Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America

Book Description

More than 27 million Americans today can trace their lineage to the Scots, whose bloodline was stained by centuries of continuous warfare along the border between England and Scotland, and later in the bitter settlements of England’s Ulster Plantation in Northern Ireland. Between 250,000 and 400,000 Scots-Irish migrated to America in the eighteenth century, traveling in groups of families and bringing with them not only long experience as rebels and outcasts but also unparalleled skills as frontiersmen and guerrilla fighters. Their cultural identity reflected acute individualism, dislike of aristocracy and a military tradition, and, over time, the Scots-Irish defined the attitudes and values of the military, of working class America, and even of the peculiarly populist form of American democracy itself.

Born Fighting is the first book to chronicle the full journey of this remarkable cultural group, and the profound, but unrecognized, role it has played in the shaping of America. Written with the storytelling verve that has earned his works such acclaim as “captivating . . . unforgettable” (the Wall Street Journal on Lost Soliders), Scots-Irishman James Webb, Vietnam combat veteran and former Naval Secretary, traces the history of his people, beginning nearly two thousand years ago at Hadrian’s Wall, when the nation of Scotland was formed north of the Wall through armed conflict in contrast to England’s formation to the south through commerce and trade. Webb recounts the Scots’ odyssey—their clashes with the English in Scotland and then in Ulster, their retreat from one war-ravaged land to another. Through engrossing chronicles of the challenges the Scots-Irish faced, Webb vividly portrays how they developed the qualities that helped settle the American frontier and define the American character.

Born Fighting shows that the Scots-Irish were 40 percent of the Revolutionary War army; they included the pioneers Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston; they were the writers Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain; and they have given America numerous great military leaders, including Stonewall Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Audie Murphy, and George S. Patton, as well as most of the soldiers of the Confederacy (only 5 percent of whom owned slaves, and who fought against what they viewed as an invading army). It illustrates how the Scots-Irish redefined American politics, creating the populist movement and giving the country a dozen presidents, including Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. And it explores how the Scots-Irish culture of isolation, hard luck, stubbornness, and mistrust of the nation’s elite formed and still dominates blue-collar America, the military services, the Bible Belt, and country music.

Both a distinguished work of cultural history and a human drama that speaks straight to the heart of contemporary America, Born Fighting reintroduces America to its most powerful, patriotic, and individualistic cultural group—one too often ignored or taken for granted.

Customer Reviews:

Never bend a knee to Rome........2007-09-29

This was a well written and thought provoking book. I can see how some of the ideas put forward can be misconstrued do to the nature of the subjects but find myself agreeing with most of them. Mr. Webb has shed light on some very interesting topics. I am not a Scots-Irish historian so I enjoyed the history that this book offered. In the end this book has done a good service to one of the immigrant groups that built and fought for this great nation.

SuperTerrificWonderful.......2007-08-10

Webb does a phenomenal job weaving the various economic, political, and religious threads together to create a vivid tapestry depicting the origin and impact of the Scots-Irish. Well-written and riveting. My only criticism is that the author never acknowledged my request to have him autograph my copy (I even offered to deliver it to his office in D.C.!).

Enjoyable Reading.......2007-05-13

This is a book that you savour by slow reading. It is enjoyable histore particularly for a Scot or Irish man.

How the Rednecks Saved the World!.......2007-03-28

If James Webb's "Born Fighting" gets the reception it deserves, it will go a long way in exposing the first and apparently last socially acceptable prejudice in America: that against the working class southerner. Webb's book explodes the stereotypes attached to this people, demonstrating a depth of cultural character running much deeper than the traditional portrayals of them as stubbornly ignorant, lazy, beer guzzlers living in trailer parks.

Webb recounts the fascinating history of the Scots-Irish, beginning with the Scottish resistance to the Roman Empire itself, moving on to William Wallace and Robert the Bruce and the Scottish was for independence from the new Rome of England. He gives us the high drama of the creation of the distinctively Scots-Irish character when the English crown settled the first Scots in Ireland. With the Scots-Irish as their vanguard, the English were able to hold Ireland against other European powers (and, unfortunately, against the Irish themselves). England thanked the Scots-Irish by outlawing their Presbyterian religion in much the same way they had done the Catholicism of the Irish several years before. And so the Scots-Irish packed their bags and headed to America.

We should gain a newfound respect for these people from Webb's recouting of how they opened the American frontier, acting as a collective picket line against Indian attacks on the more settled English colonists in the coastal areas, and the important and unexpected roles they played in the southern Revolutionary War in the battles of King's Mountain and Cowpens.

