Hello Joe,
I'm a long-time reader, first-time writer. (I read your book in one day, I was so captivated!) I am an ethnic Canadian Scots-Irish, born and raised in Toronto, where Matt is writing from in his letter "Scots-Irish in Canada and US are different". (I'm currently temporarily working in Brisbane, Australia.)
To possibly offer some regional context to this issue, I think an important aspect of difference between our two environments is that, in Toronto (and Ontario in general), the Scots-Irish were never an 'underclass', in any way shape or form. Now, this is not to say that there weren't poor, economically unsuccessful members of the community in Toronto, of course there were. But what I mean is, the Scots-Irish formed a dominant group in Ontario's political life from the 19th to well into the 20th Century.
There were over 700 Orange Order lodges based in Ontario, all of which were politically active and influential in their respective localities. In Toronto, the Orange Day Parade (commemorating 'King Billy' and the Battle of the Boyne) was the largest annual parade the city had, until it was basically shut down for reasons of political correctness and demographic change. Ulster Protestants had a strangle-hold on Toronto's City Hall until the end of World War Two. One can travel all around Ontario and find innumerous attestations to this.
While the Scots-Irish could indeed be aggressive and violent in the pursuit of their political views and goals, in Ontario they were never a hopeless, ground down upon underclass. I think this is the key difference which led to the vastly disparate experiences our ancestors have had. When frustrated or angry on a given issue, the Ulstermen of Ontario could march, protest and vote their anger, and they would be heard, if not always heeded.
If a given locality proved to be unbending on a given point, Ulstermen were always free and able to re-locate, either within the Province or elsewhere in Canada. I think there was never a sense of stasis or hopelessness that could lead to the negative internalization which has affected the Ulstermen of the Southern US to such a harmful degree.
Even as a ethnic Orangeman, I do think that my people have been historically narrow minded, intolerant at times (to put it mildly), and prone to expressions of needless violence. But even so, in my view, it was local processes of history, geography, religion and politics in the South and Appalachia, rather than simply genetics and pre-destination, which led to the differences between our people that your book so accurately describes and that Matt writes of from his new home.
Sincerely,
Dave
Brisbane, Australia
