As a professional genealogist, I have to disagree. Most present day American citizens do have ancestors who were here in the 1600s, two centuries before the Civil War.
Slavery didn't just happen in the South. Northern states had slavery as well. They just ended it before the South was going to, which they were as it was becoming uneconomical. Things were better for blacks in the South, as many were already free men, and the ones who were suddenly freed went on to farm and get city jobs. The ones up north, in many cases, were house slaves who actually had a good deal. They had a place to stay, good clothes, plenty to eat, and free medical care. After slavery ended up north, they were kept as paid servants. But the pay was slave wages, and they had to get their own place to live and pay all their own expenses.
BTW, the war wasn't fought to end slavery. That was just the reason given to Yankees so they would support it. The real reason was northern business interests wanted a piece of southern trade with England, and we wouldn't cave. Ending slavery was a pretext. They knew slavery would soon be over naturally in the South in a matter of 10 or 20 years. If it were truly about slavery, Yankees wouldn't have been raiding farms that never had slaves, burning everything and killing women and children. Also, Lincoln didn't want to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. And it didn't end all slavery. It excepted Norfolk, New Orleans, and a few other places. It would have ended all slavery without exceptions if the war had been about ending slavery.
Reparations is an ignorant idea. Every last one of us has ancestors who were slaves at one point or another in history.
Me and my 366 Neanderthal variants were able to track my lineage online back to Thomas Cason 1619 Virginia! I’ve always found this interesting, you have a cool job.
Not really a job, as I only occasionally get paid. It's been several years since I had a large paying customer.
I am currently working on a book that may be finished in a year or two. It seems that people in my family screwed anything that moved. There are countless extramarital children and interracial children that are showing up in droves in my DNA matches. And half my cousins married cousins. I'm in my tree in four different places. My male line goes back to the 1500s in Germany.
It's great fun. I do some genealogies for free just to stay in practice.
BTW, Thomas Cason owned a lot of slaves. Just thought you'd like to know. And he lived just an hour's drive from me.
I may not be the very best genealogist, but I am one of the very fastest.
Really? Anywhere I can find that info? Absolutely fascinating. I wasn’t able to find Revolutionary war info but my great great? grandfather Owen elkins died in the civil war (south obviously)
23 and me said I’m related to Franklin, obviously not that branch of my tree. It would have to be through my grandmother Eleanor Garrison (b.1918 I think, just died last year at 102 in a nursing home from “COVID”) , they came from NY
I think you underestimate a lot. First of all, as slaveowners were fairly well off, their descendants were more healthy and had lots of descendants. My one slave-owning ancestor, who died 200 years ago, has many thousands of descendants. The book I am writing is over 1,000 pages so far. Practically everyone, black or white, in a multi-county area is related to me.
You would be surprised at how many "poor" people are really into genealogy and do their own research. It doesn't cost that much now. Almost everyone has a cell phone. You get a monthly account with Ancestry and perhaps even get a DNA test, as prices have gone way down. I am finding lots of DNA matches that are helping me to add more lines as well as confirm others. One of my most recent DNA matches is a black guy who apparently lives in a slum in NY. He is so excited about the match and has been messaging me a lot lately.
There are many millions of us who have no recent immigrant ancestors at all. Every line of my ancestry goes back to people who were already here over 200 years ago, many over 300 years ago.
Yes, there were men killed in the Civil War, but the ones who were left more than made up for it. The women left behind either remarried or just had children anyway. I have found a good number of cases of women having children without being married just in my own family. The most recent one I found out about had three children on her own, then married a guy who went to war and died. Her husband died, and he never fathered children that I know of, but she still has descendants down to this day. I know them personally. As far as "young men," you should realize that "old men" can still reproduce, and actually did a lot back then. It has been documented.
I have worked on family trees for many people for little or no pay just to keep in practice. So far, I've found only a very few who only have recent immigrant ancestors. All the rest have multiple lines going back into the 1600s in America, some even to natives.
Yes, there were a lot of immigrants a little over 100 years ago. But then immigration was almost completely stopped for a very long time. Look it up. So I stand by the fact that most Americans have deep roots here.
