CHAPTER CONTENTS A. How Do We Know about the 1798 Rebellion?
B. Ireland before the Rebellion
C. Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen D. Lead-up to Rebellion E. The 1798 Uprising Apply Your Learning
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1798 and the United Irishmen The 1798 Rebellion is remembered as a united effort by the people of Ireland to gain independence. Many Catholics throughout Ireland and more particularly the Presbyterians in Ulster found the ideals of the American Revolution and later the French Revolution inspiring. They believed that the concepts of liberty, equality and, very importantly, fraternity (a sense of brotherhood) could also be achieved in Ireland. Some believed that with the support of revolutionary France it would be possible to create an Ireland in which all Irish people could prosper, regardless of religion. They saw the power of Britain over Ireland as the major threat to their hopes of religious tolerance, democracy and freedom. Gradually these people became prepared to use violence to achieve their aim of a free and equal Ireland. They were called the .