Born Fighting by James Webb is a mixture of memoir, history, and migration paths of the Scots-Irish. The timeframe it covers is from the pre-Roman times through to today. The influence of the Scots-Irish people on America is significant and profound, with their view of bottom-up leadership, the Populism of Andrew Jackson, their consistent and ongoing willingness to serve in our country’s military, fighting our wars, and defending those less able.
Bottom-up leadership can be thought of as those who follow choose whom they will follow by the strengths and moral character of those who would lead them. This had a significant impact on the Founding era as America fought for independence, with the soldiers often choosing whom they would follow, and the formation of a Representative Republic to serve the people, and not make the people subject to the whims of government as was the case throughout the rest of the world (and typically still is).
Leadership is summed up as follows: there are those who lead by inspiring those who follow (serve) to do what is needed, and those who must order those under them to do what is needed. The question then asked, which kind of leader would you rather work for?
Webb uses Jackson as a fine example of what the Scots-Irish looked for in a leader, strength of will, integrity, fine moral character.
The Scots-Irish, a highly militaristic people with a strong sense of wanderlust, always wanting to see what is over the next horizon, secured the wilderness territories of the ravages of hostile natives and foreign incursion.
In-depth discussions of their influence continues throughout the 19th Century, focusing on the Civil War and the era of reconstruction, how the war devastated the South and set the stage for an impoverished and disadvantaged segment of America.
He also explores the religious aspects of the Scots-Irish, from the Calvinistic beliefs evolving into the Baptist Church of today.
Then, touching on music, specifically Country music, as being an offshoot of the traditional folk music of Scotland and Ireland, which it most distinctly is, along with the way it evolved into something profoundly unique and American.
Born Fighting is quite a good read, for those who are Scots-Irish descent and for those who are not.
