THE ENGLISH ADVANCE INTO THE PIEDMONT, 1715-1750
THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT
The colonization of North America by the English was not complete with
the founding of the seaboard settlements, but continued in a series of
steps westward. At each step American society has returned to simple
frontier conditions, under which it has been free to try out new
experiments in democracy. Each stage of advance has made its special
contribution to our institutions.
In a broad way these steps in the westward movement have corresponded
with great physiographic areas. The seventeenth century had witnessed
the occupation of the Tidewater region, between the coast and the Fall
Line. Within that area there had been established two types of society
which now projected themselves westward. The New England type was
democratic, corporate, theocratic, and industrial, and here the township
became the unit of local government. The Southern type, based on a
plantation system, staple crops, and dependent labor, was aristocratic,
individualistic, and expansive. Here the county became the unit of local
government. Intermediate between these types was the society of the
middle Tidewater. In spite of these special characteristics, due chiefly
to American environment, Tidewater society at the end of the century was
still largely European in thought and feeling.
The first half of the eighteenth century witnessed the movement of
settlement into the next great physiographic region, the Piedmont, or
the area lying between the Fall Line and the Appalachian Mountains.
Here, under frontier conditions, was formed a society farther removed
from that of Europe, and further modified by American conditions.
This westward movement was the resultant of numerous factors. To the
frontier people were attracted by cheap land and unlimited opportunity.
From the Tidewater settlements emigrants were driven by increase of
population, scarcity of good land, and class conflicts. The less
prosperous everywhere, and in the South indented servants who had served
their rime, were glad to begin life anew on the frontier. Prosperous
planters whose estates had been exhausted by tobacco sought the
Piedmont, and left their former lands to become "old fields."
Speculation in frontier lands became a passion, and while John Law
floated his Mississippi Bubble in Louisiana, New England deacons and
Virginia aristocrats alike built hopes of fortune on tracts purchased
for a song on the border. The movement to the frontier was stimulated in
some cases by intercolonial and international rivalry; thus the
settlement of Georgia was at once a philanthropic experiment and a
defensive movement against Spain. Of larger consequence than the
emigrants from the Tidewater settlements were the new arrivals from
Europe, who came in tens of thousands, attracted by cheap land and
opportunity or driven by economic, political, or religious unrest.
Trails to the Piedmont had been opened by furtraders, who, even in the
seventeenth century, had made their way into the wilderness in all
directions: by official explorers, like Governor Spotswood; and by the
Southern cattlemen who had established "cowpens" at long distances
beyond the frontiers of settlement. The Indian barrier was removed at
the turn of the century by a series of frontier wars, which either
evicted the natives or broke their resistance. Of these the chief
examples are King Philip's War in New England, the Susquehannah War in
Virginia, the Tuscarora War in North Carolina, and the Yamassee War in
South Carolina. The process of expansion, however, involved further
struggles with the Indians, and border conflicts with French neighbors
on the north and Spanish neighbors on the south.
Under these influences the migration took place and by the middle of the
century a continuous back-country settlement had been formed, all the
way from Maine to Georgia. New England industries were coastwise, the
Piedmont was rough and stony, and expansion was consequently slow. But
the open spaces were nearly all filled in, to the northern boundary of
Massachusetts, while long spurs of settlement were pushed up the rivers
into Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, where French rivalry was
encountered. In New York settlement was retarded by the practice of land
leasing instead of sales, a relic of the patroon system. Nevertheless a
narrow ribbon of settlement pushed up the Mohawk from Albany nearly to
Oneida Lake, while the lower Hudson River settlements widened out toward
Pennsylvania and into New Jersey.
[Illustration: Mainland Regions occupied by the English, 1700-1760.]
Into the Southern Piedmont the movement was a double one. Some newcomers
and many old settlers crossed the Tidewater and pushed over the Fall
Line. But for the Germans, Swiss, and Scotch-Irish, Philadelphia was the
chief port of entry and the main distributing point. Thence some pushed
up the Delaware into New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania; others
west into the valleys east of the Kittatiny Range. Those who followed,
finding the lands occupied, and meeting here the mountain barrier to the
westward march, moved south across the Susquehannah and up the
Shenandoah Valley, whence they turned eastward into the Piedmont of
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and even of Georgia. The
Scotch-Irish in general kept nearest the outward frontier and became
_par excellence_ the Indian fighters.
