Ulster-Scots documents from 250th anniversary of signing of US Declaration of Independence coming to PRONI in Belfast
Washington DC’s Library of Congress is lending documents for display in Belfast which show how the US was “shaped in important ways by people from Ulster”.
The historical documents include an address by a US President whose parents were from Carrickfergus – Andrew Jackson.
The seventh US President, one page of his second annual address - setting indigenous land clearance policy in the context of his forefathers’ migration - will be in the exhibition in Belfast this Autumn.
Also among the documents are papers relating to Charles Thomson, from Gorteade, Upperlands, Co Londonderry, who was Secretary to the Continental Congress that formulated the Declaration. His address to George Washington on his election to the first Presidency of the United States is one of the documents to be on display.
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) exhibition will also include be a letter from the General Assembly of United Presbyterian Church, a Scots-Irish congregational organisation, to Abraham Lincoln. setting out the church’s opposition to slavery.
News of the documents coming to Belfast was announced by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons after visiting the library, where he viewed the documents first-hand in specialist storage.
A range of documents relating to the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence will be shown in at PRONI’s headquarters in Titanic Quarter, Belfast later this year.
Dr Kevin Butterfield, Acting Chief of the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress, said the founding of the United States was “greatly shaped” by people from Ulster.
He said: “The Library of Congress is happy to play a role in this exhibition by loaning materials that can help people in Northern Ireland learn more about the rich and complex history of the founding of the United States.
"It’s a history shaped in important ways by people from Ulster, as these documents bring to life.”
Minister Lyons said he is “delighted” that his department has secured the loan of some “remarkable original documents” that form an important part of America’s history.
He added: "They will be carefully transported across the Atlantic to feature in an exciting new exhibition celebrating the legacy created by the many thousands who left these shores for America in the late 1700s.
“This will be the first time in history that the documents have been on loan outside of the USA. This has been achieved through direct engagement between my officials and the Library of Congress over several months, with my recent visit sealing the deal in person.”
He added: “I encourage everyone to come along later in the year to explore these documents and much more.”
The exhibition in PRONI is one of the events that will help Northern Ireland commemorate the deep historical and ongoing connections that exist between here and the USA.
To find out more about events across Northern Ireland marking the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence and its links with Ulster, visit www.usa-ni250.co.uk.
At least five of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence had direct Ulster family connections, Thomas McKean, James Smith, George Taylor, Matthew Thornton and Edward Rutledge.
The Declaration itself was printed by an Ulster-Scot, John Dunlap from Strabane, Co. Tyrone. The Great Seal of the United States was designed by Charles Thomson from Upperlands in Co. Londonderry.
Twenty of the US Presidents can claim Ulster-Scots roots.