The Act of Union in 1801
brought "no submissive love for England," and constant political
agitations for which the Celtic Irish need but little stimulus have
kept the pathway to America populous.
The harsh penal laws of two centuries ago prescribing transportation
and long terms of penal servitude were a compelling agency in driving
the Irish to America. Illiberal laws against religious nonconformists,
especially against the Catholics, closed the doors of political
advancement in their faces, submitted them to humiliating
discriminations, and drove many from the island. Finally, the selfish
Navigation Laws forbade both exportation of cattle to England and the
sending of foodstuffs to the colonies, dealing thereby a heavy blow to
Irish agriculture. These restrictions were followed by other
inhibitions until almost every industry or business in which the Irish
engaged was unduly limited and controlled. It should, however, not be
forgotten that these restrictions bore with equal weight upon the
Ulster settlers from Scotland and England, who managed somehow to
endure them successfully.
Absentee landlordism was oppressive both to the cotter's body and to
his soul, for it not only bound him to perpetual poverty but kindled
within him a deep sense of injustice. The historian, Justin McCarthy,
says that the Irishman "regarded the right to have a bit of land, his
share, exactly as other people regard the right to live.
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