DEFENCE OF THE NORTHERN FRONTIER
English policy.--After the War of the Spanish Succession the English
government was keenly alive to the necessity of defending the colonial
frontiers. Although the period has been characterized as one of
"salutary neglect" on the part of the home government, nevertheless the
frontier defences were greatly strengthened. Soon after the signing of
the Treaty of Utrecht, the English government became aware of French
activities in Louisiana, and advice was sought from several colonial
governors as to the best means of checking French and Spanish advance. A
policy of defence was soon developed. It included the erection of forts,
exploration of the mountain passes, alliances with Indian tribes,
development of trade, reorganization of the incompetent proprietary
government of the Carolinas, the establishment of the buffer colony of
Georgia, and the encouragement of the settlement of the back country by
the Germans and Scotch-Irish.
Acadia and the Maine border.--A strange apathy regarding Acadia was
shown by the English government. A small garrison was maintained at
Annapolis, but the Acadians continued loyal to the French, and French
priests and officials from Cape Breton Island and Canada continued to
exert influence over them. The Maine border was strongly held. English
settlers again appeared on the lower Kennebec and forts were erected at
Augusta and at the falls of the Androscoggin. Somewhat later Ft.
Richmond was built on the Kennebec. English activity alarmed the Abenaki
and the French soon influenced them to go on the warpath. From 1720 to
1725 a border war continued, but after much bloodshed on both sides the
Indians sought peace.
The New York border.--On the New York border, efforts of the French to
bring the Iroquois into alliance aroused the English and in 1727
Governor Burnet erected a fort at Oswego. Owing to petty strife between
New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and between New York and New Jersey,
funds were not provided for a fortification on Lake Champlain, an
oversight which gave the French an opportunity to erect a fort at Crown
Point.
Pennsylvania and Virginia.--In 1716 Governor Spotswood of Virginia led
an expedition to the Blue Ridge and entered the Shenandoah Valley. In
his subsequent report he advised the making of settlements on Lake Erie
and the securing of the mountain passes. The proposals were not carried
out, but soon the back country was settled by Germans and Scotch-Irish,
who formed a stronger barrier of defence than walls and palisades.
REORGANIZATION OF THE CAROLINAS
Separation of the Carolinas.--Economically the Carolinas had been
drifting apart. Between the Albemarle and Cape Fear districts lay a
primeval wilderness two hundred miles in width. The northern district
was devoted to the production of naval stores and tobacco, the southern
more to rice culture. Politically the governments had been practically
separate almost from the beginning, the governor being located at
Charleston and a deputy governor being appointed for the north. In 1713
the proprietors appointed Charles Eden as governor of North Carolina,
and from this time the two provinces were practically separate.
The Yamassee War.--Between the South Carolina and Spanish settlements
lived the Yamassee Indians. In the War of the Spanish Succession they
had remained faithful to the English, but by 1715 they were won over by
the St. Augustine officials. The French at Mobile were also working on
the Creeks and Cherokees, and a confederation was formed whose object
was the destruction of the South Carolina settlements. The war began on
April 15, 1715, the Yamassee beginning the attack without the assistance
of their allies, and the plantations and settlements were assailed all
along the border. Martial law was immediately proclaimed in the
province, volunteers were organized, and calls for assistance were sent
to North Carolina, Virginia, New England, and England, the two former
responding with men and ammunition. Several bloody engagements were
fought which turned in favor of the Carolinians. The Yamassees received
reinforcements and renewed their incursions, but Governor Craven showed
such a superior force that the Indians fled beyond the Edisto and were
subsequently driven far back into the interior.
