A Cultural History of America's Scots Irish: From Border Reivers on the Anglo-Scottish Border to Mountaineers in Appalachia

Who are we? When this question refers to America, the answer must include America’s Scots Irish. Consider, theirs were one of the only four main cultures present at America’s founding and as will be posited, came to have their culture dominate that of the American South. Furthermore, one branch went on to found the culture of the Mountaineers of Appalachia, a people known for a condition of extreme poverty. Given their history, it speaks poorly of historians and educators that, today, many if not most Americans do not their name let alone any idea of who these people are. It is the hope of this author that in some way, even small, this book alleviates some of that ignorance.A Cultural History of America’s Scots Irish is unusual. Not only does it address the question Who are the Scots Irish, a fairly mundane exercise, but the far more Why did they come to be the people they are? Who a people are, their nature or culture, does not arise from random processes but from their response to changes in their environment. both natural and manmade. This story of the Scots Irish, like other histories, is the history of events. But where it differs is in the coupling of historical changes in environment to those of their culture, a unique historical lens informing why they cane to be who they are.