Seattle Settlers Condemn British Rule in Ireland
A local assembly of Irish-American organizers drafts a formal protest against the British government's land policies and the forced migration of the Irish peasantry.
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At a convention in Seattle, members passed a series of resolutions condemning the British government's treatment of Ireland. They resolved that the policy of the English government in reducing the Irish peasantry to abject poverty, and then sending them penniless to the United States, is an insult not to be borne by American charity. The convention formally requested the President of the United States to insist that England cease sending paupers whose misery began under and by the consent of the English government, arguing that such people should not be a burden upon the United States. The group expressed solidarity with Irish laborers and called for fair wages and better conditions for those working on farms and in trade.
“The policy of the English government in reducing the Irish peasantry to abject poverty, and then sending them penniless to the United States, is an insult not to be borne by American charity.”
This 1883 resolution reflects Seattle's role as a growing city populated by immigrants who maintained deep political ties to their homelands. It mirrors the persistent tension in American civic life where global political crises are brought to the local stage to demand federal action.
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