Those of you whose ancestors immirgrated here

[PeterS]

Did they come hereto be Mexicans? Did they come here to be Spaniards, Koreans, or French?

I descend from both Spanish and English lines and since both sides remained Spanish and English citizens when they arrived I think it would be safe to say they came here to be both Spanish and English.

Is there someplace you are trying to go with these questions? I think it safe to say most, if not all, came here because the felt they could improve their quality of lives or because they liked the adventure. The advance in quality of life generally came from theft of property from the natives and much of the adventure centered around that theft.

Does that answer your questions?

 

[Angelhair]

I would say that most came as they were - but once here, became AMERICANS! Granted, some kept one foot in their country of birth, others firmly planted both feet in the good ole USA!

 

[Cecilie1200]

what did they come here to be?

Depends on which branch of my family you talk to. Given the very mixed heritage we have now, there's quite a diversity. Most of my northern/western European forebears, though, lived in rural areas and had something to do with farming. A number of them became pillars of the community and went into the law or law enforcement. My most famous ancestor was a plantation owner and politician. And yes, that means he owned slaves.

 

[Cecilie1200]

They could have been free in any obscure borderlands.

They could have farmed the land in nearly any corner of the world.

They could have fled to Asia, Africa, South America, or Greenland.

Why America? What did they choose to become by coming here in order to be all of those things they knew they could be in this country?

Did they come hereto be Mexicans? Did they come here to be Spaniards, Koreans, or French?

Given how long ago most of my ancestors came here, I'm guessing the huge, unexplored spaces and the distance away from the government had a lot to do with their decision.

 

[Intense]

Liberty! Self Determination!

 

[JWBooth]

what did they come here to be?

Virginians

Ya'll understand the exponential progression involved in genealogy?
2 parents
4 grandparents
8 great grandparents
16 gggrandparents
32 ggggrandparents
64 gggggrandparents
128 ggggggrandparents

So depending on how far back your people came here, answering this question can be very very involved.

 

[Annie]

what did they come here to be?

They came to avoid starvation and have the rights denied them by the British. They truly yearned to eat and 'breathe free.'

 

[uscitizen]

Irish then?

 

[Anguille]

what did they come here to be?

Hell if I know. I never met them.

 

[Annie]

Irish then?

Who'd have guess? You did. All 4 of my grandparents. Mucho discrimination they encountered. Within that generation made their way from NYC, Boston, Beacon Hill to Chicago. Some did better than others, but some made their way to suburb of Chicago by 1937. There they encountered severe discrimination by religion.

By 1960, same suburb, same discrimination via religion. I know. I experienced it at 5 years old. Had my clothes torn off. 5. years. old. The kook was looking for a mark of Satan, no joke.

Somehow I came through my early years without too much prejudiced, with the exception of religious zealots of any sort. Yes, including Catholic. I'm not keen on Evangelicals, especially those that argue for ID in science. I certainly have issues with Islamists that argue for Sharia.

 

[WillowTree]

My ancestors came in 1600's but I believe has enough money where they were able to buy land, and were slave owners in South Caronlina. I know they were kicked out of France but from what they did I am guessing they had money when they immigrated to Ireland first.

They were probably Huguenots, Luissa. At that time many were fleeing France because the Huguenots had faced persecution since the Reformation. Many were killed in planned massacres under a plan for total extermination.

The only Huguenot church in America is in Charleston South Carolina.

 

[Granny]

Don't know how long my maternal ancesters have been here - it's been researched back into the 1700s - from England. My paternal family came from Poland - depending on which census you look at they are listed as German/Prussian/Polish. Polish is their native language and they were apparently living in a part of Poland that was under German control at the time. The borders of Poland moved all over the place depending on who was doing the invading at any given time. Permanent borders were set after WWII. They came over prior to Ellis Island keeping records and as far as I can tell became US citizens in the mid-1860s. They spoke Polish in the home and in the Polish neighborhood where they lived, but otherwise spoke English in the "outside" world. My best guess was that they wanted to escape persecution in Poland.

 

[The T]

They probably came looking for freedom and land.

And if it was the 1600's chances are they got indentured servitude and no land.

They kept coming. Must've been better than what they were leaving behind.

what the HELL is the POINT of you thread? Think unfettered IMMIGRATION should continue?

 

[The T]

And if it was the 1600's chances are they got indentured servitude and no land.

They kept coming. Must've been better than what they were leaving behind.

Not necessary. All that is necessary is that they think America is better than where they are at. By the time they get here 4000 miles later its a bit too late to turn around.

of course, invariably, for the first part of our history, America WAS better for anyone willing to farm the land, as there was plenty land to go around.

There still IS.

 

[Old Rocks]

Earliest ancestors that I know of here were Dutch. Many connections through that line with the founding fathers of this nation. They followed the frontier all the way to the Pacific Coast.

On my fathers side, mostly Scot-Irish. From the Appalachians and Ozarks. Mostly verbal histoy, many not that literate. Some arrived before the Revoltionary War, and took part in it. The rest seemed to have come in between that and the Civil War.

The Prussian side came from fleeing Stetin after the Revoltion Against the Monarchy in 1848.

One line, with no possible way of tracing it, seems to have had some African and/or Indian blood.

Like most Americans, I find it interesting to trace, as much as possible, my ancestory. But, first and foremost, I am an American.

 

[dilloduck]

Conscription dodgers and farmers.

 

[Mr. H.]

Paternal grandmother was Rom. Gypsies weren't treated well and many shared the same fate as Jews.
So she was sent to the U.S. just to stay alive.

 

[froggy]

Illegals are here robbing us of tax dollars, and sending money to mexico to fund more illegal activities.

 

[editec]

Many of you implying that your forefathers came here in the "early 1600's" might very well have come here as endentured servants.

In fact, many of the WASPS who came here in the Puritan immigration waves were just that...endentured: not quite free, and not quite slaves.


Here's a list of those people from the Mayflower, FYI.

 

[editec]

Like so many of you American mutts, some of my family roots down to the prerevolutionary days and others to more recent (late 19th century) immigrants.

Those 18th Moravians came for religious (and economic, too, I'd wager) freedom found in William Penn's commonwealth experiment called Pennsylvania.

My paternal GF, it is reported was escaping the AstroHapsburg police's tender mercies, as he was a Czech nationalist in a time when that wasn't a healthy political POV to have in Bohemia.