History was never my strong point, but weren't a lot of criminals banished to old America?

Question

I remember hearing something in history class years ago that many people were sent to N. America after being committed of political, religious, etc. criminal offenses. I know the Scotts were one of the nationalities, but who were the rest?

Answer 1

It's true many Scots (after the defeat at Culloden in 1745 (? from memory) and Irish emigrated to the colonies because of persecution by England, but they were not usually criminals as such. On the other hand there were many "indentured servants" poor people or minor criminals who were signed up for varying times of what we would consider slavery... political and criminal prisoners (including very minor crimes) were usually sent to New South Wales (Australia) from 1798 onwards.... (reference book "The Distant Shore"). Religious factions persecuted by the Anglican Church in the 17th century first found refuge in Holland, and then founded settlements in New England....Adventists, Baptists,Quakers, etc....As a footnote, much of American folk music is based on traditional tunes brought over from those Scot and Irish immigrants, some songs are virtually the same except for the words.(source inter alia Sharon McCrumb "The Song Catcher" see also "The Drums of Autumn" by Diana Gabaldon, a book in her Talisman series. Hope this is helpful.

Answer 2

You will be surprised to find out that this has also happened quite recently. In the first decades of the 20th century, the Greek government of prime minister Theotokis released an unspecified number of convicted criminals from the Greek prisons and sent them to the USA. As you see, Americans are a good breed because they have been carefully selected one by one by fine judges around the world.

Answer 3

You are correct. The actual number arriving over the course of the eighteenth century was in excess of fifty thousand, accounting for as many as one in four of all migrants from Britain in the period 1700–1776. (Aaron S. Fogelman, "From Slaves, Convicts, and Servants to Free Passengers," Journal of American History, June 1988, p. 44; Farley Grubb, "The Market Evaluation of Criminality," American Economic Review, March 2001, p. 295.) Some were Scots but lots of regular criminals from England too.

Answer 4

Not as many as were banished to old Australia... And yes, many were either Scottish or Irish (Ireland was a part of the British Empire until after World War I).

Answer 5

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