June 26, 2025 • 10 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Slavery is one of the oldest profit-making endeavors in human history, and for over a thousand years, the Irish were a frequent target. Colin D. Heaton, a military veteran and host of the YouTube channel Forgotten History, shares the story.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
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 been an
ongoing debate as to whether the Irish were the first
slaves in the Americas, pre dating the first Black African
slaves by almost a decade. Our next story comes to
us from Colin D. Heaton and Mike Droberg, two military
(00:30):
veterans and the founders of the terrific YouTube channel Forgotten History.
Their videos focus on military heroes, actions and events spanning
across the globe and are watched by hundreds of thousands
of people. Here's Colin Heaton with the story.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Some groups deny the Irish slavery under English and later
British rule, claiming that this was nothing more than voluntary,
intentioned servitude, which did exist. However, the official British legal
terminology used was indentured servants. Whether the servants in question
had willingly signed the indenture contract to immigrate to the
Americas or were first to go. Many were forced. Therefore,
(01:14):
those transported unwillingly and effectively sold were not considered to
be indentured. This included political prisoners, vagrants, convicts, political activists, thieves, prostitutes,
or people who had been defined as undesirable by the
English government. The Irish introduction to slavery was during the
(01:35):
first Viking rates in the year seven ninety five, lasting
through the mid ninth century. This period saw the Irish
killed and enslaved, just like many other societies. The Vikings attacked.
Most of these early raids were along the northern and
eastern coast, using hit and run tactics. The Vikings would
then flee with treasure and slaves and returned to either
(01:57):
their holdings in Scotland or back to Norway. Usually, many
slaves who were of value were ransomed back to their families,
but others remained in captivity. Then, from the year eight
thirty seven onward, larger targets such as the greater monastic
towns of Armagh, Glendallah, Kildare, Slain, Clonard and Clonmacnois and
(02:19):
Lismore were hit by larger forces. These large scale rage
generally spare the smaller local churches and villages far inland,
but slaves were still taken, mostly to Scotland and Iceland.
In eight seventy five, Irish slaves in Iceland launched Europe's
largest slave rebellion since the end of the Roman Empire,
when Holfier lift Holmarston's slaves killed him and fled to Vetsmaniyar.
(02:43):
In eight forty one, the port that became known as
Dublin was taken and occupied by both Olaf and Ivar
the Boneless, and by eight fifty three this part of
Ireland was a Norse trading center and slaves were a
large part of it. But Irish resistance was not over
and nine eight the Irish under mail Seconal Macdomneil, King
(03:04):
of Meath, fought and managed to defeat the Vikings and
freed all of their slaves. Some Vikings who remained assimilated
and adapted to Christianity and became part of Irish society.
The final nail in the coffin regarding Vikings holding land
and taking slaves was in ten fourteen at the Battle
of Clontarf, when Brian Burrew, High King of Ireland, attacked Dublin,
(03:27):
aided by his allies the Limerick Vikings. They fought other
Irish ally to the local Vikings in Dublin and Beru's
force I and all the slaves were again freed, thus
ending the legacy of constant Norse raids, whether from Danes
or Norwegians. In eleven fifty five, Pope Adrian the Fourth
supposedly gave Henry the Second of England a papal bull,
(03:48):
granting the king the authority to invade Ireland. However, many
historians believed that this authorization was a forgery. Regardless, Adrian's successor,
Pope Alexander the Third, granted the lands of Ireland to
Henry the Second, although it was not his land to give.
The Normans were initially invited to Ireland by Dermott macmurrah,
the deposed King of Leinster. In October eleven seventy one,
(04:12):
King Henry Second landed in Ireland and allowed Dermot to
recruit soldiers and mercenaries. As Ireland was made up of
several kingdoms at war with each other, the city of
Dublin and the surrounding area were under Norman occupation and
would be called the Pale or the safe zone. Going
beyond that was considered foolish, hence the term we used
today going beyond the Pale. Following the Battle of Kinsale
(04:37):
in sixteen oh one, when the Irish had Spanish alliance
was defeated, the Irish aristocracy fled to Europe, but the
commoners remained After nearly a decade, King James the First
of England gave permission for the English Governor General to
collect and sell the captured Irish soldiers as slaves and
send them to the New World in the Americas. Twelve
(05:00):
the first recorded Irish slaves were sold, possibly to the Portuguese,
and taken to the Amazon River basin in their colony
in modern day Brazil. This brought them to the New World.
