August 15, 2024 • 10 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, American progress, with all its tragedies and yet enduring hope, can be seen perhaps as clearly through the Irish-American experience as any other. Karen Kauffman is here to tell us how one man, Mathew Carey, never tired of calling Americans again and again to the high aspirations of the Declaration of Independence.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. There's a general
theme in the air that America has never been more
divided than right now. Up next, Karen Kaufman is here
to disprove that claim. Take it away, Karen.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Since the formation of the United States, the nation was
never a perfect union. During the Revolutionary War, approximately twenty
percent of the white population remained loyal to the British Crown.
Families were divided, friendships dissolved. After the warwin former loyalists
attempted to re establish their lives within the new Republic.
(00:54):
They occasionally met violent verbal in physical resistance, grounded in
the allegation that they were not real Americans. In addition
to internal tensions, foreign enemies tried to exploit fractures that
had existed since the colonial period, hoping for the collapse
of the infant nation. These were uncertain and often dangerous times,
(01:17):
characterized by shrill accusations against political opponents and fears that
foreign intrigue might cause the downfall of American government and culture.
The founders believed that if representative democracy was to prevail,
their new Republic needed to be nurtured by a vigilant
and virtuous citizenry. But how could they galvanize a populace
(01:41):
divided by geography, religion, ethnic heritage, and material wealth within
a common cause so that the early Republic would not
only endure, but also become a beacon of democracy to
the rest of the world. Their seventeen seventy six Declaration
of Independence, while lacking legal authority, nonetheless laid the foundation
(02:02):
of those ideals pointing to equality or fairness to all people.
And while most current Americans probably can recite the ideal
of their unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty
in the pursuit of happiness, it's fair to wonder whether
they are also aware of what the founders promised to
one another to ensure the preservation of those rights. Do
(02:26):
they know that the last line of the Declaration of
Independence proclaimed that, with a firm reliance on the protection
of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives,
our fortunes, and our sacred honor honor. Some people might question,
what did the founders know of honor? When approximately seven
(02:49):
hundred thousand slaves were held in bondage in seventeen seventy six, Women,
for the most part, were excluded from the public arena,
and Native Americans lost their homelands to make way for
the burgeoning nation. But despite their grave shortcomings, is it
advisable to remove them from the historical record. The founding
(03:09):
generation was situated in a time that was very different
from the twenty first century, but what they created was
a remarkably forward thinking, malleable republic within which future generations
could sort out the issues they were unable to solve
during their lifetimes. When twenty four year old Matthew Carey
(03:30):
arrived in Philadelphia in seventeen eighty four, the young irishman
was running from a conviction of seditious libel for publishing
essays condemning the subjugation of his fellow Catholics alone and
with only twelve guineas in his pocket. Carry Like so
many of his generation, was deeply motivated by the ideals
(03:51):
of the American Revolution, which fostered his rise to become
early America's most influential and commercially successful publisher. But Carrie's
path to advance America's high calling was far from smooth.
Despite securing influential benefactors to support his vocational aims and
drive for prosperity, there were other powerful people who sought
(04:14):
to derail his career because of his allegedly inferior ethnic
heritage and Catholicism. A permanent disabling limp from a childhood
accident also rendered him open to cruel ridicule. When a
jealous publishing rival began to taunt him in the press
because of his religion as well as his disability, insinuating
(04:36):
that Matthew Carey would never become a real American, the
two men agreed to meet at an undisclosed dueling field
in New Jersey over the insults Carrie suffered. In an
attempt to prove that his love of America was as
true as anyone else's, Carrie almost bled to death from
the wound he sustained from his opponent's bullet. During the
(04:59):
sixteenh months he needed to heal, Carrie decided to create
a magazine, The American Museum, which is often remembered as
the first literary vehicle which attempted to link all of
America's diverse geographical regions with a national literature. As the
worst known yellow fever epidemic until that time swept through
(05:21):
the nation's capital, claiming the lives of nearly one tenth
of Philadelphia's population of fifty thousand. He benefited from citizen's
curiosity about the plague and earned a fortune from the
brisk sale of his work. While his popular narrative provided
gruesome details of the widespread sickness and death, it also
proclaimed that the city was saved by the compassionate care
(05:44):
from citizens, especially recent immigrants like himself, who selflessly chose
to remain and serve others in the midst of the
deadly chaos. But his work also included portrayals of abominable
African American behavior during the epidemic, especially on the part
(06:04):
of black women, whom he accused of stealing from dying victims.
His claim displayed his assumption that persons of color never
would develop into equal partners in nurturing a flourishing republic.