Unfortunately, after the Revolutionary War, Webb's book loses a bit of its steam. Much of the drama and portraits of singular individuals we get in the earlier chapters gives way to talk of general social trends. Webb is still informative. Without for a moment excusing slavery or prejudice, Webb gives us an unexpected and perhaps uncomfortable view of just what problems the south had with the north, and how the southern working class was systematically oppressed by southern large land owners and northern merchants and industrial barons. Webb gives us surprising statistics on how much of our armed forces in the World Wars and Viet Nam were supplied by the Scots-Irish. And he reminds us that the closest thing we have to a national muscial genre -- country western -- is basically Scots-Irish music. Neverthess, the most interesting parts of "How the Scots-Irish Shaped America" end with America only on the verge of becoming a nation.

There are a few other problems too. While the old line WASP establishment and the new PC media establishment have both unjustifiably despised the Scots-Irish, Webb celebrates aspects of their character that have made them their own worst enemies time and again -- their "sensuality", their constant competitiveness in all athletics and all things physical, their hard drinking. The fact is that that sensuality has broken many hearts and busted many lives, the athleticism has led to alot of children to waste time and energy they could have spent on bettering their situation in life, and the drinking ... well, that speaks for itself. Also, the later chapters are chock full of stories from Webb's own ancestry. Fascintating characters in their own right to be sure, but the number of these stories comes close to making the second half of the book more of a James Webb memoir and less of a work on how an entire people shaped an entire nation. And toward the end of the book, Webb gets on a bit of a political rant that, though I agree with in many points, makes this book sound like the first step in his campaign for the Virginia Senate seat.

So "Born Fighting" is probably seen better as a corrective to WASP and PC prejudice against the Scots-Irish than as the final word on who the Scots-Irish are and what they should be. And a corrective is certainly needed. After reading "Born Fighting", it occurred to me that no one, as far as I can tell, has ever written at length specifically on the Scots-Irish as a distinct people -- no one, either to champion them or to cast WASP/PC aspersions on them. And where the Scots-Irish have gained scholarly or media attention, it has often been from pseudointellectuals such as H.L. Mencken (at whom Webb directs a few broadsides) bent on showing them in the worst light possible. One manifestation of this prejudice is that "Born Fighting" is bound to -- indeed it actually has now been -- characterized as racist. Such accusations are utter nonsense. One of Webb's heroes, in fact, is his own grandfather who suffered tremendously under white southern landowners for alerting the African Americans of his community to the inequities they were suffering at the landowners' hands. But in the minds of many these days, being fair-minded just isn't enough to escape the racist epithet.

"Born Fighting" doesn't quite deserve to be the last word on America's Scots-Irish. But it seems to be close to the first word, and a well-spoken one at that, on a people who have perhaps shaped the American character more than any other.

Jim Webb.......2007-03-21

The newest senator from Virginia has outdone himself with this work. If you are the least interested in Irish or Scottish history, combined with history of the American South, this is the one book you must have. It explains so much of why we Southerners or how we are. You will find yourself buying copies of this book to give as gifts. Outstanding!

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Makes your heart and soul want to go to Ireland
Wonderful Irish Nora..wonderful stories...2nd REPRINT
IRISH BORN
My First Nora Roberts
Exceptional Irish Romance

Irish Born
Nora Roberts
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 0425195899
Release Date: 2003-11-04

Customer Reviews:

Makes your heart and soul want to go to Ireland.......2007-04-06

Of all the books I have read by Nora Roberts it is hard for me to say which one I enjoyed the most. But I must say that Irish Born is one that I will always remember.

Maggie is hard hearted due to the life she had as a child but the artist in her is all she lives for until she meets Rogan. The love she finds in him is not what she wants until he shows her what life will be like with someone whose love her and will always be there.

Brianna has a soft heart and tries to mother and take care of everyone in her family and the people who come to stay at her B & B. But then the American writer Grayson comes into her life and steals her heart then tells her this is not what he wants and turns and walks away.

Shannon is the sister that Maggie and Brianna knew nothing about until the letters are found. She goes to Ireland to meet her half sisters and finds that love has a way taking hold of your heart and soul even when you don't want it to. But Murphy is not going to give up.

You will also find yourself loathing the mother to the point you want to strangle her.

If you read this book I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Wonderful Irish Nora..wonderful stories...2nd REPRINT.......2007-03-30

These are three great stories, HOWEVER...if you have lots of Nora's already, double-check to make sure that you don't have these already since this is the SECOND time these have been issued as a trilogy. Makes you really wonder about the quality of this publisher's current crop of writers, doesn't it. The grade does not reflect the author or the stories, just the publisher's tacky audaciousness at reissuing these again.

