Book excerpt: Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Arrival in New England -- Invasion of the pine tree state -- Confronting franco-americans in maine -- Expansion in the granite state -- Rebuff in the Green Mountain state -- Confronting Irish Catholic politicians in the bay state -- Counterattack by commonwealth Catholics -- Attempt to americanize the ocean state -- Infiltrating the rhode island militia and implication in the sentinelle affair -- Encountering secession in the constitution state -- Reappearance in the late twentieth century -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Index