He would never see any correlation between the bigoted way
some Americans treated him and his people and how he
(06:25):
similarly dealt with African Americans. But while Carrie was prospering,
a new wave of Irish immigrants who arrived in the
first decades of the nineteenth century was struggling, forced to
seek their livelihoods within a strained economy. That had never
fully recovered from the Panic of eighteen nineteen. Many new
(06:46):
Irish Catholic immigrants had to accept employment at the lowest
levels and barely could support their families. Whenever there was
an Irish Catholic neighborhood, it was usually adjacent to an
African American community, and by eighteen thirty two, a race
ride in Philadelphia broke out between African Americans and Irish
(07:06):
men over competition for menial jobs. Amidst the increasing violence,
many native born Americans came to fear that these poor
Irish papists were unfit for citizenship. Surely, they thought the
Irish would never develop into real Americans. Fearing that the
(07:26):
discord of heightened immigration might destroy America, Matthew Carey was
not content to simply sit back and enjoy the wealth
and acclaim he had earned. Until his death, he worked
to ensure his adopted homeland's prosperity by inspiring citizens to
achieve the honor described in the.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Declaration of Independence. Convinced that other ethnic, religious, and economic
outsiders like himself could indeed contribute to America's high calling,
he published numerous essays to proclaim their worthiness, urging all
Americans to maintain a devotion to the democratic principles of
the revolution and sympathetic Christian compassion. He especially devoted his
(08:08):
later years as a champion for thousands of female widowed
garment workers and their children, many of whom died each
year due to their poverty because they were not paid
a living wage. Through dozens of pamphlets and newspaper articles,
Carrie demanded economic justice for the female workers, claiming if
the democratic soul of America was to survive and become
(08:32):
a light to guide the rest of the world to freedom,
the nation needed to care more compassionately for its marginalized citizens.
Matthew Carey contributed to America's ongoing democratic revolution by attempting
to improve the lives of white, disadvantaged outsiders by pushing
the definition of what constituted a real American, but he
(08:57):
also remained in step with the virulent racism of the period.
In the eighteen twenties and eighteen thirties, he became an
advocate to send free African Americans back to Africa. When
Matthew Carey died in eighteen thirty nine, this less than
perfect man left a nation that was not a perfect union. Justice.
(09:19):
Some claim that it is still not a perfect union,
but the plient governmental and legal structures the founders created
endure and continue to offer current citizens, just as they
did for Matthew Carey centuries ago, tremendous opportunities to try
to make it.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
So, and a terrific job by the production, editing and
storytelling by our own Greg Hangler, and a special thanks
to Karen Kaufman was affiliated with the Jack Miller Center
and there are a nationwide network of scholars and teachers
dedicated to educating the next generation about America's founding principles
and history. And right from the start, Karen lays the
(10:01):
claim to rest that America has never been more divided. Indeed,
right from our start, even those in America who were
against and for the Declaration were bitterly divided, and there
was that discrimination against the Irish. But the glue that
kept it together for them was, of course the Constitution itself,
the founding principles and ideals of the country. And though
(10:24):
not perfect, the man was a racist at the time,
and so many Americans were racist at the time, but
the Constitution itself had an answer for that too. The
story of Matthew Carey, The story of Irish Americans and
their beginnings here in this country. Here on our American stories.
And we continue with our American stories. There's a general
theme in the air that America has never been more
divided than right now. Up next, Karen Kaufman is here
to disprove that claim. Take it away, Karen.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Since the formation of the United States, the nation was
never a perfect union. During the Revolutionary War, approximately twenty
percent of the white population remained loyal to the British Crown.
Families were divided, friendships dissolved. After the warwin former loyalists
attempted to re establish their lives within the new Republic.
(00:54):
They occasionally met violent verbal in physical resistance, grounded in
the allegation that they were not real Americans. In addition
to internal tensions, foreign enemies tried to exploit fractures that
had existed since the colonial period, hoping for the collapse
of the infant nation. These were uncertain and often dangerous times,
(01:17):
characterized by shrill accusations against political opponents and fears that
foreign intrigue might cause the downfall of American government and culture.
The founders believed that if representative democracy was to prevail,
their new Republic needed to be nurtured by a vigilant
and virtuous citizenry. But how could they galvanize a populace
(01:41):
divided by geography, religion, ethnic heritage, and material wealth within
a common cause so that the early Republic would not
only endure, but also become a beacon of democracy to
the rest of the world. Their seventeen seventy six Declaration
of Independence, while lacking legal authority, nonetheless laid the foundation
(02:02):
of those ideals pointing to equality or fairness to all people.
And while most current Americans probably can recite the ideal
of their unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty
in the pursuit of happiness, it's fair to wonder whether
they are also aware of what the founders promised to
one another to ensure the preservation of those rights. Do
(02:26):
they know that the last line of the Declaration of
Independence proclaimed that, with a firm reliance on the protection
of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives,
our fortunes, and our sacred honor honor. Some people might question,
what did the founders know of honor? When approximately seven
(02:49):
hundred thousand slaves were held in bondage in seventeen seventy six, Women,
for the most part, were excluded from the public arena,
and Native Americans lost their homelands to make way for
the burgeoning nation. But despite their grave shortcomings, is it
advisable to remove them from the historical record. The founding
(03:09):
generation was situated in a time that was very different
from the twenty first century, but what they created was
a remarkably forward thinking, malleable republic within which future generations
could sort out the issues they were unable to solve
during their lifetimes. When twenty four year old Matthew Carey
(03:30):
arrived in Philadelphia in seventeen eighty four, the young irishman
was running from a conviction of seditious libel for publishing
essays condemning the subjugation of his fellow Catholics alone and
with only twelve guineas in his pocket. Carry Like so
many of his generation, was deeply motivated by the ideals
(03:51):
of the American Revolution, which fostered his rise to become
early America's most influential and commercially successful publisher. But Carrie's
path to advance America's high calling was far from smooth.