IRISH BORN.......2007-03-27

I'm a Nora Roberts fan.This book is a triology (Born in Fire, Born in Ice and Born in Shame)of tree sister in Ireland. I loved all.

My First Nora Roberts.......2006-10-27

This was my first Nora Roberts, and was given to me by my sister while I was visiting her. I had finished the book I took with me and my sister gave me this book to read.

This is actually a single book containing the three stories in the Irish Born Trilogy (Born in Fire, Born in Ice, Born in Shame). The three stories flow together wonderfully, as do all of Nora Roberts' Trilogies. I couldn't put this book down. My other sister was trying to talk to me on our plane home and I kept telling her to shut up so I could read...I'm sure it annoyed her, but what the hey...it's a good book!

I love to read and read a lot. I would say this was my second favorite Nora Roberts Trilogy, following closely behind the Key Trilogy (Key of Light, Key of Knowledge, Key of Valor), but not far behind. If you're a fan or have never read Nora, but are interested in trying something new, I would certainly recommend this book.

Exceptional Irish Romance.......2006-07-30

My absolute favorite Irish romance. This book is actually three books in one. There are three sisters and each sister has her own story that overlaps into a wonderful and fantastic book. Born in Fire is about Margaret Mary (Maggie) Concannon and Rogan Sweeney. Rogan owns Worldwide Galleries and wants Maggie's astonishing glass creations in his gallery. He sets out to acquire her artistic talent and finds her fiery personality is not something he can forget. Born in Ice is about Brianna (Brie) Concannon and Grayson Thane. Brie runs the local B & B named Blackthorne Cottage. Gray is writing a mystery novel and needs the solitude of Blackthorne to help him finish it. Brie is kind and generous and Gray wants isolation while guarding his lonely past. He finds himself drawn into Brie's family life and realizes that he wants to part of that life too. Born in Shame is Shannon Bodine and Murphy Muldoon's story. Shannon finds out that Maggie and Brie are her half-sisters and comes to Ireland to reluctantly get to know them. Like Gray she is drawn into their family life and soon finds love has been waiting for her in Ireland all along. An extraordinary book by an extraordinary author. I was drawn into the story from the first page. Nora Roberts writes with such humor and description. When I closed my eyes I could picture Maggie's workshop, Blackthorne Cottage, Murphy's farm, O'Malley's pub and the countryside of the village of Kilmihil.

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Truth in fiction
Imagination and Accuracy
Not the Jesus of history
This book changed my life

The Man Born to Be King
Dorothy L. Sayers
Manufacturer: Ignatius Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0898703077

Customer Reviews:

Truth in fiction.......2007-10-04

This is by far the best dramatization of the life of Christ I have ever read. By far. It moved me to tears and reminded me of the true power of a story too often obscured by platitutes and time.

Imagination and Accuracy.......2001-12-14

I came to this play-cycle not knowing what to expect, as did almost all of Sayers' contemporaries. There was a political firestorm when the project was proposed. Clergymen of every stripe rose up to denounce it as un-Christian, distorted, dishonorable. Needless to say, they had not read the script or heard the audio plays, which aired on the BBC during World War Two.

These plays inspired ordinary dock-workers and High Church bishops alike to examine the Christian faith. People who never gave a second thought to some guy named Jesus were confronted with a living, throbbing reality in these plays.

Sayers did her work conscientiously, as in her translation of Dante, by not making any use of any terms which were theologically inaccurate but dramatically potent. That is, she was faithful to the letter and spirit of her original- the Gospel story of Jesus. These plays contained, at times, shocking insight- and at times, human warmth.

Just as Jesus is supposed to be the meeting of Godhood and manhood, these plays are where entertainment and theology, the natural and the supernatural meet. Miss that, and you'll miss the same thing which soon caused thousands of English to arrive late for church service because they were waiting to catch the last moments of these plays on the wireless.

I found that the dramas forced me to imagine the movements of characters and plot as on a stage, something more difficult to do with the Biblical text itself. That made these stories come alive for me, and refreshed and enriched my grasp of these stories, "old bones in new flesh".

Not the Jesus of history.......2001-07-26

In writing this book, I believe Sayers intended to make the Gospel stories of Jesus more accessible. She says she wanted to "tell that story to the best of my ability, within the medium at my disposal - in short to make as good of work of art as I could. "Although she sought to maintain a "determined historical realism", I was disappointed with the historical inaccuracies.