There has been some dispute as to whether these people
were indentured servants or slaves, but it is clear that
they were forced out of Ireland to the New World,
so it seems illogical and ridiculous to assume that they
(05:23):
went voluntarily, hence the status of slaves. It has been
chronicled that in sixteen twenty five, James the First's son,
Charles the First, issued the decree, but given the timeline
on James's death, it would appear that his son Charles
probably did issue the world decree authorizing the Irish slaves.
This included prisoners captured, those deemed to be common criminals
(05:46):
and rabble rousers who were sold. They were to become
the property of the English plantation owners in the North
American colonies. As a result, tens of thousands of Irish
men and women were sent to the Eastern American colonies
as well as Guyana, Antigua, and Montserrat as well between
sixteen twenty nine and sixteen thirty two, as other Caribbean
(06:08):
locations over the next few decades were infiltrated. By sixteen
thirty seven, approximately sixty nine percent of the population of
Montserrat were Irish. Many were indentured servants, yet some were slaves.
The rationale was simple. Black slaves had to be purchased
at a cost of around twenty to fifty pounds sterling,
a huge sum of money in those days. However, Irish
(06:31):
slaves were sold for nine hundred pounds of cotton per person,
but also traded for tobacco and indigo in a straight
barter system. The Irish then became the largest source of
slaves for English slave traders and plantation owners, far surpassing
the African slave trade until the early to mid seventeen hundreds.
Between sixteen forty one, during the Irish Rebellion to sixteen
(06:54):
fifty two, over five hundred and fifty thousand Irish were
killed by English forces and three hundred thousand more were
sold as slaves, mostly military aged men. Their children, especially
women and girls, were sold and considered quite valuable in
the domestic service role. The greatest perpetrator of this was
Oliver Cromwell, who defeated Charles the First in sixteen forty
(07:17):
nine during the English Civil War and had him executed. Cromwell,
as Lord Protector, waged a ruthless war against the Irish
starting in sixteen forty nine. By sixteen fifty it is
claimed that nearly twenty nine thousand Irish were sold to
planters in Saint kitt during the decade of the sixteen fifties.
It is also claimed, as well as disputed, that around
(07:38):
one hundred thousand Irish children, generally from ten to fourteen
years of age, were taken from their parents and were
also sold and sold themselves also as slaves or indentured
servants in the West Indies, Virginia, the Carolinas and New England.
Between sixteen fifty one and sixteen sixty the Irish slaves
far outnumbered the colonists in all areas. In sixteen fifty two,
(08:03):
Cromwell ordered that twelve thousand Irish were to be sold
to Barbadoes on one May sixteen fifty four. His to
Hell or to connoct Proclamation was issued during the Active
Settlement of sixteen sixty two. This was when the English
began confiscating all Irish held lands, and the native Irish
were relocated west of the Shannon River. Those who resisted
(08:24):
were sent to the West Indies as slaves or executed.
His own words proclaimed those who failed to transplant themselves
into Connacht or County Claire, whether six months shall be
attained of high treason, or to be sent to America
or other parts beyond the Seas. Those banished who return
ought to suffer the pains of death as felons. By
(08:46):
virtue of this act, without benefit of clergy, the English
could kill the Irish without penalty, but selling them offered
great profit. It is claimed that over eighty thousand more
Irish were sold, with fifty two thousand going to the college.
These are Barbadoes and Virginia. Many argued that these were
indentured servants, not slaves. Yet there are no records of
(09:06):
contracts between those forcibly removed and their benefactors. One may
assume that, given the barter system of using tobacco and
cotton as a trade item for workers. That these deported
Irish were in fact slaves. In sixteen fifty six, the
Council of State ordered the roundup of one thousand Irish
girls and one thousand Irish boys in their early teens,
(09:27):
even some children, to be rounded up and sold to
Jamaican planters. As these would be children whose parents were
already deported, the persons were Irish, and no indentured servant
would be released to go to Jamaica. These had to
be forcibly exported Irish who were already present in New York. So,
(09:48):
whether one accepts the reality of Irish slavery or not,
the fact remains that there were Irish people forced into slavery. Therefore,
those transported unwillingly and effectively sold were not considered to
be indentured. These deported Irish were in fact slaves.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And a terrific job on the production editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler. By the way, Colin Heaton
and his buddy Mike Droberg do terrific work on their
YouTube channel Forgotten History. His type Forgotten History on the
YouTube bar, and you'll find all of their great work.
The line that tells it all. The English could kill
(10:24):
the Irish without penalty. They could be sold profitably. That
explains slavery throughout the world. It's so much more than
skin colored slavery. It's about war, it's about the vulnerable,
and it was always and still is about profit. The
story of the Irish being the first slaves in America.
