Re: What degree of immigrant am I?

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

I can trace my family history back four generations on my mother's side.

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@cherry wrote:
I don't know about all of my family ,just a bit on both sides. My fathers side came here in the 1600's

My mothers side is part Native American ,so I have no way of knowing how far back that goes. Both sides married immigrants, so I am pretty well a Heinz 57 type

The best thing is you are an AMERICAN and you know about your rich heritage. If you are and American, you an American! You are not a Native American, you are an American of Native American heritage!

My thought is that all of us are American. Period! We should embrace and celebrate our heritage, but first and foremost consider ourselves Americans! Bring back the pride!

dex · ‎03-09-2010

@Mz iMac I only have a Canadian passport.My husband was transferred to the USA 17 years ago bu the company he works for.I feel like it is my home now after all of this time.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@Sooner wrote:
@cherry wrote:
I don't know about all of my family ,just a bit on both sides. My fathers side came here in the 1600's

My mothers side is part Native American ,so I have no way of knowing how far back that goes. Both sides married immigrants, so I am pretty well a Heinz 57 type
The best thing is you are an AMERICAN and you know about your rich heritage. If you are and American, you an American! You are not a Native American, you are an American of Native American heritage!

My thought is that all of us are American. Period! We should embrace and celebrate our heritage, but first and foremost consider ourselves Americans! Bring back the pride!

************************************

@Sooner

What's wrong with celebrating our ancestors and where they came from? We can, and do, do both... we celebrate July 4th, Veterans Day, and for me, St. Patrick's Day and St. David's Day.

There's no rule, thank goodness, that we have to pretend none of our ancestors existed or handed down their history to us,

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@151949 wrote:
Convict labor is not the same thing as slavery.And actually, neither is indentured servitude since the person enters into it via a contract for a certain period of time and receives something (money or whatever) when it is over.

For instance - a person wants to come to America but has no money so they find a rich person coming to America and sign a contract to be their indentured servant for x # of years in return for the fare over and a place to reside when they get here. This has been legally abolished but it is not exactly the same as slavery. The person enters into it voluntarily.

*****************************

@151949

It seems you didn't read the information I shared. It wasn't merely convict labor. They were set up, arrested on false charges. And where they may have received a sentence of two to five years, they were kept in the mines until they died, sometimes 20 years.

And their families were never told where they were or what had happened to them.

THAT is slavery.

pitdakota · ‎03-16-2010

I loved researching my ancestors and found it fascinating. My father's line came over to Virginia in the late 1600s from England. Have a 4th or 5th (I can't ever remember right now) great grandfather that fought in the War for Independence.

My mother's family also came in the early 1700s from northern Ireland. We even tracked down the grave of my 3rd great grandfather that is now on a family farm.

* Freedom has a taste the protected will never know *

Lovingq · ‎03-09-2010

I had the unfortunate experience of having my ancestry vilified during my trip to New Zealand in 1986. With a withering sneer, a resident commented that I spoke impeccable english for a German. He detested the German people for the bombing raids on London which was his ancestory. See link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/germany_bombs_london

I had the unfortunate reaction of not explaining that while my last name was German, in fact I was a German Jew born in the United States hence the reason for my impeccable english. I wish I had fully explained but found him to be filled with hate and vitriol to continue any conversation with him. Alas, others I met unrelated to him also wanted to talk about my ancestry.

My point is for those who think ancestry doesn't matter, it does.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

Huh ??? We are either immigrants or we aren't. It doesn't carry over ....lol You were born here, you aren't an immigrant.

katiemichelle · ‎06-10-2015

@Annabellethecat66 wrote:
My great grandmother was a Cherokee Indian (on my Father's side).

My mother's grandmother and her grandfather came over from Ireland and Scotland.

My daughter has always gritted her teeth when she hears me say that I'm not entirely from immigrants.

So, on Christmas day I spit in a tube and she mailed it off. About 2 weeks ago she presented me with a piece of paper that had a map on it and showed that my heritage (whatever it's called) is Scotch/Irish and a tiny percentage something else. PERIOD>

I said, "OK, so that's what we've always known, your grandma's grandparents came from Scotland and Ireland. However, am I supposed to believe that my mother and father's relatives are BOTH from Scotland and Ireland"? Ha! Ha!

I know for a fact that my father's side of the family is predominately (not entirely) American Indian. Evidently, it didn't come through.

If you knew my maiden name (it is one of the most generic in the country) and if you can believe this, my grandmother married a man with the same generic last name as her grandfather but they weren't related! It is a very, very American name.

I just think this is so funny. I've felt like this stuff is pretty much made up. I think this proves it. I know it's very intricate but if you could see this map...

This was one of the most popular companies most people use. I don't know if it means my mother's side of the family had super strong genes and they only show through, but I am telling you that my Dad's side of the family is not represented.

I do think in some small (depending on how you look at it) way if for no other reasoning than we weren't just plopped here.......

I tested with both Ancestry and 23andme. My Native American ancestry did show up with both companies, as well as my Scots/Irish. Furthermore, I tested my three children and their Native American ancestry showed up as well.

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@Noel7 wrote:
@Sooner wrote:
@cherry wrote:
I don't know about all of my family ,just a bit on both sides. My fathers side came here in the 1600's

My mothers side is part Native American ,so I have no way of knowing how far back that goes. Both sides married immigrants, so I am pretty well a Heinz 57 type
The best thing is you are an AMERICAN and you know about your rich heritage. If you are and American, you an American! You are not a Native American, you are an American of Native American heritage!

My thought is that all of us are American. Period! We should embrace and celebrate our heritage, but first and foremost consider ourselves Americans! Bring back the pride!
************************************

@Sooner

What's wrong with celebrating our ancestors and where they came from? We can, and do, do both... we celebrate July 4th, Veterans Day, and for me, St. Patrick's Day and St. David's Day.

There's no rule, thank goodness, that we have to pretend none of our ancestors existed or handed down their history to us,

Nothing is wrong with celebrating our heritage. I said that in my post. We should celebrate our heritage, but we should be and identify ourselves as Americans first if we live here as citizens. If you are a citizen, you need to invest in your country.