She sacrifices historical accuracy for the sake of art and the ease of story telling. For example, at one point her character says - "he was allowed to cry, 'My stirrup, Elazar" regardless of the much later date which stirrups were introduced into Palestine(p.19). Another example is found on page 90, where there is a conversation among supposedly Jewish people at the Wedding at Cana. One member says "But my mule cast a shoe, so I had to get a lift from Ezras". Only a very wealthy Jews could afford a mule, and they probably wouldn't own one because where not allowed to breed them, due to the mule's mixed parentage (Lev. 19:19). The first century Roman army was only just beginning to experiment with shoes their horses, and a mule would not have had shoes. It is a small point, but what artistic significance was contributed by this historical inaccuracy?

I was also bothered by her Anglo-centric idioms and assignment of various English accents to certain characters. I find her description of the Jewish Matthew, with stereotyping, offensive; "He is a vulgar little commercial ... as ever walked Whitechapel, and I should play him with a frank Cockney accent." She goes on to describe his "oily black hair and rapacious little hands . . . " What is the artistic contribution here?

Reality is better than artistic fluff, and much more inspiring, I find little in this book to interest me.

This book changed my life.......2000-06-18

After reading this play cycle, you'll never look at the Gospels in the same way again. Sayers writes in her introduction that she believed the story "should be handled, not liturgically or symbolically, but realistically and historically: 'this is a thing that actually happened.'" It is this matter-of-fact treatment of the story that makes her plays different from almost all the "Jesus movies" that we know today. We're confronted with the shattering truth that God actually came to earth, in a time very much like ours in many ways, and lived among us. We also have to face the fact that humanity -- for reasons of politics and personal pride -- rejected and killed God. So much for the theory that man is basically good! Yet as Sayers writes, "Short of damnation ... there can be no Christian tragedy," and she clearly shows how the love and hope offered by the risen Christ can save us from ourselves. I've been a Christian for many years, and I can still say that this book changed my life. If you have questions or doubts about Jesus of Nazareth, please give it a try.

The True-Born Englishman & Other Writings (Penguin Classics)

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The True-Born Englishman & Other Writings (Penguin Classics)
Daniel Defoe
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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The Complete English Tradesman (Dodo Press)
A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain : Abridged Edition (Penguin Classics) (Penguin Classics)
Daniel Defoe: Master of Fictions: His Life and Ideas
The Wanderer Or Female Difficulties

ASIN: 0140435727

Free-Born John: A Biography of John Lilburne

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Brilliant Bio of Paleo-libertarian Hero!

Free-Born John: A Biography of John Lilburne
Pauline Gregg
Manufacturer: Phoenix Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

"I neither love a slave nor fear a tyrant." Thus spoke John Lilburne, one of the 17th century's most vivid figures. Head of the Levellers, it was he, over 300 years ago, who spelled out to the English the true meaning of democracy. An agitator supreme, he stopped at nothing to further his cause--whether it meant attacking Cromwell or King Charles I, or "stage managing" his own trial for life as though it were a play. He had no equal. "...successfully conveys the nature of his personality as well as his ideas...authoritative and illuminating..."--C.V. Wedgwood, Daily Telegraph.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant Bio of Paleo-libertarian Hero!.......2002-11-18

John Lilburne, a brilliant pamphleteer and a passionately courageous political agitator, was the most prominent leader of the paleo-libertarian "Leveller" movement during the English Civil War of the seventeenth century.

Lilburne was tossed into prison both under the monarchy of Charles I and by the republican regime of Oliver Cromwell. Lilburne was a fervent defender of freedom of speech, of the press, and of religion. He was also an unyielding supporter of economic freedom and of the rights of private property.

Pauline Gregg, herself a democratic socialist, found it difficult to comprehend how Lilburne could be both a defender of civil liberties and a proponent of economic freedom, but she nonetheless accurately reports Lilburne's beliefs and libertarian philosophy. In a brief review, it is difficult to convey how vividly Gregg depicts the events Lilburne experienced and the courage and integrity which illuminated Lilburne's life.

Aside from his political commitments, Lilburne was also, from a mainstream twenty-first-century perspective, a religious fanatic: metaphorically speaking, he was "drunk on God." In terms of understanding the history of natural-rights/libertarian philosophy, this is a crucial fact: historically speaking, the Lockean libertarian philosophy of the American founding was born among passionate evangelical Christians, such as John Lilburne, in seventeenth-century Britain.

That historical fact is an embarrassment to modern mainstream libertarians. The mainstream modern libertarian movement, whether in the Libertarian Party, in the "Objectivist" movement founded by Ayn Rand, or in various independent think tanks, is firmly anti-religious and is dedicated to an "anything-goes" philosophy that hates government becuase of a hatred of any sort of social or ethical authority which restrains an individual from pursuing his or her own individual whims and desires.

