Under the Starry Flag

How a Band of Irish Americans Joined the Fenian Revolt and Sparked a Crisis Over Citizenship

By: Lucy E. Salyer

Narrated by: Cynthia Wallace

In 1867, 40 Irish American freedom fighters, outfitted with guns and ammunition, sailed to Ireland to join the effort to end British rule. Yet they never got a chance to fight. British authorities arrested them for treason as soon as they landed, sparking an international conflict that dragged the United States and Britain to the brink of war.

The Fenians, as the freedom fighters were called, claimed American citizenship. British authorities disagreed, insisting that naturalized Irish Americans remained British subjects. Following in the wake of the Civil War, the Fenian crisis dramatized anew the idea of citizenship as an inalienable right, as natural as freedom of speech and religion. The case of the Fenians, Lucy E. Salyer shows, led to landmark treaties and laws acknowledging the right of exit.

The small ruckus created by these impassioned Irish Americans provoked a human rights revolution that is not, even now, fully realized. Placing Reconstruction-era debates over citizenship within a global context, Under the Starry Flag raises important questions about citizenship and immigration.

The book is published by Harvard University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2018 Lucy E. Salyer (P)2021 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“A stunning accomplishment.” (Passport)

“A brilliant piece of historical writing as well as a real page-turner.” (Kevin Kenny, author of The American Irish: A History)

“Beautifully crafted and compelling…Highly recommended.” (Mary Dudziak, author of War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences)