English colonization of Ireland, which stretched as far back as 1100, intensified many of their beliefs about themselves and about "the other." In particular, Ireland provided them with a model for expropriating land, and a justification for doing so. The English argued that the Irish did not improve their land through the type of cultivation that was becoming dominant in England, so they claimed that they were justified in taking it.

Over time, Anglo-Norman Irish political leaders grew restless, and the series of wars, beginning in the sixteenth century, demonstrated to the English that they could subdue a hostile people, and discipline them as a labor force, if they were willing to use enough force. Cromwell's actions against Ireland demonstrate the lengths to which the English were willing to go.

As thousands of English settlers streamed into Ireland, the English developed a model of exploitation that would be transported to its colonies in America. Colonies could serve as both markets for English goods and suppliers of raw materials. Native cultures could be destroyed or subjugated, and colonies could be profitable.

The Irish experience also convinced Englishmen of their own superiority over people that did not live as they did. Many of the tropes used to describe "savages" in the New World had been used for years to describe the Irish.