Overthrow of the proprietors.--The responsibility of defence against
Indians, and pirates who infested the coast devolved upon the settlers,
the proprietors showing little ability to assist. The assembly now took
matters in its own hands and changed the method of elections, so that
many large landholders were practically disfranchised. The acts were not
approved by the proprietors and the slumbering discontent in the
province soon approached rebellion. The situation was made worse by the
refusal of the proprietors to allow the distribution of the Yamassee
lands, and by an order that tracts be set aside for themselves. Rumors
spread that another Spanish invasion threatened and Governor Johnson
sought means of meeting it, but when he asked advice as to how funds
might be raised, he was informed that the duty which had been imposed
after the Yamassee War was still in force and that other legislation was
unnecessary. The colonists answered the governor's call to arms but soon
showed that they were against him. When Johnson refused to act in the
name of the king instead of the proprietors, he was set aside. The
proprietary government had been in ill favor with the English government
for some time. Its incompetence in the Yamassee War had convinced the
Board of Trade that a change was necessary, and it upheld the popular
movement. In 1729 an act of parliament established royal governments in
both North and South Carolina.
THE FOUNDING OF GEORGIA
The debatable land.--In the great triangle formed by the Carolinas,
Florida, and southeastern Louisiana, English, Spanish, and French came
into close proximity. The international boundaries had never been
satisfactorily defined and each power strove to acquire control of the
powerful Indian tribes of the interior, thereby gaining territory and
trade. To protect the border and to aid the Charleston traders, in 1716
the Carolinians established a fort on the Savannah River, and from 1721
to 1727 maintained Ft. King George on the Altamaha. In 1730 Sir
Alexander Cuming was sent on a mission to the Cherokees, on which he
succeeded in obtaining an acknowledgment of English supremacy,
considerably strengthening the English position.
Azilia.--The need of a buffer colony on the southern border was long
realized by English statesmen. In 1717 a project was launched which gave
promise of fulfillment. Sir Robert Montgomery secured from the Carolina
proprietors a grant of the lands between the Savannah and Altamaha
Rivers which was called the Margravate of Azilia. Plans for its
settlement were drawn up and an attempt made to obtain colonists, but
Sir Robert failed to attract settlers and the grant lapsed.
Oglethorpe.--It remained for James Oglethorpe to carry out the project.
Oglethorpe had seen considerable military service, and for thirty years
was a member of the House of Commons, in the latter capacity advocating
an aggressive policy against Spain. Possessed of broadly humanitarian
sympathies, he became interested in ameliorating the conditions of
imprisoned debtors. He conceived the idea of planting a barrier colony
on the southern frontier, which would serve the two-fold purpose of
protecting Carolina against Spanish and Indian attacks, and of offering
a place of refuge for the debtor class. In 1732 he secured a charter
conveying to himself and a group of interested persons the land between
the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers and extending westward from their head
waters to the sea.
The government.--The government was of the proprietary type, but the
proprietors were not to receive any profits individually; financial
reports and legislation were to be submitted to the crown for approval.
The proprietorship was limited to twenty-one years, after which the
province was to become a royal colony. Religious liberty was guaranteed
to all but Catholics; provision was made to prevent large land holdings;
slavery was prohibited, a restriction which was subsequently removed;
the importation of rum was forbidden, as was trade with the Indians
without a license.
Savannah.--In the autumn of 1732 about one hundred men, women, and
children were sent to America, arriving at Charleston in January, 1733.
A treaty was made with the Creeks who surrendered most of their coast
lands and the town of Savannah was immediately laid out. The colony was
soon strengthened by German and Scotch immigration. In 1737 a fort was
established at Augusta and a town grew up which soon developed an
important trade with the Cherokees.
Measures of defence.--The Scotch were settled near the mouth of the
Altamaha. In 1736 Ft. Frederica was established on St. Simon's Island at
the mouth of the river, and military posts were built between the
Altamaha and the St. John's Rivers. This encroachment aroused the ire of
the Spanish government, which demanded Oglethorpe's recall, but instead,
while in Europe, he was given permission to raise a regiment of troops
for the protection of Georgia, and upon his return he visited the
Creeks, with whom he renewed the former alliance.
THE GERMAN AND SWISS MIGRATION
In 1600 the population of the English colonies on the continent of North
America was only two hundred thousand; fifty years later it had
increased to a million, and by 1760 another half million had been added.
In part this was due to natural increase, but a large population came
from the influx of Europeans other than English, the two principal
immigrant peoples being the Germans and the Scotch-Irish.