Despite securing influential benefactors to support his vocational aims and
drive for prosperity, there were other powerful people who sought
(04:14):
to derail his career because of his allegedly inferior ethnic
heritage and Catholicism. A permanent disabling limp from a childhood
accident also rendered him open to cruel ridicule. When a
jealous publishing rival began to taunt him in the press
because of his religion as well as his disability, insinuating
(04:36):
that Matthew Carey would never become a real American, the
two men agreed to meet at an undisclosed dueling field
in New Jersey over the insults Carrie suffered. In an
attempt to prove that his love of America was as
true as anyone else's, Carrie almost bled to death from
the wound he sustained from his opponent's bullet. During the
(04:59):
sixteenh months he needed to heal, Carrie decided to create
a magazine, The American Museum, which is often remembered as
the first literary vehicle which attempted to link all of
America's diverse geographical regions with a national literature. As the
worst known yellow fever epidemic until that time swept through
(05:21):
the nation's capital, claiming the lives of nearly one tenth
of Philadelphia's population of fifty thousand. He benefited from citizen's
curiosity about the plague and earned a fortune from the
brisk sale of his work. While his popular narrative provided
gruesome details of the widespread sickness and death, it also
proclaimed that the city was saved by the compassionate care
(05:44):
from citizens, especially recent immigrants like himself, who selflessly chose
to remain and serve others in the midst of the
deadly chaos. But his work also included portrayals of abominable
African American behavior during the epidemic, especially on the part
(06:04):
of black women, whom he accused of stealing from dying victims.
His claim displayed his assumption that persons of color never
would develop into equal partners in nurturing a flourishing republic.
He would never see any correlation between the bigoted way
some Americans treated him and his people and how he
(06:25):
similarly dealt with African Americans. But while Carrie was prospering,
a new wave of Irish immigrants who arrived in the
first decades of the nineteenth century was struggling, forced to
seek their livelihoods within a strained economy. That had never
fully recovered from the Panic of eighteen nineteen. Many new
(06:46):
Irish Catholic immigrants had to accept employment at the lowest
levels and barely could support their families. Whenever there was
an Irish Catholic neighborhood, it was usually adjacent to an
African American community, and by eighteen thirty two, a race
ride in Philadelphia broke out between African Americans and Irish
(07:06):
men over competition for menial jobs. Amidst the increasing violence,
many native born Americans came to fear that these poor
Irish papists were unfit for citizenship. Surely, they thought the
Irish would never develop into real Americans. Fearing that the
(07:26):
discord of heightened immigration might destroy America, Matthew Carey was
not content to simply sit back and enjoy the wealth
and acclaim he had earned. Until his death, he worked
to ensure his adopted homeland's prosperity by inspiring citizens to
achieve the honor described in the.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Declaration of Independence. Convinced that other ethnic, religious, and economic
outsiders like himself could indeed contribute to America's high calling,
he published numerous essays to proclaim their worthiness, urging all
Americans to maintain a devotion to the democratic principles of
the revolution and sympathetic Christian compassion. He especially devoted his
(08:08):
later years as a champion for thousands of female widowed
garment workers and their children, many of whom died each
year due to their poverty because they were not paid
a living wage. Through dozens of pamphlets and newspaper articles,
Carrie demanded economic justice for the female workers, claiming if
the democratic soul of America was to survive and become
(08:32):
a light to guide the rest of the world to freedom,
the nation needed to care more compassionately for its marginalized citizens.
Matthew Carey contributed to America's ongoing democratic revolution by attempting
to improve the lives of white, disadvantaged outsiders by pushing
the definition of what constituted a real American, but he
(08:57):
also remained in step with the virulent racism of the period.
In the eighteen twenties and eighteen thirties, he became an
advocate to send free African Americans back to Africa. When
Matthew Carey died in eighteen thirty nine, this less than
perfect man left a nation that was not a perfect union. Justice.
(09:19):
Some claim that it is still not a perfect union,
but the plient governmental and legal structures the founders created
endure and continue to offer current citizens, just as they
did for Matthew Carey centuries ago, tremendous opportunities to try
to make it.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
So, and a terrific job by the production, editing and
storytelling by our own Greg Hangler, and a special thanks
to Karen Kaufman was affiliated with the Jack Miller Center
and there are a nationwide network of scholars and teachers
dedicated to educating the next generation about America's founding principles
and history. And right from the start, Karen lays the
(10:01):
claim to rest that America has never been more divided. Indeed,
right from our start, even those in America who were
against and for the Declaration were bitterly divided, and there
was that discrimination against the Irish. But the glue that
kept it together for them was, of course the Constitution itself,
the founding principles and ideals of the country. And though
(10:24):
not perfect, the man was a racist at the time,
and so many Americans were racist at the time, but
the Constitution itself had an answer for that too. The
story of Matthew Carey, The story of Irish Americans and
their beginnings here in this country. Here on our American stories.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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