Title Under the starry flag : how a band of Irish Americans joined the Fenian revolt and sparked a crisis over citizenship / Lucy E. Salyer

Published Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2018 ©2018

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Description 1 online resource (316 pages) : illustrations Contents Prologue: Erin's hope and the forgotten right of expatriation -- Part One. The Fenians and the making of a crisis. Clonakilty, God help us! ; Exiles and expatriates ; The Fenian pest ; Civis Americanus sum -- Part Two. Citizenship on trial. A floating rebellion ; The voice from the dungeon ; All the world's a stage -- Part Three. Reconstructing citizenship. Are naturalized Americans, Americans? ; This is a white man's government! ; The politics of expatriation ; Private diplomatizing ; Treating expatriation -- Epilogue: Exits Summary "In 1867 forty Irish-Americans sailed for Ireland to fight against British rule. Claiming that emigrants to America remained British citizens, authorities arrested the men for treason, sparking a crisis and trial that dragged the U.S. and Britain to the brink of war. Lucy Salyer recounts this gripping tale, a prelude to today's immigration battles."--Provided by publisher In 1867 forty Irish-American freedom fighters, outfitted with guns and ammunition, sailed to Ireland to join the effort to end British rule. Yet they never got a chance to fight. British authorities arrested them for treason as soon as they landed, sparking an international conflict that dragged the United States and England to the brink of war. Under the Starry Flag recounts this gripping legal saga, a prelude to today's immigration battles. The Fenians, as the freedom fighters were known, claimed American citizenship. British authorities disagreed, insisting that naturalized Irish Americans remained British subjects. Following in the wake of the Civil War, the Fenian crisis dramatized anew the idea of citizenship as an inalienable right, as natural as freedom of speech and religion. The captivating trial of these men illustrated the stakes of extending those rights to arrivals from far-flung lands. The case of the Fenians, Lucy E. Salyer shows, led to landmark treaties and laws acknowledging the right of exit. The U.S. Congress passed the Expatriation Act of 1868, which guaranteed the right to renounce one's citizenship, in the same month it granted citizenship to former American slaves. The small ruckus created by these impassioned Irish Americans provoked a human rights revolution that is not, even now, fully realized. Placing Reconstruction-era debates over citizenship within a global context, Under the Starry Flag raises important questions about citizenship and immigration.-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-301) and index Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (ProQuest Ebook Central, viewed February 6, 2019) Subject Citizenship -- United States -- History -- 19th century Expatriation -- United States -- History -- 19th century Expatriation -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century Irish Americans -- History -- 19th century Fenians. LAW -- Constitutional. LAW -- Public. HISTORY -- United States -- Civil War Period (1850-1877) Citizenship Diplomatic relations Expatriation Fenians Irish Americans SUBJECT United States -- Foreign relations -- 1865-1898. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140082 United States -- Foreign relations -- Great Britain Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- United States Subject Great Britain United States Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780674989214 067498921X

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