The German migration.--The causes of the German migration are to be
found in the disturbed condition of Germany. Religious persecution,
political oppression, and economic distress caused by wars and bad
seasons, each played its part in the movement. Most of the immigrants
came from southwestern Germany, especially from the Palatinate,
Wuerttemberg, and Baden, and from Switzerland. The first period of
migration, dating from 1683 to 1710, was characterized by a small
movement of persecuted sects; but after 1710 an ever-increasing
migration took place in which the religious, political, and economic
causes blended.
[Illustration; Principal Areas of German Settlement before 1763.]
The early migration to Pennsylvania.--The first German settlement in the
English colonies may be traced directly to William Penn's visit to the
Rhineland in 1677. A group of pietists from Frankfort-on-the-Main
purchased fifteen thousand acres of Penn's land and in 1683 sent over a
young lawyer, Francis Daniel Pastorius, as advance agent, who became the
recognized leader of the Pennsylvania Germans. He was soon followed by a
considerable number of emigrants. More land was purchased and the
settlement of Germantown begun. In 1684 a group of Labadists settled on
the Bohemian River in the present state of Delaware. Every year a few
people joined the original group at Germantown. The most important
addition was in 1694 when forty Rosicrucians under John Kelpius settled
on the banks of the Wissahickon.
The migration to New York.--Not until 1710 did the great flood of
migration begin. In 1707 a portion of the Palatinate was devastated. The
following year sixty-one homeless people led by Joshua von Kocherthal
made their way to London. The Board of Trade sent them to New York,
where Governor Lovelace gave them lands on the Hudson, where they began
the town of Newburg. Religious persecution, political oppression, the
devastation of Wuerttemberg and a part of the Palatinate, and a hard
winter caused a great exodus in 1709. In May of that year the Germans
began to arrive in London, and by October the numbers had swelled to
thirteen thousand. About thirty-five hundred were sent to the colonies.
Six hundred and fifty were settled at Newbern near the mouth of the
Neuse River in North Carolina, and about three thousand were sent to New
York, where Governor Hunter hoped to settle them on lands where tar and
pitch could be produced. The story goes that in London the Palatines had
met a delegation of Indian chiefs who had promised them lands on the
Schoharie, a branch of the Mohawk. Instead of being sent there, however,
many were placed on lands along both sides of the Hudson near
Saugerties. The colony on the west side was called West Camp, and
contained about six hundred people. The East Camp, which was located on
the manor of Robert Livingston, received nearly twelve hundred; it was
here that difficulties occurred. The attempts to produce tar and pitch
failed, and the colonists demanded that they be moved to the Schoharie.
After much bickering with the governor, in 1712 and 1713 many of the
people from East Camp moved to the Schoharie; but their troubles did not
end, for the question of land title brought them into disputes with
certain landowners from Albany. Some of the Palatines moved again, many
taking up lands in the Mohawk Valley between Ft. Hunter and Frankfort,
while others in 1723 and 1727 migrated to Pennsylvania, settling in
Berks County.
The later Pennsylvania migration.--The harsh treatment in New York and
the kind reception of Germans in Pennsylvania made the Quaker colony a
favorite place for their coming. Between 1710 and 1727 from fifteen to
twenty thousand entered Pennsylvania and settled in Lancaster, Berks,
and Montgomery counties. Between 1727 and 1740 the arrivals numbered
about fifty-seven thousand, and between 1741 and 1756 about twenty
thousand. Many of the newcomers settled in Philadelphia, and neighboring
counties, but the desire for cheap land carried a large number into the
fertile valleys of the Susquehanna, Lehigh, and Shenandoah. In the words
of Professor Faust, "They ... pushed northward and westward to Lehigh,
Northampton, and Monroe counties, and to Lebanon and Dauphin; reaching
the Susquehanna they crossed and settled the counties of York,
Cumberland, and Adams, then following the slopes of the mountains they
went southward through Maryland into Virginia, ascending the Shenandoah
Valley and settling it from Harpers Ferry to Lexington, Virginia. Using
this main avenue for their progress, they settled in North Carolina and
Virginia and later in Kentucky and Tennessee. Pennsylvania, therefore,
was the distributing center for the German immigrations, whence German
settlers spread over all the neighboring provinces."
