On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1784, a young Irishman named Matthew Carey stepped off a ship in Philadelphia with twelve guineas in his pocket and a past that had already forced him out of his home country. Having written against British rule and the treatment of Irish Catholics, he arrived in the United States convinced the new republic offered something different.

Carey rose to become one of early America’s most influential publishers, but his path was anything but easy. He faced discrimination for his Irish heritage and Catholic faith, survived a near-fatal duel defending his honor, and used his platform to argue that immigrants and outsiders could help strengthen the nation.

Karen Kaufmann shares the story of a man who helped shape early American ideas about citizenship, opportunity, and what it meant to be an American. We'd like to thank the Jack Miller Center for telling us about this tale.

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Matthew Carey: The Irish Immigrant Who Shaped Early America

Our American Stories

Matthew Carey: The Irish Immigrant Who Shaped Early America