Lets consider the effect of
Scots on the USA.
-
Anyone looking at the map of North Carolina
will find that there are 130 towns or places beginning with either
"Mac" or "Mc".
-
Nearly half of the Secretaries of the US Treasury
and one third of the the Secretaries of State
of United States have been of Scots
origin.
-
Nine of the thirteen Governors of the newly
created United States were Scots or of Scottish descent.
-
Of the fifty six signatories of the Declaration
of Independence nine were directly or indirectly descended from
Scots.
At least eleven Presidents of the USA have
had Scots ancestry
Our Laird of Jura book lists
even more achievements but we lack space here to repeat them all.
Some people think of the Tartan Day as being day to remember! A day
to celebrate! Scotsmen and women left their native country to travel
to faraway places around the world including the United States,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However as Scots they
brought with elements of their culture not just the tartan kilt and
bagpipes but their skills their tenacity and hard work.
National Tartan Day on April 6th is about celebrating their
achievements.
There are nearly as many descendants of Scots
living in Canada as there are people living in Scotland; almost 5
million. In the US there are more than 12 million people of
Scottish descent.
Many Scottish groups and societies campaigned
for recognition of their importance in the development of their country.
Central to their campaign was the recognition of the anniversary of the
Declaration of Arbroath (1320) as their national date to celebrate their
Scottish roots.
A small part of that
Declaration of Arbroath, states
"For so long as one hundred men remain alive,
we shall never under any conditions submit to the domination of the English.
It is not for glory or riches or honours that we fight, but only for liberty,
which no good man will consent to lose but with his life."
Canada was the first to recognise April 6th as the
special Tartan Day.
America followed suit on March 20th 1998, when Senate
Resolution 155 (S.Res. 155), proposed by US Senate Republican majority
leader Trent Lott, was passed unanimously.
The full resolution
as passed in the US Senate, with its preamble, is as follows:
S. Res. 155
Whereas April 6 has a special significance for all Americans, and especially
those Americans of Scottish descent, because the Declaration of Arbroath,
the Scottish Declaration of Independence, was signed on April 6, 1320
and the American Declaration of Independence was modelled on that inspirational
document;
Whereas this resolution honors the major role that Scottish Americans
played in the founding of this Nation, such as the fact that almost half
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Scottish descent,
the Governors in 9 of the original 13 States were of Scottish ancestry,
Scottish Americans successfully helped shape this country in its formative
years and guide this Nation through its most troubled times;
Whereas this resolution recognizes the monumental achievements and invaluable
contributions made by Scottish Americans that have led to America's preeminence
in the fields of science, technology, medicine, government, politics,
economics, architecture, literature, media, and visual and performing
arts;
Whereas this resolution commends the more than 200 organizations throughout
the United States that honor Scottish heritage, tradition, and culture,
representing the hundreds of thousands of Americans of Scottish descent,
residing in every State, who already have made the observance of Tartan
Day on April 6 a success;
Whereas these numerous individuals, clans, societies, clubs, and fraternal
organizations do not let the great contributions of the Scottish people
go unnoticed:
Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate designates April 6
of each year as "National Tartan Day."
Scotland has tried to establish a similar celebration Tartan Day over
the last couple of years but it has yet to take off in any major way.
Arbroath of course taking the lead followed by other large towns.
The third largest city in
Scotland Aberdeen has just just decided to launch its own Tartan day
celebration but going against the international consensus of going
for April 6th — the anniversary
of the Declaration of Arbroath —
but choosing a day in August. WHY?
See our pages on the
Tartan and
The Kilt
here |