New Jersey.--As early as 1707 several members of the German Reformed
Church appear to have settled in Morris County, and later spread into
Somerset, Bergen, and Essex counties. Later groups, mainly of Lutherans
or German Reformed, settled in Hunterdon, Somerset, Morris, Sussex, and
Warren counties, and there were scattered settlements elsewhere.
Maryland.--A few Germans came to Maryland before 1730, but with the
founding of Baltimore in that year a considerable German migration
began, enterprising Germans from Pennsylvania finding the new town a
place for their capital and energy. At about the same time the Germans
were settling in western Maryland. In 1729 Germans from Pennsylvania
settled about ten miles north of the modern town of Frederick, and soon
many German settlements dotted Frederick and neighboring counties.
Virginia.--The first Germans in Virginia were skilled iron-workers from
Westphalia, brought in by Governor Spotswood to operate his iron works
which were located on the Piedmont Plateau at Germanna, in modern Orange
County. The settlers at Germanna afterward migrated to Germantown near
the Rappahannock and to Madison County. A far more important movement
was the migration into the Shenandoah Valley. The northern part was
settled almost entirely by Germans, but in the southern part they formed
only a small part of the population. The first of the settlers came from
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1726 or 1727, settling near Elkton.
They were soon followed by others, among them Joist Hite at the head of
sixteen families from York, Pennsylvania, who settled at the site of
Winchester. In 1734 Robert Harper founded Harper's Ferry. The most
remote settlements were located in the Alleghanies within the present
state of West Virginia; one on Patterson's Creek, another on the south
branch of the Potomac, and a third on the New River, which with the
Greenbrier forms the Great Kanawha. Thus the frontier had already
reached the "Western Waters."
North Carolina.--As already noted, the first migration of Germans into
North Carolina was connected with the Palatine movement of 1710; the
lands of Baron Graffenried on which they settled being at the confluence
of the Neuse and Trent Rivers. In the following year the Tuscaroras went
on the warpath; about sixty of the newcomers were slain and their
settlement destroyed. The Tuscaroras eventually were incorporated with
the Iroquois Confederation and the settlers took advantage of the
removal to occupy their lands, soon spreading over a large part of what
is now Craven County. About 1745. Germans from Pennsylvania began to
arrive in the western part of North Carolina, taking up lands along the
Yadkin River. Not until 1750 did the immigrants become numerous. By the
time of the Revolution there were important German settlements in
Stokes, Forsyth, Guilford, Davidson, Rowan, and Cabarrus counties.
South Carolina.--In South Carolina the first German colonists settled in
or near Charleston. In 1732 a settlement was made in Beaufort County and
German villages soon dotted both sides of the Edisto and Congaree Rivers
in Orangeburg and Lexington counties and spread out toward the Georgia
boundary, Baden, Wuerttemberg, Switzerland, and discontents from Maine
furnishing most of the South Carolina Germans.
Swiss migration to Carolina and Pennsylvania.--With the exception of
Graffenried's project, no large enterprise for bringing Swiss settlers
to America was launched until 1725, when Jean Purry of Neufchatel began
to advertise for Swiss Protestants to found a colony in Carolina. In
1732 Purry succeeded in establishing Purrysburgh, which soon had several
hundred inhabitants. Crop failures in Switzerland coupled with heavy
taxation and a dislike for foreign military service caused a large
number to migrate between 1730 and 1750. Although accurate statistics
are lacking, recent investigation shows that during the eighteenth
century probably twenty-five thousand Swiss emigrated to Pennsylvania
and the Carolinas.
Georgia.--In 1731 thirty thousand Protestants of Salzburg were exiled.
Some of them made their way to England and eventually became settlers in
the newly-constituted colony of Georgia. The first ones arrived at
Savannah in 1734 and moved to lands on the Savannah River about forty
miles from its mouth, naming their settlement Ebenezer. Others soon
followed. Oglethorpe wished some of them to settle about the fort on St.
