Irish Catholic leaders steered their flock into proslavery alignment against natural abolitionist sympathy.

Evidence

It is now quite apparent that they will go en masse with Southern men-stealers, and in opposition to the anti-slavery movement. This will not be done intelligently by them, but will be effectually controlled by a crafty priesthood and unprincipled political demagogues. When we had our great meeting in Faneuil Hall, we took all parties by surprise. Our Irish fellow-citizens, who were then present, acted out their natural love of liberty, to the life; for at that time, they had not been instructed how to act by their leaders, and the Pilot and Diary, and other Irish papers here, had not opened their batteries. Since that time, however, they have kept wholly aloof from us, and it is impracticable to get them to listen to us. — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 95

Categorization

• QUESTION: Garrison claims Irish immigrants had natural abolitionist sympathies overridden by leaders — worth checking how far this ‘natural love of liberty’ framing reflects actual immigrant sentiment vs abolitionist wishful thinking.
• XREF: connects to: Abolitionists courted the Irish as fellow laborers against slavery — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 55; Boston Irish publicly repudiated O’Connell’s antislavery stand to embrace slavery’s defenders — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 120; Irish-American leaders suppressed Irish abolitionist solidarity to protect Repeal unity — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 82 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Boston Irish publicly repudiated O’Connell’s antislavery stand to embrace slavery’s defenders #exemplifies (0.92) — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 120
• Irish-American leaders suppressed Irish abolitionist solidarity to protect Repeal unity #corroborates (0.90) — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 82
• Irish nationalists sought proslavery credentials to enter the American mainstream #expands (0.82) — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 81
• Abolitionists courted the Irish as fellow laborers against slavery #complicates (0.78) — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 55
• Religious identity racialized Irish Catholics as a separate inferior race #qualifies (0.73)