As a professional genealogist, I have to disagree. Most present day American citizens do have ancestors who were here in the 1600s, two centuries before the Civil War.
Slavery didn't just happen in the South. Northern states had slavery as well. They just ended it before the South was going to, which they were as it was becoming uneconomical. Things were better for blacks in the South, as many were already free men, and the ones who were suddenly freed went on to farm and get city jobs. The ones up north, in many cases, were house slaves who actually had a good deal. They had a place to stay, good clothes, plenty to eat, and free medical care. After slavery ended up north, they were kept as paid servants. But the pay was slave wages, and they had to get their own place to live and pay all their own expenses.
BTW, the war wasn't fought to end slavery. That was just the reason given to Yankees so they would support it. The real reason was northern business interests wanted a piece of southern trade with England, and we wouldn't cave. Ending slavery was a pretext. They knew slavery would soon be over naturally in the South in a matter of 10 or 20 years. If it were truly about slavery, Yankees wouldn't have been raiding farms that never had slaves, burning everything and killing women and children. Also, Lincoln didn't want to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. And it didn't end all slavery. It excepted Norfolk, New Orleans, and a few other places. It would have ended all slavery without exceptions if the war had been about ending slavery.
Reparations is an ignorant idea. Every last one of us has ancestors who were slaves at one point or another in history.
Me and my 366 Neanderthal variants were able to track my lineage online back to Thomas Cason 1619 Virginia! I’ve always found this interesting, you have a cool job.
Not really a job, as I only occasionally get paid. It's been several years since I had a large paying customer.
I am currently working on a book that may be finished in a year or two. It seems that people in my family screwed anything that moved. There are countless extramarital children and interracial children that are showing up in droves in my DNA matches. And half my cousins married cousins. I'm in my tree in four different places. My male line goes back to the 1500s in Germany.
It's great fun. I do some genealogies for free just to stay in practice.
BTW, Thomas Cason owned a lot of slaves. Just thought you'd like to know. And he lived just an hour's drive from me.
I may not be the very best genealogist, but I am one of the very fastest.
Really? Anywhere I can find that info? Absolutely fascinating. I wasn’t able to find Revolutionary war info but my great great? grandfather Owen elkins died in the civil war (south obviously) 23 and me said I’m related to Franklin, obviously not that branch of my tree. It would have to be through my grandmother Eleanor Garrison (b.1918 I think, just died last year at 102 in a nursing home from “COVID”) , they came from NY
I’d love that job
I think you underestimate a lot. First of all, as slaveowners were fairly well off, their descendants were more healthy and had lots of descendants. My one slave-owning ancestor, who died 200 years ago, has many thousands of descendants. The book I am writing is over 1,000 pages so far. Practically everyone, black or white, in a multi-county area is related to me.
You would be surprised at how many "poor" people are really into genealogy and do their own research. It doesn't cost that much now. Almost everyone has a cell phone. You get a monthly account with Ancestry and perhaps even get a DNA test, as prices have gone way down. I am finding lots of DNA matches that are helping me to add more lines as well as confirm others. One of my most recent DNA matches is a black guy who apparently lives in a slum in NY. He is so excited about the match and has been messaging me a lot lately.
There are many millions of us who have no recent immigrant ancestors at all. Every line of my ancestry goes back to people who were already here over 200 years ago, many over 300 years ago.
Yes, there were men killed in the Civil War, but the ones who were left more than made up for it. The women left behind either remarried or just had children anyway. I have found a good number of cases of women having children without being married just in my own family. The most recent one I found out about had three children on her own, then married a guy who went to war and died. Her husband died, and he never fathered children that I know of, but she still has descendants down to this day. I know them personally. As far as "young men," you should realize that "old men" can still reproduce, and actually did a lot back then. It has been documented.
I have worked on family trees for many people for little or no pay just to keep in practice. So far, I've found only a very few who only have recent immigrant ancestors. All the rest have multiple lines going back into the 1600s in America, some even to natives.
Yes, there were a lot of immigrants a little over 100 years ago. But then immigration was almost completely stopped for a very long time. Look it up. So I stand by the fact that most Americans have deep roots here.