Simon Island, but they objected to bearing arms and were allowed to go
to Ebenezer. Others, who had no religious scruples regarding war, were
settled at Frederica. The settlers from Ebenezer soon moved down the
river eight miles to New Ebenezer, across the river from Purrysburgh. By
1741 over twelve hundred Germans had come to Georgia.
New England and Nova Scotia.--A small number of Germans made their way
to New England. The head of the movement was Samuel Waldo, who became
interested in lands on the shores of Broad Bay in Maine. In 1740 forty
families from Brunswick and Saxony founded Waldoborough. In 1749-1750
Massachusetts made an effort to increase German immigration by setting
aside lands for their use. One of these districts was near Fort
Massachusetts in modern Franklin County and extended beyond into what is
now Vermont. Three years later the first German settlers entered the
region. In 1751 Joseph Crellius brought over twenty or thirty families
who founded Frankfort, subsequently called Dresden, on the Kennebec
River. It has been estimated that fifteen hundred Germans entered New
England in 1752-1753, but many of them moved subsequently to South
Carolina. Another group settled at Braintree near Boston, but by 1760
they had all moved to the Maine settlements. During 1750-1753 occurred a
considerable German migration to Nova Scotia, sixteen hundred settling
in Lunenburg County. In the latter year the English Government checked
the movement, which was deflected to New England, and the settlements at
Broad Bay and on the Kennebec were considerably enlarged.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH
Causes of the Scotch-Irish migration.--Of equal importance with the
German migration was that of the Scotch-Irish from Ulster. The causes of
the migration to America were both religious and economic. The
Presbyterianism of the Scotch found scant favor with the English
authorities. The efforts to enforce uniformity, and the various
religious laws of the reign of Charles II and Anne were especially
obnoxious to Presbyterians. Though few migrated because of them, they
left a feeling of injury, which, coupled with industrial hardships,
brought about the great migration to America. English restrictive
legislation was also an important factor. Laws prohibiting the
importation into England of Irish stock and dairy products, acts
excluding Irish vessels from American trade and prohibiting direct
importation to Ireland from the colonies, and the act of 1699
prohibiting the exportation of Irish wool worked great hardships on the
people of Ulster. The enforced payment of tithes to support the
Episcopalian clergy touched both the purse and the conscience of the
Scotch-Irish. But more important than any of these was the tenant system
In 1714-1718 many of the original leases expired and the landlords
doubled or trebled the rents. This is the chief explanation of the great
acceleration of the movement to America which began in 1714. No doubt
the natural business instinct of the Scotch people, and occasional
crop failures, such as the potato famine in 1725. 1740-1741, also
hastened many who otherwise might have lingered in Ulster.
[Illustration: The Areas Largely Populated by the Scotch-Irish before
1763.]
Seventeenth century migration.--In 1612 the Rev. George Keith, a
Scotchman, went to Bermuda, the first dissenting minister in the English
colonies. In 1652 Cromwell sent about two hundred and fifty Scotch
prisoners to New England. Before 1669 a considerable number of Scotch
and Scotch-Irish settled on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay and by
1680 some Scotch Presbyterians were located near Norfolk. In 1683
Scottish colonists landed at Port Royal and Charleston, and others
founded Stuartstown. In 1684 and 1685, many Scotch dissenters sought
refuge in East New Jersey, the beginning of a movement which eventually
made New Jersey one of the strongholds of Presbyterianism.
The great migration.--Dining the early years of the eighteenth century a
few Scotch-Irish made their way to America, but not until after the
close of the War of the Spanish Succession did the movement assume large
proportions. The tide of immigration which set in brought the
Scotch-Irish to every colony. Many of them found homes in the tide-water
lands among the older settlements, where vast areas were still thinly
settled, but a larger number sought the frontier.
