My Ancestry - How I came to be an American
Of all the forces driving our behavior, "hope" is probably the strongest motivator of the Human Spirit. Folks attend church and hold elections because of "hope." Way back, starting in grade school, my generation was taught that, unlike most of the world's much older nations, America's citizenry is an eclectic collection of people built up from the very first hundreds, then thousands, then millions of immigrants that arrived and are still arriving, on our shores from almost every continent on this precious Earth; all motivated by "hope." We can put up fences, but we cannot fence out "hope." "Hope" is all we really have. Even so, immigration is an event fraught with contradiction, fear, joy, and desperation; thus it is not for the faint of heart.
Starting over 25,000 years ago, the North American Continent was slowly settled by waves of indigenous people who crossed over the Bering Strait or floated over from present day Siberia and Asia. Newfoundland was visited as early as the year 1000 by Vikings - long before the Caribbean Native Americans discovered Chris Columbus lost at sea in 1492. The Spanish settled on the Florida coast in 1513 followed in 1607 by the English at Jamestown in present day Virginia; so, my ancestors were "early" late-comers. It interesting that 25% of Euro-Americans think or say they are descended from the Pilgrim passengers on the "God Scip" Mayflower who landed in the "New World" on November of 1620. The actual number of Mayflower descendents is around 3%, or approximately 10 million people. My original "Old-World" relatives did not arrive on the Mayflower; still, they managed to arrive about 150 years before the Declaration of Independence was drafted. Both sides of my family line derived from the diverse stock of folks who sought new opportunities, bringing with them their nostalgia for the Old Country. During my military service, I was able to visit some of the lands of my forebearers - England, France, Germany. I never got close to Scotland; but, I saw Ireland once - the southern edge - from 20,000 feet. People were right: it appeared very green - mostly.
My ancestors served in British, European, and American militaries, generation by generation, for over 600 years. They fought in ubiquitous wars in England, Scotland, and Europe. They served during the American Revolution (both sides) and the American Civil War (both sides.) Some of my ancestors were heroes, some were famous, and the majority were just ordinary folks; odds say that a few were bound to be scoundrels. According to Ancestry.com® and MyHeritage.com®, my immigrant ancestors came from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Germany, Denmark, and the other Nordic lands around the Baltic Sea. Apparently, my most famous relative is William Shakespeare who is my 10th generation Great Uncle. "Uncle Bill," of course, sired no line of descendants directly connecting him to me; however, his sister Joan, my 10th generation Grandmother, married William Henry Hart and their progeny married into my direct line of Milligan’s. That's not my fault. Being identified as worthy of a linage is not a requirement for being born. I can give you many modern examples.
No matter how many generations my family has lived in America, I descended from immigrants and their sons and daughters. I am no more or less a citizen than the person who was naturalized yesterday. Every American family line immigrated from somewhere else to get to this country, including all indigenous Native American people. That should allow some perspective on who can call themselves Americans and challenges our primitive human propensity to have our own definition of racial purity and nationalism, as it damn well should. Being human does not mean we are always humane, so freedom without equality is an insult and a contradiction.
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