|
The Scots have fought the English for centuries for their independence. Starting in the late twelfth century when the Normans conquered England and Scotland, they dominated the Scots for a hundred years. In the early 1300’s, William Wallace (Brave Heart) started the fight against the
English / Norman control, and later Robert de Bruce led Scotland to freedom from English control at the battle of Bannockburn (near Stirling castle in Scotland) in 1314. The Scots in later centuries lost control of the country to England again.
There have been numerous attempts by Scottish nationals to regain control of Scotland from England. The last time occurred in 1745 - 1746 when Prince Charles Stewart, pretender to the throne of England and Scotland, rallied Scottish highlanders to his cause and attempted to overthrow
the current English monarch, King George.
At the decisive battle of Culloden moor (near Inverness, Scotland) in April, 1746, English troops (and some Scottish clans) under the Duke of Cumberland, third son of King George, decisively defeated Charles Stewart and his highland army. This victory for the English re-established the
rule and control of England over Scotland, which has lasted to current times.
During the aftermath of the battle, English troops destroyed the Scottish countryside, Scottish society, and the clan system. During the remainder of the 1700’s and early 1800’s, thousands of Scots were forced to emigrate to other lands. This was part of the “Highland Clearances” in
which the English destroyed the clan system and exploited the country in the same pattern of colonial development (native population removed or reduced) as in America, Canada, and Australia. The result was a mass exodus of Scottish people to Nova Scotia (New Scotland), Canada, and America
from 1746 to1850.
According to one source, 20,000 highland Scots left Scotland for the American colonies between 1763 and 1775 (The Highland Clearances by John Prebble). Although only a fraction of the clans had taken part in the rebellion of 1745 - 1746, all felt the results of the defeat at Culloden.
Bayonet and noose, proscription of arms (swords, knives, guns) and bagpipes, outlawing the wearing of tartan and kilt, abolition of hereditary jurisdiction of the clan chiefs, and confiscation of clan lands led to the destruction of the Scottish clan system and way of life. Their
attachment to the land had been deep and strong. Now they were uprooted.
Partly because conditions were not good in Scotland, partly out of natural individualism of the Scot-Irish-Celt people, and partly due to personal enterprise, Scots left in a major overseas exodus. The McAdams’, like other clan families, were probably part of this exodus, eventually
coming to America in the middle 1700’s. The result of this exodus of Scots from Scotland was that by 1985, it was computed that there were 20 million “overseas Scots”, people with direct family links to Scotland, whereas Scotland’s population was 4 million.
|