New England.--Between 1714 and 1720 fifty-four vessels brought
Scotch-Irish immigrants to Boston. The large influx of foreigners began
to alarm the authorities. When over five hundred arrived at Boston in
the summer of 1718, a shortage of provisions threatened. To place the
immigrants on a self-supporting basis was highly desirable. In addition
the more remote settlements needed protection. The plan was accordingly
adopted of sending the Scotch-Irish to the frontier. About fifty miles
from Boston was the post of Worcester containing about two hundred
people. Soon its population was doubled by Scotch-Irish. Others came and
Worcester became the distributing point for interior settlement. In 1731
Pelham was started thirty miles to the westward, and two years later
Colerain, twenty miles farther in the wilderness, was formed. In 1741
Warren and Blandford were incorporated. From western Massachusetts the
settlers turned northward, following the Connecticut Valley, forming
settlements in Windsor, Orange, and Caledonia counties in Vermont and in
Grafton County in New Hampshire.
While Worcester was being settled, other immigrants sought lands in
Maine. Thirty families were landed at Falmouth on Casco Bay, another
group settled on the Kennebec near its mouth, and by 1720 several
hundred families had settled on the Kennebec or the Androscoggin, but
soon afterward Indian troubles caused a large part of them to move to
New Hampshire Or Pennsylvania. In 1719 Nuffield on the site of modern
Manchester was founded. When the town was incorporated in 1722 its name
was changed to Londonderry. It became the distributing point for
Scotch-Irish in that region; from there Rockingham, Hillsboro, and
Merrimack counties in New Hampshire were settled. Emigration spread over
into Vermont, joining that from Worcester, and pushed on to the north
and west. Still other Scotch-Irish settlements were formed later in
Maine. A hundred and fifty families from Nova Scotia in 1729 settled at
Pemaquid and Samuel Waldo induced a few to settle on the St. George at
Warren. Connecticut and Rhode Island also received an infusion of
Scotch-Irish blood but in a much less degree than the northern frontier.
New York.--About 1718 large numbers of Scotch-Irish came to New York,
most of them settling in Orange and Ulster counties. In 1738 John
Lindsay and three associates obtained an extensive land grant in Cherry
Valley in modern Otsego County. Many settlers were induced to come from
Londonderry, New Hampshire, and from Scotland and Ulster, but the
exposed position prevented a great influx in succeeding years.
Pennsylvania.--As in the German movement, in the Scotch-Irish migration
the largest number came to Pennsylvania. The earliest comers appear to
have settled on either side of the Pennsylvania-Maryland line in the
Susquehanna Valley. The exact date of their arrival is uncertain, but a
church had been organized as early as 1708. About 1720 the immigrants
began working up the Delaware River, settling in Bucks County and
spreading over into Northampton County. Another stream of immigrants
passed up the Susquehanna Valley, settling along the creek bottoms on
the east side of the river, their chief centers being in Chester,
Lancaster, and Dauphin counties in Pennsylvania, and in Cecil County,
Maryland. Before 1730 the settlers pushed over into Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania, which gave them access to the valleys of the interior.
They spread into Franklin, Adams, and York counties and the later
movement carried them southward into the great valleys.
The Southern Piedmont--By 1735 or earlier, the Scotch-Irish began moving
into the Shenandoah Valley. Some of them remained in Maryland and the
most eastern counties of what is now West Virginia, but most of them,
moved into Virginia, taking up the lands west of the Blue Ridge
Mountains. Many went through the passes and made their homes in the
Piedmont region to the east of the Blue Ridge. The movement was greatly
stimulated by the fact that several large land grants were made to
various Pennsylvanians and Virginians, who encouraged the settlement of
their lands. The early records of the Scotch-Irish in the southern
Piedmont give us little exact data, but between 1740 and 1760 scattered
settlements were made along the frontier from Virginia to Florida. In
North Carolina the lands between the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers were
settled. By 1750 the vanguard appeared in the western part of South
Carolina, and a few years later in the upland country of Georgia.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SETTLEMENT OF THE PIEDMONT
By the middle of the century results of great significance had come
about. All the way from New England to Georgia a back country society
had been formed, with characteristics in many ways distinct from that of
the Tidewater settlements. A large portion of the settlers, particularly
south of New York, were of non-English stock, and had brought with them
diverse notions; but, under the influence of frontier environment, they
had been moulded, together with the English stock, into a more or less
homogeneous mass. In the main the settlers were persons of slender
means, and lived hard, frontier lives. They tilled small farms with
their own hands, and indentured servitude and slave-holding were
consequently unimportant. Society, on the whole, was democratic,
individualistic, tolerant, and self-reliant. In spite of this
homogeneity of the frontier, the original traits of the settlers
persisted, and can still be found in the Pennsylvania "Dutch" or in the
Scotch Presbyterians of the Southern Piedmont.
