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Proclamation 1625: America's Enslavement of the Irish
When one thinks of slavery in America, the only thought that comes to mind is Africans picking cotton in the fields of America. What many Americans don't know is that the Irish preceded the Africans as slaves in the early British colonies of America and the West Indies. They toiled in the tobacco fields of Virginia and Maryland and the sugar cane fields of Barbados and Jamaica.
For over 179 years, the Irish were the primary source of slave labor in the British American colonies. Proclamation 1625 is the unveiling of the true and untold history of slavery in America. King James I's Proclamation ordering the Irish be placed in bondage opened the door to wholesale slavery of Irish men, women and children. This was not indentured servitude but raw, brutal mistreatment that included being beaten to death.
The Irish were forced from their land, kidnapped, fastened with heavy iron collars around their necks, chained to 50 other people and held in cargo holds aboard ships as they were transported to the American colonies.
During the early colonial period, free European and free African settlers socialized and married. Intermarriages existed in the colonies for over a hundred years until the birth and evolution of white racism. The Irish and African slaves were housed together and were forced to mate to provide the plantation owners with the additional slaves they needed.
The British abolished slavery in 1833. This act emancipated the Irish slaves in the British West Indies. America abolished slavery in 1865. None of this freed the Irish to the degree they wanted because America had classified them as 'colored' and treated them accordingly. It was only after the ruling class accepted them as 'white' that they could finally "I'm free, white and 21."
Proclamation 1625 is for those who want to know the true and untold history of slavery in America.
For over 179 years, the Irish were the primary source of slave labor in the British American colonies. Proclamation 1625 is the unveiling of the true and untold history of slavery in America. King James I's Proclamation ordering the Irish be placed in bondage opened the door to wholesale slavery of Irish men, women and children. This was not indentured servitude but raw, brutal mistreatment that included being beaten to death.
The Irish were forced from their land, kidnapped, fastened with heavy iron collars around their necks, chained to 50 other people and held in cargo holds aboard ships as they were transported to the American colonies.
During the early colonial period, free European and free African settlers socialized and married. Intermarriages existed in the colonies for over a hundred years until the birth and evolution of white racism. The Irish and African slaves were housed together and were forced to mate to provide the plantation owners with the additional slaves they needed.
The British abolished slavery in 1833. This act emancipated the Irish slaves in the British West Indies. America abolished slavery in 1865. None of this freed the Irish to the degree they wanted because America had classified them as 'colored' and treated them accordingly. It was only after the ruling class accepted them as 'white' that they could finally "I'm free, white and 21."
Proclamation 1625 is for those who want to know the true and untold history of slavery in America.
- GenresHistory
228 pages, Hardcover
Published April 13, 2016
41 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Herbert L. Byrd Jr.
2 books1 followerHerbert L. Byrd Jr. is president and CEO of MOJA an information technology and intelligence analysis company which supports the U.S. intelligence community and national level decision-makers. Herbert has a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University, LC Smith School of Engineering and Computer Science. He was born in Hampton, VA.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 28, 2020
Henry Ford - of Irish descent himself - once said "History is bunk!" If he could read this work of historical fiction, his cranky opinion would find vindication. For this reason I unfortunately bestow my only one star review to date. :(
Whiteness is more than a social construct: it's a genetic reality used in the exploitation of nonwhites. That whites have also been exploited by ruthless class societies from ancient times to modern Britain and Russia just means someone must serve as "mudsill." Racism was introduced in colonial America to bypass white class differences; to recreate an anachronistic feudal order, circumventing the "Rights of Englishmen" of 1688 and the "Rights of Man" of 1789.
There was no Irish chattel slavery, as this book vainly tries to prove. But there were indeed Irish convicts and servants sentenced, deported or kidnapped to the New World. Their treatment was harsh, perhaps more so than their English counterparts because of their ethnicity and religion; yet it never amounted to hereditary chattel slavery. The racism of Irish in America was obviously the result of wage competition at the bottom rungs of US society, not an attempt to escape "slave status." The alleged "burying of Irish slavery" by white supremist historians displays the half-baked, pseudo-educated mentality afoot in the world, that must attack respectable scholarship as its only means of forwarding conspiracy-theory fiction. While lacking in its thin thesis the book is tiresomely padded with British dynastic and military history.
