Irish Canallers and the Second Slavery in the Lower Mississippi Valley

Abstract

This article explores the lower Mississippi valley's antebellum history to uncover the role of Irish immigrant laborers in the riverine economy of the Cotton Kingdom. In particular, this article examines the experience of Irish laborers as canallers and ditchers on plantations and internal improvement projects, which drew thousands of Irish immigrants into the interior of the Mississippi valley in the decades before the American Civil War. Scholars will better understand the experience of these Irish laborers through the lens of “the second slavery,” which helps point the way to a broader comprehension of the employment of free labor in the antebellum South. This article demonstrates that Irish immigrants were a manifestation of the labor demands of the second slavery, and through their toil, they helped ensure that US cotton reached the global market.