Ashley Strange

Hillbillies: A People that Helped Form America

The gentle terms of republican race, mixed rabble of Scotch, Irish, and foreign vagabonds, descendants of convicts [and] ungrateful rebels are some of the sweet flowers of English rhetoric with which our colonists have of late been regarded. –Benjamin Franklin, 1765

            As England once thought of the colonists, mainstream America thinks of the Scotch-Irish immigrant today.  Also, known as “hillbillies” or “rednecks”, these people inhabit the Appalachian Mountain region, also the lower Midwest, the South, Oklahoma and Texas, and even parts of California and the Mountain West.  Many people view hillbillies as backward, quick to violence, and inbred in their isolation.  However, there is much more complexity and value to the culture of the Scotch-Irish immigrant than many Americans today care to see.  Because this culture is being surpassed by Corporate America and the rapidly increasing levels of smog that keep our highways running, the term “Hillbilly” is used in a derogatory sense to describe uneducated white people of lower socio-economic class.  If one could stop for a minute and enjoy a drink of this culture, many redeemable qualities could be found.  Of the many that are present, three such values of Hillbilly culture stand out:  these people are loyal – they fight for what they believe in (and have made up much of our military and Presidential seats because of it), this culture has contributed much to what is now known as Country-Western music, and (all of modern America could learn from this) Hillbillies know how to live simply.

            The Scotch-Irish immigrated to America in the 1700’s from the lowlands of Scotland and Northern Ireland (Hillbilly 1).  Because their native country had been stained by centuries of war, these immigrants brought with them to America unparalleled skills as frontiersman and fighters.  When one thinks of a redneck, it is often thought that they have “hot blood”, that they are narrow-minded and quick to fight.  But if our country is going to war, the hillbilly or redneck is definitely the type to choose to fight for America.  These people know what they stand for, and they will not back down from their principles or change their views because a majority opinion differs.  Everyone should learn from this: do not take to an idea and follow it blindly because the popular vote is to do so.  Because of this value, the Scotch-Irish are considered to be a fighting people.  This should be looked at in a positive light.  They fought the Indians and then they fought the British, comprising 40 percent of the Revolutionary War army (Webb 10).  As America’s history continues, they provided many of the greatest generals and soldiers our nation has ever seen.  This value of the Hillbilly is a great characteristic of a leader.  More than one-third of all U.S. Presidents have Scotch-Irish lineage (Scotch-Irish 12).  Some of the more notable names are Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, John Adams, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush (Scotch-Irish 13).  It is clear that America would not be the world power that it is today without the fighting influence of our nation’s hillbillies and rednecks.

            Country-Western music is a genre that helps identify what is “American” to our nation and the rest of the world.  To trace back this music’s roots would mean to travel to the hills of Appalachia.  Country music is at the heart of the Scotch-Irish culture (Webb 11).  Back in the days of prohibition, the moonshiners would make their runs then enjoy relaxing to the fiddles and slap basses.  What a sight to see!  In its beginnings, this music was known as “Hillbilly music.”  It has also been referred to as “Mountain Music,” moving to “Hillbilly Boogie” in the 1940’s and “Rockabilly” in the 1950’s (Hillbilly 3).  It is not possible to name all the Legends of this hillbilly music, but some that are notable are Hank Williams, Sr., Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, the Delmore Brothers, and even Elvis Presley.  Once this music was discovered and taken from the mountains to be loved nationwide through the help of the Grand Ole Opry, the music industry merged hillbilly music with Western Swing and Cowboy music – which brings us to the truly American musical form of Country-Western music as it is known today.

A Hill-Billie is a free and untrammeled white citizen […] who lives in the hills, has no means to speak of, dresses as he can, talks as he pleases, drinks whiskey when he gets it, and fires off his revolver as the fancy takes him. –Anthony Harkins, 1900

            It’s true: no man or government will ever take a Hillbilly’s gun.  But think about this image of the Scotch-Irish American.  They live simply – they enjoy the slower pace of life.  In a society where everyone is always running late, wishing for more time in a day, and losing more and more sleep, should this not be a value to look on and learn from?  Until the Civil War, these people were not very different from the rest of America, but afterward the frontier pushed further west, the Appalachian country retained its character, and thus was born the negative connotation of the Hillbilly.  It would be nice for America to find happiness in sitting on the porch with the family, drinkin’ some whiskey and pickin’ a fiddle.  In Bread Givers, a typical American consumerism idea can be seen:

But the more people get, the more they want.  We no sooner got used to regular towels than we began to want toothbrushes, each for himself like Mashah.  We got the toothbrushes and we began wanting toothpowder to brush our teeth with, instead of ashes.  And more and more we wanted more things, and really needed more things the more we got them (29).

Hillbilly culture sees the absurdity in this American idea, and because of their individualistic attitudes, they have refrained from selling into this.  Perhaps the present state of the economy would not be so if more Americans took on the Hillbilly way of simple living.

            The Scotch-Irish are all around, even though most probably don’t realize it.  They are a force that shapes our culture.  The best way to sum up their way of life is that they have a strong, conservative tradition with ancient roots.  What is so low or laughable about this?  Once upon a time, in a hillbilly high school, an agriculture teacher taught her students, “Always remember who you are and where you’re from – and make your family proud.”  More of the principles that our country was founded on would be alive and well today if our fast-paced society could slow down, take just a little of the Scotch-Irish way of life, and implement it in their own. 

Works Cited

Hillbilly.  8 Dec. 2009. Wikipedia Foundation, Inc.  9 Dec. 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hillbilly.

Scotch-Irish American.  8 Dec. 2009.  Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. 9 Dec. 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch-Irish_American.

Webb, James.  Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America.  New York: Broadway Books, 2004.

Wilgus, D. K.  “Country-Western Music and the Urban Hillbilly.” The Journal of American Folklore 83.328 (1970) 157-79.  JSTOR. U of Houston-Clear Lake, Houston, Alfred R. Neumann Lib.  5 Dec. 2009 http://www.jstor.org/stable/539105.

Yezierska, Anzia.  Bread Givers.  New York: Persea Books, 2003.