What motive there may be in its peddling might be revealed in the quotation attributed to a visitor in Philadelphia in 1805, who sees white women "sexually fascinated" and seduced by black men and hundreds of inter-racial couplings and progeny running its cobbled streets. From this the author would like to imagine a deep-seated white conspiracy to scrub the prowess of the black male from American history, to hide the intermixing with "white slave women". As if there isn't enough half-baked racist nonsense still floating loose in the American ether.
This author is credited with assisting US intelligence operations. Perhaps now you know why no WMD were found in Iraq. . . .
Whiteness is more than a social construct: it's a genetic reality used in the exploitation of nonwhites. That whites have also been exploited by ruthless class societies from ancient times to modern Britain and Russia just means someone must serve as "mudsill." Racism was introduced in colonial America to bypass white class differences; to recreate an anachronistic feudal order, circumventing the "Rights of Englishmen" of 1688 and the "Rights of Man" of 1789.
There was no Irish chattel slavery, as this book vainly tries to prove. But there were indeed Irish convicts and servants sentenced, deported or kidnapped to the New World. Their treatment was harsh, perhaps more so than their English counterparts because of their ethnicity and religion; yet it never amounted to hereditary chattel slavery. The racism of Irish in America was obviously the result of wage competition at the bottom rungs of US society, not an attempt to escape "slave status." The alleged "burying of Irish slavery" by white supremist historians displays the half-baked, pseudo-educated mentality afoot in the world, that must attack respectable scholarship as its only means of forwarding conspiracy-theory fiction. While lacking in its thin thesis the book is tiresomely padded with British dynastic and military history.
What motive there may be in its peddling might be revealed in the quotation attributed to a visitor in Philadelphia in 1805, who sees white women "sexually fascinated" and seduced by black men and hundreds of inter-racial couplings and progeny running its cobbled streets. From this the author would like to imagine a deep-seated white conspiracy to scrub the prowess of the black male from American history, to hide the intermixing with "white slave women". As if there isn't enough half-baked racist nonsense still floating loose in the American ether.
This author is credited with assisting US intelligence operations. Perhaps now you know why no WMD were found in Iraq. . . .
July 14, 2016
Spectacular read
Mr. Byrd has done a stupendous job in depicting the truth about slavery in America. What an eye-opening read to understand and know what slavery truly was prior to black slaves in the United States of America this is a book that should be. shared and not hidden from our American students. America has chosen to do leave this part of our nations history out and feel as though Mr. Byrd has share this information in such a respectful an elaborate fashion. I applaud him for sharing this information. This should definitely be a required read for all students across our nation. The reality that the Irish slaves worked as much as blacks in the fields. The truth that they were treated the same as black slaves beaten and bound stolen and kidnapped from their land and I highly recommend this book to everyone to see the realities of the history of our nation thank you Mr. Bird for doing such an outstanding job
Mr. Byrd has done a stupendous job in depicting the truth about slavery in America. What an eye-opening read to understand and know what slavery truly was prior to black slaves in the United States of America this is a book that should be. shared and not hidden from our American students. America has chosen to do leave this part of our nations history out and feel as though Mr. Byrd has share this information in such a respectful an elaborate fashion. I applaud him for sharing this information. This should definitely be a required read for all students across our nation. The reality that the Irish slaves worked as much as blacks in the fields. The truth that they were treated the same as black slaves beaten and bound stolen and kidnapped from their land and I highly recommend this book to everyone to see the realities of the history of our nation thank you Mr. Bird for doing such an outstanding job
April 19, 2019
Utter, utter rubbish.
Where to start? There's too much to choose from, including the basic premise. I'm not sure what "research" this writer did, but most of this book is complete fiction. Even the cover is wrong! Ulster and Munster aren't towns, and Drogheda is spelled incorrectly.
One star, only because I can't give zero.
Where to start? There's too much to choose from, including the basic premise. I'm not sure what "research" this writer did, but most of this book is complete fiction. Even the cover is wrong! Ulster and Munster aren't towns, and Drogheda is spelled incorrectly.
One star, only because I can't give zero.
October 4, 2022
When I heard this book was available, I immediately purchased it. I have so many arguments with people over white slavery.
