ABSTRACT
The Presbyterian Irish, also known as Scots-Irish or Scotch-Irish, began arriving in the American colonies in significant numbers as early as May 1656. The Scots-Irish would play an important role in America's early history, by helping to settle the frontier, fighting in the revolution, and contributing to the development of America's first political party system. Protestant Irish emigrated from the northern part of Ireland to North America in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries primarily for political, religious, and economic reasons. Scots-Irish Americans remained grateful to Monroe and continued to despise King, and their votes expressed as much in 1816. Monroe won uncontested re-election in 1820, and in 1824 all the various presidential aspirants could plausibly claim to be "Republicans". However, in the absence of a Federalist opposition, factionalism broke out within Republican ranks, effectively destroying that party, as well as America's First Party System.
