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I'd say that a majority of native southerners (those whose family line in the United States dates back to some area of the south from the time their family emigrated) have ancestors that dated back to the Civil War or prior.
The North, by and large, has a larger percentage of their populations that came in during the later waves of immigration. Most white southerners are descended from the British Isles (1. England, 2. Scotland, 3. Ireland) A number are also Dutch, and to a lesser extent French. Contrast this with the north where, although a significant percentage are English and Irish, they also have many Italians, Germans, and Scandinavians.
I live in the North and I only know the history of two of my ancestors. One came here in the 1840's from Ireland and one came in the early 1790's from France. If you could afford passage to America from France at that time then chances are words like "let them eat cake" might have come out of your mouth.
I put very little stock in where I come from. The fact is I am descended from thousands of people and I am quite sure that there are several ancestors of mine whom I would be better off never knowing who they are or what they did.
I hadn't really thought or cared about it until my uncle finished tracing our family's ancestry back to 11th century Normandy - to one of William the Conqueror's advisors who fought at the Battle of Hastings, and afterward was awarded the title "1st Earl of Surrey" in England. It was fascinating to read about some of my ancestors in England and France during that time.
I'd say that a majority of native southerners (those whose family line in the United States dates back to some area of the south from the time their family emigrated) have ancestors that dated back to the Civil War or prior.
The North, by and large, has a larger percentage of their populations that came in during the later waves of immigration. Most white southerners are descended from the British Isles (1. England, 2. Scotland, 3. Ireland) A number are also Dutch, and to a lesser extent French. Contrast this with the north where, although a significant percentage are English and Irish, they also have many Italians, Germans, and Scandinavians.
By and large true; however, there were a number of German communities scattered throughout the South as well, especially in TN, KY and NC.
Most southern cities of any size prior to the Civil War had prominent Jewish communities...New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Charleston, Richmond, Atlanta, Nashville and Memphis.
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