A Nation of Immigrants

 

https://youtu.be/i5cbj86ha4Q

Back in April 2023, I gave a presentation called "Crossing the Border: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors." Even though my videos are regularly posted to YouTube.com. I very seldom get comments. However, this video generated quite a few comments. Almost all the comments were reactions to a statement I made that America is a nation of immigrants or all of us in United States are descendants of immigrants. One response sums up the opposition to these statements, I quote:

This is absolutely wrong. Not all Americans are descended from immigrants. What foolishness. There needs to be a country to immigrate to for an arrival to the territory to be considered an immigrant.

Early Americans were explorers, settlers and, yes, pioneers. They built a great country out of wilderness.

Although the statement about the nature of the population of the United States has many possible sources, one statement stands out. 

John F. Kennedy first used the phrase "a nation of immigrants" in an essay he wrote in 1958. The essay was published by the Anti-Defamation League and highlighted the contributions of immigrants to the United States. In 1963, Kennedy turned the essay into a book titled "A Nation of Immigrants" as he prepared to ask Congress to change the nation's immigration laws. 

See “JFK and a Nation of Immigrants: Transcript | JFK Library.” n.d. Accessed July 11, 2023. https://www.jfklibrary.org/about-us/social-media-podcasts-and-apps/jfk35-podcast/season-1/jfk-and-a-nation-of-immigrants/transcript. See also, “A Nation of Immigrants.” 2013. Whitehouse.Gov. March 29, 2013. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/03/29/nation-immigrants.

The comment made is somewhat indicative of many of today's attitudes and reflects the need to be in denial about the status of the country when the first European "explorers" arrived. Here is one statement about the pre-Columbian population.

Prior to the arrival of European explorers in the Americas in 1492, it is estimated that the population of the continent was around sixty million people. Over the next two centuries, most scholars agree that the indigenous population fell to just ten percent of its pre-colonization level, primarily due to the Old-World diseases (namely smallpox) brought to the New World by Europeans and African slaves, as well as through violence and famine. 

See “Pre-Colonization Populations of the Americas ~1492.” n.d. Statista. Accessed July 11, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1171896/pre-colonization-population-americas/. 

Although there is a substantial amount of controversy and ongoing evaluation and discussion, the commonly held position of most Western European scientists' opinions about the native American population can be summarized as follows:

Scientists have found that Native American populations - from Canada to the southern tip of Chile - arose from at least three migrations, with the majority descended entirely from a single group of First American migrants that crossed over through Beringia, a land bridge between Asia and America that existed during the ice ages, more than 15,000 years ago.

See UCL. 2012. “Native American Populations Descend from Three Key Migrations.” UCL News. July 12, 2012. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2012/jul/native-american-populations-descend-three-key-migrations.

I guess you could make and argument that migrant are not immigrants, but considering the fact that the scientists can't agree on the earliest date of arrival, with some estimates and claims going back 30,000 years or more, it is becoming easier all the time to claim that we are all immigrants. I guess should note that the concept of "wilderness" when speaking about both North and South America would have to go back before this newer estimate of 30,000 to 37,000 years. See “Humans Settled in North America about 37,000 Years Ago, Study Says.” n.d. Accessed July 11, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/08/03/when-did-humans-settle-north-america/10223278002/.

I guess my final observation is a question. Which group of immigrants to America in the last 37,000 can claim some priority for being here first? 

What does this have to do with genealogy? I have spent the last three years helping hundreds of people look for and find their immigrant ancestors. Immigration research is the absolute key issue in research in both North and South America and I probably need to point out that the United States in not the only country in North America.