Woodrow Wilson once said, "We came to America, either ourselves or in the persons of our ancestors, to better the ideals of men, to make them see finer things than they had seen before, to get rid of the things that divide and to make sure of the things that unite.". This quote means a lot to me because I along with everyone else need to know where our ancient descendants originated from and how far out it extends. We also need to be informed on the geographical background of it all because this is what collaborates our families. As we know, America was discovered in 1492, by Christopher Columbus and about three-hundred and sixteen years later it was declared independence on, July 4, 1776. I mention that because it proves that people have been roaming our land for about five-hundred and twenty-six years or more. Which should bring most of us to question and wonder how everyone began their colonization in the United States. As a growing child, I have always been curious to know where the background of my family tree originated from and how it grew immensely. A few weeks ago, I was given the chance to converse with my mother’s parents, my grandpa and …show more content…
He was then quickly prepared to build a family of his own but needed to find a well-established area to do so. When my great-grandfather adapted to the Houston area finding a place to raise a family was not difficult. Houston was a developing city with great potential for its residents. This is when he decided to start a livelihood for his family in one of the oldest Hispanic neighborhoods in the City of Houston, Magnolia Park. In 1907, Magnolia Park was a community that was filled primarily with non-Hispanic whites. However, it became a Mexican community by 1911. For this was the time of the Mexican Revolution, causing a great deal of Mexicans to flee Mexico and relocate in the Houston
“Tracing a single Native American family from the 1780’s through the 1920’s posed a number of challenges,” for Claudio Saunt, author of Black, White, and Indian: Race and the Unmaking of an American Family. (pg. 217) A family tree is comprised of genealogical data that has many branches that take form by twisting, turning, and attempting to accurately represent descendants from the oldest to the youngest. “The Grayson family of the Creek Nation traces its origins to the late 1700’s, when Robert Grierson, a Scotsman, and Sinnugee, a Creek woman, settled down together in what is now north-central Alabama. Today, their descendants number in the thousands and have scores of surnames.” (pg. 3)
I remember the first time I came to America; I was 10 years old. Everything was exciting! From getting into an airplane, to viewing magnificent, huge buildings from a bird’s eye view in the plane. It was truly memorable. After staying few days at my mother’s house, my father and I wanted to see what Dallas looks like. But because my mother was working the whole day, it wasn’t convenient for her to show us the area except only on Sundays. Finally, we went out to the nearby mall with my mother. My father and I were astonished after looking at a variety of stores. But after looking at different stores, we were finally tired and hungry, so we went into McDonald’s. Not being familiar with fast food restaurants, we were curious to try American
Founded by groups as diverse as indigenous Native Americans, Dutch merchants, English separatists, Spanish missionaries, French frontiersman and Africans – both free and enslaved – the country’s diversity stretches back four centuries” (9). America is an extraordinary country. In my opinion, America is the most diverse population and culture. However, exceptional does not necessarily mean better. I have never understood that some Americans have the mindset that they are ‘better’ than other countries. I generally like America, but that is enough for me. I don 't need it to be "better" than other places to be satisfied. I came here to have a better life, better education and to have a better home. However, if American history were full of lies they should make a wise action and should tell the truth and tell what really happened in the past. In my mind today is “Where do we find truth these days?” It is certainly not in the history a state teaches its children, or in the press that props up its leaders. Africans both free and enslaved and immigrants has freedom I just hope that, people of color and Americans have real unity and still respect each other in the future
The colonists who first arrived in America came to this land because they saw an opportunity to regenerate their religion and to live according to it without subjugation. The immense size of the land sugge...
The discovery of America by Columbus, in 1492, has long been heralded as a major turning point in world history. It is not only a turning point for European world history, but also a turning point for the history of peoples indigenous to North America. The native populations in North America held equal claims to their lands and the way in which they lived. With an influx of Europeans into the new world it was inevitable that a clash of culture between them would surface. Among the native populations to have contact with the Europeans was the Seneca.
