Tobacco and Jesus: The Social Impacts of Scottish and Scots-Irish Immigrants in Colonial Virginia (thesis)

Abstract

To closely examine how the Scots and Scots-Irish managed to have such an impact on colonial Virginia, this study draws from primary source documents from or about immigrants during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This study is partially reliant on archives from the Virginia Gazette, specifically advertisements for real-estate sales, job openings and public opinion of American-Scottish relations. This thesis also closely inspects the personal journals of John Harrower, a Scottish immigrant who came to the Chesapeake area of Virginia as an indentured servant and worked on a tobacco plantation from 1773 until 1777. Harrower's account, in which he detailed almost everything from his daily life, is truly unique because most working class immigrants did not keep personal accounts. A great deal can therefore be inferred from this work, though one cannot assume that Harrower's experience resembled the overall experience of working class Scottish immigrants. In order to understand the varied influences of Scots on their communities with special attention to Presbyterianism, this study also analyzes church documents and session records from Presbyterian churches in Virginia and Scotland, court records, Liberty Hall Academy Trustees' minutes, a memoir of William Graham written by one of his students, and sermons by minister John Craig. This wide range of sources provides insight into the varied experiences and contributions of Scottish and Scots-Irish Presbyterians in colonial Virginia. [From Introduction]