On this episode of Our American Stories, American progress, with all its tragedies and enduring hope, can perhaps be seen as clearly through the Irish-American experience as any other. Karen Kaufmann shares the story of one man, Matthew Kerry, who never tired of calling Americans, again and again, to the high aspirations of the Declaration of Independence. We'd like to thank the Jack Miller Center for turning us on to this story.
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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 Kaufin 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
(01:40):
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 publishers. 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):
sixteen hth 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
(05:20):
through 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
(05:43):
care 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
(06:04):
part 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
(06:25):
how he similarly dealt with African Americans. But while Carrie
was prospering, a new.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
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 Irish Catholic
immigrants had to accept employment at the lowest levels and
barely could support their families.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Whenever there was an Irish Catholic.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
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 men over competition.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
For menial jobs.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
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 discord of heightened immigration might destroy America,
(07:30):
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 Declaration of Independence.
Convinced that other ethnic, religious, and economic outsiders like himself
(07:51):
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 later years as
a champion for thousands of female widowed garment workers and
(08:13):
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 a light to
guide the rest of the world to freedom, the nation
(08:35):
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 also
(08:57):
remained in step with the virulent reactions 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
(09:18):
union justice. Some claim that it is still not a
perfect union, but the client, 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 so.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
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 for the start, Karen lays the claim to
(10:02):
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 Kaufin 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
(01:40):
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 publishers. 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):
sixteen hth 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
(05:20):
through 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
(05:43):
care 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
(06:04):
part 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
(06:25):
how he similarly dealt with African Americans. But while Carrie
was prospering, a new.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
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 Irish Catholic
immigrants had to accept employment at the lowest levels and
barely could support their families.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Whenever there was an Irish Catholic.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
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 men over competition.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
For menial jobs.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
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 discord of heightened immigration might destroy America,
(07:30):
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 Declaration of Independence.
Convinced that other ethnic, religious, and economic outsiders like himself
(07:51):
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 later years as
a champion for thousands of female widowed garment workers and
(08:13):
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 a light to
guide the rest of the world to freedom, the nation
(08:35):
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 also
(08:57):
remained in step with the virulent reactions 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
(09:18):
union justice. Some claim that it is still not a
perfect union, but the client, 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 so.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
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 for the start, Karen lays the claim to
(10:02):
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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