Free-Born John is a reproach to these modern-day "libertarians." Lilburne would surely have agreed with present-day libertarians about ending the War on Drugs, abolishing the income tax, etc. But Lilburne would have seen liberation from paternalistic government and the reinstatement of natural rights as merely the first step along a path upon which an individual tried to live his life as a creature made in the image of God.

There is a dissident movement among modern libertarians, the so-called "paleo-libertarians," who take the natural-law, natural-rights perspective of John Lilburne seriously (the paleos are best represented by the Mises Institute and the Center for Libertarian Studies, both of whom offer Websites and a number of books which are available here on amazon.com). Unlike the libertarian mainstream, the "paleos" are not reflexively hostile to religion, hateful of any social authority or traditions, nor focused solely on the satisfaction of egoistic, material desires.

If you are a "paleo-libertarian," you will love this book. If you are a mainstream libertarian or a non-libertarian, you will find John Lilburne as enigmatic as did Ms. Gregg. But if you make the effort to understand this man's mind and character, you may come to better understand the nature of human liberty and of the human condition.

Born Again Irish
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Born Again Irish
O'Caruso
Manufacturer: CGI Books, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0978547101
Release Date: 2007-03-15

Product Description

The journey that started with an airplane crash (Flying Tiger Flight 923). A true story of disaster at sea, the joy of Ireland and the vortex of fate. How a young New York Italian named Caruso, raised in an Orthodox Jewish community, becomes the Irish "O"Caruso by accident.

Born in Brooklyn: John Montague's America

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Born in Brooklyn: John Montague's America
John Montague
Manufacturer: White Pine Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 187772713X

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Born Bad
Debbie Tucker Green
Manufacturer: Nick Hern Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Debbie Tucker Green is an urgent and distinctive new Black British writing talent.

"The overall effect is of having swallowed a scalding cup of triple espresso coffee in one gulp. The burn stays with you after you have left the theatre."-The Guardian

"Love it or loathe it, Tucker Green's work is already making its mark."-The Independent

A terrible beauty is born: The Irish troubles, 1912-1922

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A terrible beauty is born: The Irish troubles, 1912-1922
Ulick O'Connor
Manufacturer: Hamilton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Byron's Letters and Journals, Volume VIII, 'Born for opposition', 1821 (Byron's Letters and Journals)

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Byron's Letters and Journals, Volume VIII, 'Born for opposition', 1821 (Byron's Letters and Journals)
George Gordon Byron
Manufacturer: Belknap Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Byron's Letters and Journals, Volume III, 'Alas! the love of women', 1813-1814 (Byron's Letters and Journals)
Byron's Letters and Journals, Volume V, 'So late into the night', 1816-1817 (Byron's Letters and Journals)
Byron's Letters and Journals, Volume II, 'Famous in my time', 1810-1812 (Byron's Letters and Journals)
Byron's Letters and Journals, Volume X, 'A heart for every fate', 1822-1823 (Byron's Letters and Journals)
Byron's Letters and Journals, Volume VII, 'Between two worlds', 1820 (Byron's Letters and Journals)

ASIN: 0674089480

Book Description

Byron was a superb letter-writer: almost all his letters, whatever the subject or whoever the recipient, are enlivened by his wit, his irony, his honesty, and the sharpness of his observation of people. They provide a vivid self-portrait of the man who, of all his contemporaries, seems to express attitudes and feelings most in tune with the twentieth century. In addition, they offer a mirror of his own time. This first collected edition of all Byron's known letters supersedes Prothero's incomplete edition at the turn of the century. It includes a considerable number of hitherto unpublished letters and the complete text of many that were bowdlerized by former editors for a variety of reasons. Prothero's edition included 1,198 letters. This edition has more than 3,000, over 80 percent of them transcribed entirely from the original manuscripts.

Born for Opposition opens with Byron in Ravenna, in 1821. His passion for the Countess Guiccioli is subsiding into playful fondness, and he confesses to his sister Augusta that he is not "so furiously in love as at first." Italy, meanwhile, is afire with the revolutionary activities of the Carbornari, which Byron sees as "the very poetry of politics." His Journal, written while the insurrection grew, is a remarkable record of his reading and reflections while awaiting the sounds of gunfire. In spite of the turmoil, Byron stuck fast to his work. By the end of this volume, in October 1821, he is established in Pisa, having written Sardanapalus, Cain, and The Vision of Judgement.

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