This article focuses mainly on the emergence of the first people in America: Who they are, where they came from and how they got to America. He discussed three main routes as to how they arrived in America, none of which were without criticism. In trying to determine who the first people in America are, Hadingham began with the Clovis points and their creators, the Clovis people, who lived about 12,500 to 13,500 years ago, and tried to trace their origin. According to the article, a Gault site was first investigated in 1929 and the Clovis people who inhabited the Gault seem to have stayed there for long periods. Also from this site, the Clovis people seem to have preyed on mammoths, deer, turkeys, horses, frogs, birds, turtles and other small animals.
While Texas leader Stephen Austin initially had no contempt toward Mexicans, the Anglo-American citizens in the area did. The American Texans of the 1800’s defined Mexicans as “a race alien to everything that Americans held dear” (De Leon 4). This sentiment would serve as the primary catalyst to the Texas secession from Mexico. When Austin began colonizing the area, he envisioned a place in which Anglo-Americans and Tejanos, Mexicans living in Texas, could live together. Eventually, though, the public opinions of North American settlers in the territory and in Washington would make him realize that the goal of unity between the two groups was impossible.
Marcus Gravey stated that, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” With that being stated, are the people of the United States, Canada, and Mexico trees without roots? At a young age students learn that Christopher Columbus “sailed the ocean blue in 1492”, a simple song used to assist children remember that America was discovered in 1492. In addition, Thackeray and Findling describe how Columbus’s discovery presented an unimaginable amount of opportunity for Europeans, and therefore, Spanish, French, and later British explores and settlers began to flock to this new world.
Conversely, the most recent period of genealogical study has embraced a more inclusive agenda. A renewing of history from the bottom up has taken hold and influenced modern American genealogical studies. Furthermore, the field has become increasingly commercialized. Moreover, modern influences in the field led to the popularization of websites such as ancestry.com and “novelized histories” like the television series Roots. These mechanisms bring once neglected people groups to the
“Houston was founded in 1836 by two brothers,” (World Book Encyclopedia pg. 394) John K. Allen and Augustus Allen. They bought 6,642 acres on which to build the great city. They decided to name the city after their friend Sam Houston. “He was a general that led the army that won Texas’s freedom from Mexico.” (Passionate Nation pg. 274) Sam Houston also became the first Texas president. The brothers built a capitol building; it was two stories tall and made completely out of wood. The Texas Congress moved from Colombia to the new capitol building. Within four months after Houston was founded, more than 1,500 people were living there. Once the city started growing, Houston became very famous for its popular port. The port sent goods to and received goods from all around the world. Sadly, in the 1900s a hurricane hit it. “Houston helped out in World War II. They helped with ship building, steel producing, and producing oil.” (visithoustontexas.com) Houston’s history is very rich and so is its culture.
-----. The Making of Americans: Being a History of a Family's Progress. Normal: Dalkey Archive Press, 1995.
People now and days dismiss that or even completely forget about it. The first colonies here were British, they establish 13 colonies on the east coast of what is now America. These colonies came here for freedom to be free of the tyrants that was England. When they came here they encountered what we now know where the Native Americans. That encounter is the first notable sign of the cultural myth of the melting pot.
Dixon, E. James. Quest for the origins of the First Americans. University of New Mexico Press. 1993.
It was about two years ago when I arrived in United States of America, and I still remember the day when I left my native country, Honduras. As I recall, one day previous to my departure, I visited my relatives who live in San Pedro Sula. They were all very happy for me to see me except my grandmother Isabel. She looked sad; even though she tried to smile at all times when I was talking to her, I knew that deep inside of her, her heart was broken because of my departure the next morning. I remember that I even told her, “Grandma, do not worry about me, I’ll be fine. I promise that I will write you letters and send you pictures as much as possible.” Here reply was, “I know sweetie I know you will.” Suddenly after she said that I started to cry. For som...
There are two sides to a person’s family and one side of my family has been traced all the way back to slavery. My father’s side of the family originally came from a Georgia plantation. Although my father is Afro-American, his great-great-grandfather was a general who owned slaves. From Georgia my father moved to New Jersey. After settling in New Jersey, my father enlisted in the military and began his life as a military man. My mother’s side of the family is all from Puerto Rico. My grandparents moved my mother and her sister to America when they were very young. They moved to Macedonia, Illinois. When my mother got older she too enlisted in the military as a nurse. My mother met my father while they were both serving in the military in Germany. After they both finished their time in the military, my mother mov...