
1652, prior to the wholesale transportation of Irish, most of 12
thousand political prisoners on Barbados were Irish.
From 1651 to 1660, between 80,000 to 130,000 Irish were
transported. From 1660-1700, there was a large steady flow of
Irish immigrants. Most whites, especially servants, slaves and
small farmers went to the American mainland for more freedom, a
healthier climate and economic betterment.
There are no verifiable records on the white population of
all the American colonies in the 17th century. Some estimates
include blacks, some do not. Some list only members of the Church
of England. Estimates are made for Barbados for a certain year
while estimates are made for the Leeward Islands for other years.
The same applies to Jamaica and the mainland colonies. One
estimate for the mainland colonies, white and black included, was
given at 204,000 in 1689.
In the absence of reliable records, I believe it is necessary
to take the following into very serious consideration: migration
trends, prolificness of people of varying national origin, laws in
effect in the country from which people migrated; the prevailing
conditions in the country undergoing emigration; the amount of
control the emigrating people had over their own destiny; and the
fact that all American colonies both mainland and the West Indies
were very intertwined,
Well over one-half of white immigrants to the
West Indies during the 17th century were Irish Catholic servants,
most who, in the course of time, abandoned the West Indies for
the mainland American colonies.
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*This article comes from the newsletter of the:
Political Education Committee (PEC)
American Ireland Education Foundation
54 South Liberty Drive, Suite 401
Stony Point NY 10980
1-914-947-2726
