Boston Irish publicly repudiated O’Connell’s antislavery stand to embrace slavery’s defenders

Evidence

O’Connell’s attacks on Garrison did not stop the abolitionists from giving the Address wide publicity. On November 18, they held a meeting in Faneuil Hall on the subject of Irish Repeal and American Slavery. Many Irish attended. The Address was read, and elicited occasional applause, but not from the Irish in the audience. A Mr. Tucker, who identified himself as vice president of the Repeal Association in Boston, spoke from the gallery, to repeated cheers, pointing out that even if both O’Connell and the Pope were abolitionists, neither spoke for the Irish in America. He was supported by a Mr. O’Brien, who added that, while he was personally opposed to slavery, he regarded it as his duty to uphold American institutions. He, too, received enthusiastic applause. Of those who claimed to be both Irishmen and Repealers, only one person, a Mr. Campbell, took the platform in support of the antislavery movement. When he expressed his disgust for the concern for Ireland pretended by President Tyler and Col. Johnson, and asked his countrymen present in the hall whether such slaveholders could possibly be true friends of Ireland, the response from the hall was “Yes, Yes, Yes!” — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 120

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Concrete evidence for the reader’s driving thesis that choosing to side against Black Americans was how Irish secured whiteness — this Faneuil Hall scene shows Irish crowds actively choosing pro-slavery Tyler/Jonson over O’Connell’s abolitionism.
• XREF: connects to: Pro-slavery Irish Americans argued Irish peasants were worse off than American slaves — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 87; Even O’Connell rebuked Irish immigrants who romanticized Southern slave conditions — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 89; Irish Catholic leaders steered their flock into proslavery alignment against natural abolitionist sympathy. — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 95 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• American and Irish repudiation of O’Connell coincided with abandoning antislavery #expands (0.90) — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 124
• Irish-American leaders feared losing native acceptance if O’Connell attacked slavery. #expands (0.85) — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 44
• Irish nationalists used internal abolitionist disputes to distance themselves from antislavery #corroborates (0.78) — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 90