(10:46):
Here on our American Stories.
And we continue with our American stories. There's been an
ongoing debate as to whether the Irish were the first
slaves in the Americas, pre dating the first Black African
slaves by almost a decade. Our next story comes to
us from Colin D. Heaton and Mike Droberg, two military
(00:30):
veterans and the founders of the terrific YouTube channel Forgotten History.
Their videos focus on military heroes, actions and events spanning
across the globe and are watched by hundreds of thousands
of people. Here's Colin Heaton with the story.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Some groups deny the Irish slavery under English and later
British rule, claiming that this was nothing more than voluntary,
intentioned servitude, which did exist. However, the official British legal
terminology used was indentured servants. Whether the servants in question
had willingly signed the indenture contract to immigrate to the
Americas or were first to go. Many were forced. Therefore,
(01:14):
those transported unwillingly and effectively sold were not considered to
be indentured. This included political prisoners, vagrants, convicts, political activists, thieves, prostitutes,
or people who had been defined as undesirable by the
English government. The Irish introduction to slavery was during the
(01:35):
first Viking rates in the year seven ninety five, lasting
through the mid ninth century. This period saw the Irish
killed and enslaved, just like many other societies. The Vikings attacked.
Most of these early raids were along the northern and
eastern coast, using hit and run tactics. The Vikings would
then flee with treasure and slaves and returned to either
(01:57):
their holdings in Scotland or back to Norway. Usually, many
slaves who were of value were ransomed back to their families,
but others remained in captivity. Then, from the year eight
thirty seven onward, larger targets such as the greater monastic
towns of Armagh, Glendallah, Kildare, Slain, Clonard and Clonmacnois and
(02:19):
Lismore were hit by larger forces. These large scale rage
generally spare the smaller local churches and villages far inland,
but slaves were still taken, mostly to Scotland and Iceland.
In eight seventy five, Irish slaves in Iceland launched Europe's
largest slave rebellion since the end of the Roman Empire,
when Holfier lift Holmarston's slaves killed him and fled to Vetsmaniyar.
(02:43):
In eight forty one, the port that became known as
Dublin was taken and occupied by both Olaf and Ivar
the Boneless, and by eight fifty three this part of
Ireland was a Norse trading center and slaves were a
large part of it. But Irish resistance was not over
and nine eight the Irish under mail Seconal Macdomneil, King
(03:04):
of Meath, fought and managed to defeat the Vikings and
freed all of their slaves. Some Vikings who remained assimilated
and adapted to Christianity and became part of Irish society.
The final nail in the coffin regarding Vikings holding land
and taking slaves was in ten fourteen at the Battle
of Clontarf, when Brian Burrew, High King of Ireland, attacked Dublin,
(03:27):
aided by his allies the Limerick Vikings. They fought other
Irish ally to the local Vikings in Dublin and Beru's
force I and all the slaves were again freed, thus
ending the legacy of constant Norse raids, whether from Danes
or Norwegians. In eleven fifty five, Pope Adrian the Fourth
supposedly gave Henry the Second of England a papal bull,
(03:48):
granting the king the authority to invade Ireland. However, many
historians believed that this authorization was a forgery. Regardless, Adrian's successor,
Pope Alexander the Third, granted the lands of Ireland to
Henry the Second, although it was not his land to give.
The Normans were initially invited to Ireland by Dermott macmurrah,
the deposed King of Leinster. In October eleven seventy one,
(04:12):
King Henry Second landed in Ireland and allowed Dermot to
recruit soldiers and mercenaries. As Ireland was made up of
several kingdoms at war with each other, the city of
Dublin and the surrounding area were under Norman occupation and
would be called the Pale or the safe zone. Going
beyond that was considered foolish, hence the term we used
today going beyond the Pale. Following the Battle of Kinsale
(04:37):
in sixteen oh one, when the Irish had Spanish alliance
was defeated, the Irish aristocracy fled to Europe, but the
commoners remained After nearly a decade, King James the First
of England gave permission for the English Governor General to
collect and sell the captured Irish soldiers as slaves and
send them to the New World in the Americas. Twelve
(05:00):
the first recorded Irish slaves were sold, possibly to the Portuguese,
and taken to the Amazon River basin in their colony
in modern day Brazil. This brought them to the New World.
There has been some dispute as to whether these people
were indentured servants or slaves, but it is clear that
they were forced out of Ireland to the New World,
so it seems illogical and ridiculous to assume that they
(05:23):
went voluntarily, hence the status of slaves. It has been
chronicled that in sixteen twenty five, James the First's son,
Charles the First, issued the decree, but given the timeline
on James's death, it would appear that his son Charles
probably did issue the world decree authorizing the Irish slaves.