Being distinct in character and interests, the Piedmont and Tidewater
clashed at many points, and thus arose "sectional" contests between the
East and the West, a feature which has marked American development down
to the present. The simple back country constituted a debtor society, in
need of an expanding credit; the coast was more aristocratic and more
capitalistic. The East attempted to dominate politics, legislation, and
administration. The West resisted, and before the Revolution contests
arose in nearly every colony. In many instances the back country won;
its victories are reflected in the provisions for religious toleration
and in the democratic tendencies of the new state constitutions formed
during and after the Revolution.
There were other important consequences from the settlement of the back
country. In spite of divergent interests, there were bonds of union
between the East and the Wrest. The new settlements furnished a market
for eastern goods and provided commodities in exchange, and thus
lessened the dependence of the coast upon Europe. Attended by Indian
wars and border hostilities with French and Spanish neighbors, the
westward movement had created a fighting frontier. At the same time, by
bringing the international frontiers into conflict, it had prepared the
way for the final struggle between France and England in America.
It was the southern Piedmont which furnished leaders for the
southwestward movement in the succeeding generations. Says Turner:
"Among this moving mass, as it passed along the Valley into the
Piedmont, in the middle of the eighteenth century, were Daniel Boone,
John Sevier, James Robertson, and the ancestors of John C. Calhoun,
Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, James K. Polk, Sam
Houston, and Davy Crockett; while the father of Andrew Jackson came to
the Piedmont at the same time from the coast. Recalling that Thomas
Jefferson's home was in this frontier, at the edge of the Blue Ridge, we
perceive that these names represent the militant expansive movement in
American life. They foretell the settlement across the Alleghanies in
Kentucky and Tennessee; the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark's
transcontinental exploration; the conquest of the Gulf Plains in the War
of 1812-15; the annexation of Texas; the acquisition of California and
the Spanish Southwest. They represent, too, frontier democracy in its
two aspects personified in Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. It was a
democracy responsive to leadership, susceptible to waves of emotion, of
a 'high religious voltage'--quick and direct in action."
READINGS
DEFENCE OF THE FRONTIERS
Channing, Edward, _History of the United States_, II, 341-365;
Dickerson, O.M., _American Colonial Government_, 326-332; Fiske, John,
_Old Virginia and her Neighbors_, II, 383-389; Greene, E.B.. _Provincial
America_, 181-184, 249-262; Hamilton, P.J., _The Colonization of the
South_, 291-308; Jones, C.C., _The History of Georgia_, I, 67-313;
Kingsford, William, _The History of Canada_, III, 121-201: McCrady,
Edward. _A History of South Carolina_, I, 531-680; Parkman, Francis, _A
Half-Century of Conflict_, I, 183-271, II, 53-56; McCain, J.R., _Georgia
as a Proprietary Province_.
THE GERMAN AND SWISS MIGRATION
Bernheim, G.D., _German Settlements in North and South Carolina_;
Bittinger, L.F., _The Germans in Colonial Times_, 11-183; Cobb, S.H.,
_The Story of the Palatines_; Faust, A.B.. _The German Element in the
United States_, I, 30-262; "Swiss Emigration to the American Colonies in
the Eighteenth Century," in _The American Historical Review_, XXII,
21-44; Jones, C.C., _The History of Georgia_, I, 163-173. 208-214;
Kuhns, O.. _The German and Swiss Settlements of Colonial Pennsylvania_,
1-192; Wayland, J.W., _The German Element of the Shenandoah Valley of
Virginia_.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH
Campbell, Douglas, _The Puritan in Holland, England, and America_, II,
460-485; Ford, H.J., _The Scotch-Irish in America_, 1-290; Hanna, C.A.,
The _Scotch-Irish_, II, 6-126; Turner, F.J., "The Old West,"' in Wis.
Hist. Soc., _Proceedings, 1908_.