Six counties, comprising half a million
acres, formed the Ulster Plantation. The great majority of the
colonists sent thither by James were Scotch Lowlanders, but among
them were many English and a smaller number of Highlanders. These
three peoples from the island of Britain brought forth, through
intermarriage, the Ulster Scots.
The reign of Charles I had inaugurated for the Ulstermen an era
of persecution. Charles practically suppressed the Presbyterian
religion in Ireland. His son, Charles II, struck at Ireland in
1666 through its cattle trade, by prohibiting the exportation of
beef to England and Scotland. The Navigation Acts, excluding
Ireland from direct trade with the colonies, ruined Irish
commerce, while Corporation Acts and Test Acts requiring
conformity with the practices of the Church of England bore
heavily on the Ulster Presbyterians.
It was largely by refugees from religious persecution that
America in the beginning was colonized. But religious persecution
was only one of the influences which shaped the course and formed
the character of the Ulster Scots. In Ulster, whither they had
originally been transplanted by James to found a loyal province
in the midst of the King's enemies, they had done their work too
well and had waxed too powerful for the comfort of later
monarchs.
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