The Highlands of Scotland in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century: Fertile Fields for Recruiting Settlers for Georgia's Colonial Frontier

Anthony W. Parker

The study of the economic and social changes in the Highlands of Scotland during the first third of the eighteenth century challenges the generally accepted view that the first phase of clearance began in the 1760s after the conclusion of the Seven Years War in America and with the introduction of sheep into the Highland culture. By understanding the social upheaval in the Highland glens during the decades before the 1745 Jacobite uprising, we are able to see that the motives for migration to British North America were already well established. Though emigration from Scotland before 1760 has been acknowledged by leading Scottish historians such as Tom Devine and Allan Macinnes, this paper indicates that the importance of these early migrations has been understated. The Georgia movement represents an active change in attitude in the relationships between clansmen and chiefs and a reaction in the Highlanders' views toward their traditional society that was endemic throughout the Highlands in the 1730s. For many emigrants, migration was an effort to maintain the traditional social structures and values. These challenges to Highland culture provided the "push" element for the initial migrations well in advance of the 1760s, while the appearance of the Georgia recruiters in 1735 produced the "pull" component.

[WP #96010]