This included prisoners captured, those deemed to be common criminals
(05:46):
and rabble rousers who were sold. They were to become
the property of the English plantation owners in the North
American colonies. As a result, tens of thousands of Irish
men and women were sent to the Eastern American colonies
as well as Guyana, Antigua, and Montserrat as well between
sixteen twenty nine and sixteen thirty two, as other Caribbean
(06:08):
locations over the next few decades were infiltrated. By sixteen
thirty seven, approximately sixty nine percent of the population of
Montserrat were Irish. Many were indentured servants, yet some were slaves.
The rationale was simple. Black slaves had to be purchased
at a cost of around twenty to fifty pounds sterling,
a huge sum of money in those days. However, Irish
(06:31):
slaves were sold for nine hundred pounds of cotton per person,
but also traded for tobacco and indigo in a straight
barter system. The Irish then became the largest source of
slaves for English slave traders and plantation owners, far surpassing
the African slave trade until the early to mid seventeen hundreds.
Between sixteen forty one, during the Irish Rebellion to sixteen
(06:54):
fifty two, over five hundred and fifty thousand Irish were
killed by English forces and three hundred thousand more were
sold as slaves, mostly military aged men. Their children, especially
women and girls, were sold and considered quite valuable in
the domestic service role. The greatest perpetrator of this was
Oliver Cromwell, who defeated Charles the First in sixteen forty
(07:17):
nine during the English Civil War and had him executed. Cromwell,
as Lord Protector, waged a ruthless war against the Irish
starting in sixteen forty nine. By sixteen fifty it is
claimed that nearly twenty nine thousand Irish were sold to
planters in Saint kitt during the decade of the sixteen fifties.
It is also claimed, as well as disputed, that around
(07:38):
one hundred thousand Irish children, generally from ten to fourteen
years of age, were taken from their parents and were
also sold and sold themselves also as slaves or indentured
servants in the West Indies, Virginia, the Carolinas and New England.
Between sixteen fifty one and sixteen sixty the Irish slaves
far outnumbered the colonists in all areas. In sixteen fifty two,
(08:03):
Cromwell ordered that twelve thousand Irish were to be sold
to Barbadoes on one May sixteen fifty four. His to
Hell or to connoct Proclamation was issued during the Active
Settlement of sixteen sixty two. This was when the English
began confiscating all Irish held lands, and the native Irish
were relocated west of the Shannon River. Those who resisted
(08:24):
were sent to the West Indies as slaves or executed.
His own words proclaimed those who failed to transplant themselves
into Connacht or County Claire, whether six months shall be
attained of high treason, or to be sent to America
or other parts beyond the Seas. Those banished who return
ought to suffer the pains of death as felons. By
(08:46):
virtue of this act, without benefit of clergy, the English
could kill the Irish without penalty, but selling them offered
great profit. It is claimed that over eighty thousand more
Irish were sold, with fifty two thousand going to the college.
These are Barbadoes and Virginia. Many argued that these were
indentured servants, not slaves. Yet there are no records of
(09:06):
contracts between those forcibly removed and their benefactors. One may
assume that, given the barter system of using tobacco and
cotton as a trade item for workers. That these deported
Irish were in fact slaves. In sixteen fifty six, the
Council of State ordered the roundup of one thousand Irish
girls and one thousand Irish boys in their early teens,
(09:27):
even some children, to be rounded up and sold to
Jamaican planters. As these would be children whose parents were
already deported, the persons were Irish, and no indentured servant
would be released to go to Jamaica. These had to
be forcibly exported Irish who were already present in New York. So,
(09:48):
whether one accepts the reality of Irish slavery or not,
the fact remains that there were Irish people forced into slavery. Therefore,
those transported unwillingly and effectively sold were not considered to
be indentured. These deported Irish were in fact slaves.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And a terrific job on the production editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler. By the way, Colin Heaton
and his buddy Mike Droberg do terrific work on their
YouTube channel Forgotten History. His type Forgotten History on the
YouTube bar, and you'll find all of their great work.
The line that tells it all. The English could kill
(10:24):
the Irish without penalty. They could be sold profitably. That
explains slavery throughout the world. It's so much more than
skin colored slavery. It's about war, it's about the vulnerable,
and it was always and still is about profit. The
story of the Irish being the first slaves in America.
(10:46):
Here on our American Stories.
Host
Lee Habeeb
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com