This book has a lot of information, names, dates, locations, government and royal officials.
Then the more you read, there are spelling mistakes and a few bits of misinformation which make you question the integrity of the work.
The conclusion said a lot to me, he says the planet is been around for billions of years but man has only been on the planet for 6,000 of those years?
I really wanted this book to give good, precise information.
What a disappointment
This book has a lot of information, names, dates, locations, government and royal officials.
Then the more you read, there are spelling mistakes and a few bits of misinformation which make you question the integrity of the work.
The conclusion said a lot to me, he says the planet is been around for billions of years but man has only been on the planet for 6,000 of those years?
I really wanted this book to give good, precise information.
What a disappointment
March 18, 2024
Written by a military Veteran that is genuinely interested in the subject. Most Veterans tend to take an interest in history and most academic historians tend to copy each other in order to meet a deadline. Short but informative. I was not aware that the Irish were still listed as "colored" on government forms into the 1940's. Evidently, they were granted "white" status to fill boots and go off to fight to save their British oppressors from the Germans.
October 14, 2025
This book is full of misinformation. For example, King James the VI & I did not make any proclamations in the three months of 1625 during which he lived (he died on March 27th). Further, Charles I did not make any proclamations about the Irish in 1625, and the only ones he did make were about Irish beggars being deported back to Ireland. He made no other proclamations about the Irish. Oliver Cromwell tried to commit a genocide on Irish Roman Catholics, but this did not include enslaving them, just killing or converting them.
June 27, 2020
Great Book
This book should be required reading in the Public Schools of America. With the rise in racial problems in recent years, people need history more than ever before. Too many people so ignorant of the past, they see nothing unusual about the present. I think a DNA test would be an eye opener for many, and be beneficial in helping to solve the racial problems we see today.
This book should be required reading in the Public Schools of America. With the rise in racial problems in recent years, people need history more than ever before. Too many people so ignorant of the past, they see nothing unusual about the present. I think a DNA test would be an eye opener for many, and be beneficial in helping to solve the racial problems we see today.
September 30, 2020
I have read several books on Irish history, and a few on enslavement of the Irish by the English. This book does not have the 'academic ring' of lofty language that some academics may prefer, but it presented the clearest historical picture that I have read. Very logically and chronologically presented.
June 26, 2021
Brief but enthralling!
This was a very brief piece but was educational and brought to light the abuses suffered by the Irish before they were indentured servants but in actuality were sold into slavery before the blacked were introduced to slavery in the western world.
This was a very brief piece but was educational and brought to light the abuses suffered by the Irish before they were indentured servants but in actuality were sold into slavery before the blacked were introduced to slavery in the western world.
April 4, 2023
I would like to thank whoever wrote this book personally I never knew about any of this. I'm of Irish decent and had some ancestors that maybe been part of this life. I'm doing some research to find out for sure. I have been trying too find out more. Thank you again for your book it's awesome.
December 27, 2020
Interesting book
Found this book very enlightening and interesting.
Slavery was a horrible event take place in our country angst at the Irish and the black people.
Found this book very enlightening and interesting.
Slavery was a horrible event take place in our country angst at the Irish and the black people.
April 24, 2025
He is basing his whole book on what? His opinion. This is lies.
March 21, 2024
I have read a few book on this subject and this particular book was less statistical and technical but explained the impetus of some changes in colonial America that go untaught in history classes. While the book does a fine job filling in some gaps between A and B you must overlook the mistakes that are in it, the naming of a city that didn't exist and the misspelling of some words.
I wouldn't rely on this book as a soul source on the subject but when read with others it rounds out some of the lingering questions that had remained. It is a well documented fact that Irish were enslaved by the English for life and shipped to English territories (including the colonies) and that fact should be taught in schools rather than leaving students to believe that all Irish that were bond were indentured servants.
Bottom line, a quick easy read with enough information in it to make it worth reading.
I wouldn't rely on this book as a soul source on the subject but when read with others it rounds out some of the lingering questions that had remained. It is a well documented fact that Irish were enslaved by the English for life and shipped to English territories (including the colonies) and that fact should be taught in schools rather than leaving students to believe that all Irish that were bond were indentured servants.
Bottom line, a quick easy read with enough information in it to make it worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews