When was it published?

August 20, 1772 in The Virginia Gazette

Foreign News August 20, 1772

The Virginia Gazette

Q: What keywords are associated?

Ireland Emigration, Dublin Letter, Oppressive Landlords, America Migration, Economic Hardship

Richmond, Williamsburg, Richmond County, Virginia

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What is this article about?

A letter from Dublin describes widespread emigration from Ireland to America due to oppressive landlords, leading to depopulated villages, abandoned farms, and economic hardship, contrasting with Spanish motives for seeking riches in the New World.

Clipping

OCR Quality

98% Excellent

Full Text

May 16. A Letter from Dublin, after reporting the Emigration from different Parts of that Kingdom, concludes thus: "Let a humane Spectator take a View of our depopulated Country, and it cannot fail in his Breast to raise the most melancholy and affecting Reflection; Villages without Inhabitants, Farms without Tenants, cultivated Lands running wild, and all originally owing to the cruel and oppressive Landlords. Our People throng to America, and who can blame them? Totally unable here any longer to exist by the Exertion of Industry, they prefer a Land flowing with Milk and Honey to that of Famine and abject Slavery." Pride, Laziness, and an inordinate Love of Riches, prevailed over the Spaniards to forsake their native Country for the Mines of Mexico and Peru; a very different, and a far more reasonable Motive, induces the British Emigrants, namely, to labour and eat.

What sub-type of article is it?

Economic Colonial Affairs

What keywords are associated?

Ireland Emigration Dublin Letter Oppressive Landlords America Migration Economic Hardship

Where did it happen?

Dublin

Foreign News Details

Primary Location

Dublin

Event Date

May 16

Outcome

depopulation of villages and farms in ireland; emigration to america

Event Details

A letter from Dublin reports emigration from various parts of Ireland due to cruel and oppressive landlords, resulting in uninhabited villages, tenantless farms, and wild cultivated lands. People are fleeing to America to escape famine and slavery, preferring a land of opportunity. This is contrasted with Spanish emigration to Mexico and Peru driven by pride and greed, while British emigrants seek to labor and sustain themselves.