Below is a letter from Diana Gabaldon (author of Outlander) to her fans. What stood out to me was this line: "...a competent historian could probably make a good case for the roots of the American Revolution having sprung in part from the bloody soil of Culloden."
Considering the Scottish Enlightenment, I was intrigued by her statement and would love to hear a historian tease out links.
Gabaldon Letter to Fans:
"But why didn’t the story stay in Scotland?!?” is a cry I’m used to hearing. “I loved Scotland! All the fighting and the tartans and the swords…”
Well, yeah. Who doesn’t?
The thing is…that Scotland ceased to exist on April 16th, 1746. When Roger and Claire tell people that “the Highland clans were crushed”—they meant it. That’s what actually happened, not novelistic license on my part.
When the Stuart Cause came to ruin at Culloden, it was followed by what would come to be known in a later century as ethnic cleansing. The British Government decided to put an end to this Scottish nuisance, and set about it in determined fashion. Kill or transport the men, burn the houses and crops, leave the women and children to die of cold or starvation. And it worked, to a large degree; the Highlands ceased to be a military or political threat.
But Scots are, in the main, hard to kill. And a Scot remains a Scot, no matter where he is. And so our story follows the tide of history—to America, where Scottish emigrants (voluntary or otherwise) looked for a place to set down roots pulled out of the Highland soil. At the time of the American Revolution, one citizen in three in the colonies was Scottish. And a competent historian could probably make a good case for the roots of the American Revolution having sprung in part from the bloody soil of Culloden.
As for fighting, swords, medical calamity, startling people and personal turmoil, though…all those things came along for the ride.
I hope you will, too!
Le meas agus,
--Diana Gabaldon
Good thing she's a novelist and not a historian.
Her statement implies that the Jacobite prisoners that survived Culloden and were transported to the colonies found a mirror of their previous situation in the American fight for freedom against British tyranny, and thus helped launch a campaign against the British that finally stuck. The reality is that the majority of Scottish settlers in the colonies...fought for the British crown. Womp womp. Further than that, nearly 12,000 Highland soldiers were recruited to fight on behalf of Georgie.
For the American Revolution to have "sprung in part from the bloody soil of Culloden", A LOT of Scottish settlers would have had to fight in the Continental Army and this just wasn't the case. This complete 180 by former Jacobites has left historians confused for centuries because it doesn't seem to make much sense on the surface. Following the failure of the '45 and the destruction of the clan system, there is a massive social transformation at the core of Scottish identity. One key figure in this transformation is Simon Fraser, son of the 11th Lord Lovat Fraser who was beheaded after the rebellion. The entire family estate was forfeited and Simon essentially spent the rest of his life recovering the family's standing reputation. He was granted a full pardon by 1750, passed the Scottish bar in 1752, and was granted permission to raise a Highland regiment within is clan in 1757. He had nearly 600 men within two months and the Fraser Highlanders shipped out to Nova Scotia to fight the French the same year.
Why fight for the very government that obliterated your estate, destroyed your towns, banned your culture, and killed your family? Literature of the time, especially Gaelic poetry, indicates military service on behalf of the crown as an atonement for previous sins, namely the support of the Pretender, and a way to regain esteem within society. A song celebrating the return of Frasers Highlanders affirm a desire to get the king's favor through service. (bolded are translations that were originally in Scottish Gaelic)
We will wish the King who is on the Throne a long life,
He is of the royal stock of MacAlpine who was in Scotland of old.
He has shown great favor to the Highland warriors
As a result of the victory on the slaughter-field of Quebec.
A similar ode composed in honor of the Black Watch while they prepared for battle in the F&I exalts Highland soldiers for their sense of tradition, and pushes them to "prove" themselves to King George in the fight.
The King’s reward and the gratitude of the land,
And fame will be yours forever,
For protecting your land from the despoiler’s greed
And proving the Gael’s great worthiness;
Your excellent conduct will convince King George to return our uniform,
The cheerful ancient uniform
Since the age of Adam and Eve;
And if he gives to us our prestige, weapons, and clothing now, as was our custom,
We will be the best arrows in his quiver,
We will be Scotland’s payment to him.
The survivors of Culloden saw the necessity of giving up on Charles and learning to love George if it meant getting back to being treated humanely. This sentiment is repeated over and over in Gaelic poetry of the time and in 1774 Simon Fraser is granted a return of his family estate nearly a decade before other forfeited estates were returned. A poem celebrating the return of the estate mentions the respect he won from King George through military service after the horrors of Culloden.
Every aspect of your behavior
Earned praise since you were young
Although the Wheel of Fortune
Was for a while quite cross with you
When the country rose In the foolish intrigue,
The youth were agile In dispersing George’s encampment
It is truly a reason for joy
With the King’s command to confirm it
That your entitlements are written down
Despite the ill-will of your enemies;
O excellent, handsome Fraser
You struck blows in the combat,
You brought justice out of the injustice
And you have left your relations joyous
You have done honor to our Kingdom
And that is true, without doubt,
And you have made a true friend
Of the very King who once disliked you
So why does Simon Fraser and all of these poems matter? Because Simon and his Highlanders were just one regiment that fought the King faithfully in the years between the '45 and the Revolution. Many soldiers who fought in the F&I were given land grants following their service and a significant landbridge of Highland immigrants was formed. Immigrants that were hard pressed to be convinced to fight against the crown now and risk losing land and opportunity they had earned through decades of loyal military service and sacrifice. As the Revolution began more poetry celebrating what they thought was an impending victory over American rebels. Duncan Lothian penned a premature celebration of British victory in 1777 specifically mentioning the Scottish role in British success. The rally cry of Highland regiments at the Battle of Moore's Creek in 1776 was said to be "King George and Broadswords". Loyalist Iain mac Mhurchaidh composed a song in 1780 trying to warn his fellow countrymen of the error he feared they were making and spoke of the aftermath of Culloden as a sure example of the punishment that would be meted out if the Americans lost.
The following is what will happen
If you do not all surrender
When the strongest forces arrive
Of those men who are now yonder;
There will be hanging and injury
And your wealth will be plundered,
No law or reason will be available
To any Rebels at all.
For as long as you have parted ways
King George will be in the right
Is it any wonder why these prisoners, shipped from their home and stuck in a new land, would be wary of trying to fight the British crown again after fighting so hard for any respect? The success of the American Revolution was a longshot to begin with and a risk not work taking, assuming the punishment for losing would be the same as it was in 1745.
So was the military service, massive social transformation, and being on the losing side of another revolution worth it? Probably. Loyalists didn't have it easy in the colonies. But the reputation and image of Scots in Britain radically changed in the final years of the American Revolution and immediately after. The Act of Proscription was repealed in 1782 and estates were given back to Jacobite families starting in 1784, two of the largest victories for the Scottish.
TLDR; No, the Scottish prisoners transported to the colonies were not a driving force of the American Revolution as a group of people who were "trying again" to fight the tyranny of the English crown. Instead, the large majority of Scottish people went on a social overhaul to change their reputation in the eyes of the British and integrate themselves into British society.
Further reading:
The Fatal Land: War, Empire, and the Highland Soldier in British America (Matthew Dziennik)
Jacobite Past, Loyalist Present (Michael Newton)
"The Highland Scots of North Carolina" (Duane Meyer)
“Jacobite Rhetoric and Terminology in the Political Poems of the Fernaig MS (1688-1693)” (Damhnait Ní Suaird)
“In Their Own Words: Gaelic Literature in North Carolina" (Michael Newton)
Voyagers to the West (Bernard Bailyn)