Scotch-Irish Americans

Scotch-Irish Americans (sometimes Scots-Irish) are American descendants of primarily Ulster Scots people, who emigrated from the Ulster province of Ireland to the United States between the 18th and 19th centuries, with their ancestors having originally migrated to Ulster, mainly from the historically conflict‑ridden counties of the Scottish Lowlands and Northern England along the Anglo-Scottish border in the 17th century.

In the 2017 American Community Survey, 5.39 million (1.7% of the population) reported Scottish ancestry, an additional 3 million (0.9% of the population) identified more specifically with Scotch-Irish ancestry, and many people who claim "American ancestry" may actually be of Scotch-Irish ancestry.

The term Scotch-Irish is used primarily in the United States, with people in Great Britain or Ireland who are of a similar ancestry identifying as Ulster Scots people. Many left for North America, but over 100,000 Scottish Presbyterians still lived in Ulster in 1800. With the enforcement of Queen Anne's 1704 Popery Act, which caused further discrimination against all who did not participate in the established church, considerable numbers of Ulster-Scots migrated to the colonies in British America throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.