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This really is a complex topic that can't be fully discussed in one post. BUT,
I did my in-laws Genealogy (Deep Southern), and the Southern families- from what I saw in endless hours or research in the censuses going back to the 1700's- is that many of the Deep South have been in the US for quite a while, back to 1700 or earlier, even if they were originally from French settlers, or English/Scotch settlers exiled to Barbados. Many have African ancestry mixed in along the way, but won't recognize it.
Some even came from New England originally, then migrated South in the 1700's. In any case, they identify as American, as the OP says. I believe it may be due to the Federalist politics and culture of that region. Most in all regions aren't aware of their genealogy.
There is something to be said of expats abroad identifying with their state as their country while abroad- I have seen this and even said it myself as well. It makes sense-- in a world scale, our states really are like little countries with distinct cultures.
The other areas (particularly "the North" or Northeastern US) have had a larger influx of immigrants over years, which may account for the dependency between ethnicity reporting between regions. In my geneaology, I can claim 1/4% true Yankee--all the rest of my grandparent's ancestors are recent immigrants arriving here from various European locales since 1800.
In Boston, and when you ask "what are you?" most people will say Irish mainly, or Italian or some mutt mixture. Even if they can be traced back to the original Yankees (original Protestant English New England settlers of the early 1600's) they will still claim the ethnicity of recent immigrant ancestors. I have no hypothesis as to why exactly this is.
I haven't read my way through the thread, but I would guarantee the same answer emerges over and over again.
Most Southerners today are the product of many generations on American soil. What's more, there's a great deal of English, Scot, Welsh, Irish, Cherokee, and other blood flowing through the average Southerner's veins. So actually saying "Why, I'm of this origin," is not only a little stupid, but it's bound to be inaccurate. I mean, hey, if your grandparents came from Italy and Poland or Russia in the late 1800s or early 1900s, stayed in their own neighborhood and generally married others from the same culture, it's a far easier box to check on the census.
I am native to Boston but live in Charleston, SC half the year; I have been doing volunteer genealogy research for about four years in both areas. I find that in SC the population is largely of Scot-Irish, English, French, African and German origin (also a fair amount of Cherokee, usually mixed with something else) and many people's families can be traced back in America to before the Revolution.
In the Northeast the population is much more diversified in ethnic origin and a great deal are decended from immigrants who arrived in the big cities in the mid to late 19th century. Often you'll see a mix of a few nationalities in the lines---and you'll see where one line can be traced back to say 1640 but then the rest will be more recent. Something like 20 percent of the population around the Boston area can trace at least one ancestor to the Mayflower, even if they identify their ancestral origins as something other than English. The south did not have nearly as much immigration at the same time as the northeast did in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
I think why a lot of Southerners identify as "American" is simply due to the fact their families have been here so long they have lost a strong connection with their ancestral home, do not know much of their family history (except they have been in the US a long time) as well as the culture here which fosters a patriotic spirit.
I can trace my father's family into 17th and 18th centuries southern New England and New York; they were of English and Irish origin. (a small number of Irish came to NE in the late 17th, early 18th century---one of the earliest witch trials in Boston centered around an Irish woman, circa 1650).
As for my mother's family, her father came to Boston from Kerry, Ireland in 1890 and her mother is entirely descended from early New England puritans who settled on the north shore of Massachusetts and Portsmouth, NH having come to Boston in 1632.
I tend to identify as of English-Irish origin even though most of my family has been in New England for so long.
Last edited by Austin023; 07-08-2013 at 09:47 AM..
As an American southerner, the vast majority of my ancestors came from Europe (England, France, Germany, Scotland for the most part) in the 1600s and 1700s. Several of them married Native American women. At least one branch was Jewish - but from Switzerland.
So really - what should I label myself other than "American" at this point? The last of my family tree to immigrate to the US from Europe came across the pond around 1830. I'd say we've pretty much lost touch with our European roots!
As an American southerner, the vast majority of my ancestors came from Europe (England, France, Germany, Scotland for the most part) in the 1600s and 1700s. Several of them married Native American women. At least one branch was Jewish - but from Switzerland.
So really - what should I label myself other than "American" at this point? The last of my family tree to immigrate to the US from Europe came across the pond around 1830. I'd say we've pretty much lost touch with our European roots!
I agree with you but the census asks what's your ancestry and not what nationality are you. If someone don't know exactly his ancestries and just say American, I don't mind because it's not his fault but when you know exactly where your ancestors came from I don't know why you don't answer to the question.
Except for Native Americans, everyone comes from an other continent (Europe, Africa and Asia) and the aim of the census it's to show how much this country is rich in diversity. Later the issue will be that American will be the largest ancestry ahead of British, German and Irish and more people will forget about their heritage.
I agree with you but the census asks what's your ancestry and not what nationality are you. If someone don't know exactly his ancestries and just say American, I don't mind because it's not his fault but when you know exactly where your ancestors came from I don't know why you don't answer to the question.
Except for Native Americans, everyone comes from an other continent (Europe, Africa and Asia) and the aim of the census it's to show how much this country is rich in diversity. Later the issue will be that American will be the largest ancestry ahead of British, German and Irish and more people will forget about their heritage.
Certainly there has to be a point after centuries and centuries and centuries of your ancestors being American that it's pointless to say that your ancestry is European?
Poor record keeping by a populace who've been in that region since before the Revolution. That's why they say "American". My family is of Southern background. All four of my grandparent's surnames are English and most of them claimed to be "Irish" which is kind of funny. After reading a bit of history they're "Irish" by virtue of a couple generations in Ulster but are really of the Scottish/English/Huguenot blend that makes up the Protestants in that Irish province. Add a dash of German (1/8) and Cherokee (also 1/8) and I don't know how we could be classified as anything else but "American". We're primarily of British Isles extraction, but after two to three centuries in North America its time to stop clinging to Europe.
^this is correct. I have tried tracing my families heritage and I encounter several dead ends almost immediately in the 1800's for most branches, although I did trace my grandfathers grandmother's family back to the 1700's Virginia, but it dead ends there. States like Mississippi, for example, didn't keep state wide birth records until 1917. There were some counties that did, but not many. In studying my families past, a lot of the research is extremely dependent on information passed down from family. Basically word of mouth and not any sort of documentation. I know on my Grandfathers side, the bulk of the family is from England. In fact, my real first name and last name are very common in England. But my grandmother was half Choctaw, and the rest is untraceable. On my mother's side. Good grief. I believe some of them left North Carolina in the early 1800's but it's extremely hard to find anything on them.
In a nutshell, it would be pointless and inaccurate to state anything other than American, as most of us are "mutts".
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