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Comprehensive about my family historical background
Comprehensive about my family historical background
Comprehensive about my family historical background
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People study history because they wish to strengthen human connections. The same can be drawn about the pursuit of genealogy. Whether it be connections to nobility, to a specific ethnic group or a specific event in history, there are diverse motivations to study genealogy According to Francois Weil, “Genealogy provides a powerful lens to understand personal and collective identities.” In essence Weil’s Family Trees: A History of Genealogy in America is a study of American identity over a span of four centuries through a discussion of genealogy and family history.
In efforts to examine how genealogy evolved into its modern manifestation, Weil’s, Family Trees: A History of Genealogy in America is a “genealogy of genealogy.” Family Trees is a
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In the colonial era, family trees were fashioned as a form of elitism.There was an innate desire to connect the Old England with the New England. Ultimately their goal was to monarchical or noble ties to one’s pedigree. This would elevate an individual’s social status, as well as his or her immediate family. Crude methods of genealogy in this period implemented heraldic devices such as cemetery art as well as coats of arms. Many of these devices were found to be blatantly inaccurate.
From the birth of a new republic up to the early 1860s brought a new wave of genealogical study. Republican ideas of the dynastic revolutionaries came about, which presented similar problems to that of the elitist attitudes of the previous period. People wanted to affix themselves to revolutionary figures like George Washington or Benjamin Franklin just like European nobility. Problems also arose due to the lack of archival resources in America at the time Many of these people were of European origin created a barrier between the individual and the genealogical information he or she sought. Furthermore, key information was often housed in European capitols, and therefore unattainable for
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Issues of slavery in the and white supremacy in the United States brought about the desire for “racial purity.” The belief was that the highest ethnic achievement was the claiming of Anglo-Saxon origin. Feelings of nativism and nationalism gave way to the rise and fall of scientific whiteness and contributed heavily to the motivation as to why people studied their family trees.
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
Did the five-generation family known as the Grayson’s chronicled in detail by Claudio Saunt in his non-fiction book, Black, White, and Indian: Race and the Unmaking of an American deny their common origins to conform to “America’s racial hierarchy?” Furthermore, use “America’s racial hierarchy as a survival strategy?” I do not agree with Saunt’s argument whole-heartedly. I refute that the Grayson family members used free will and made conscious choices regarding the direction of their family and personal lives. In my opinion, their cultural surroundings significantly shaped their survival strategy and not racial hierarchy. Thus, I will discuss the commonality of siblings Katy Grayson and William Grayson social norms growing up, the sibling’s first childbearing experiences, and the sibling’s political experience with issues such as chattel slavery versus kinship slavery.
In reading chapter 1, of the “Ethnic Myth”, by Stephen Steinberg, explains how the U.S. has a dominant society. In the U.S. class structures, unequal distributions of wealth, and political power vary between certain racial and ethnic groups. A main idea in this reading is ethnic pluralism which is defined as a particularly diverse racial or ethnic group that maintains their traditional culture within a broader more common civilization. Throughout history, race and ethnicity have caused conflict and the struggle of dominance over land. In reading chapter 2, of Drawing the Color Line, by Howard Zinn, explains how early in history inferior statuses of races which lead to mistreatment lead to racism. The very start of slavery began when african american slaves were brought to the north american colony called Jamestown.
...Many Kinds of Family Structures in Our Communities." . N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. .
Since the beginning of time, mankind began to expand on traditions of life out of which family and societal life surfaced. These traditions of life have been passed down over generations and centuries. Some of these kin and their interdependent ways of life have been upheld among particular people, and are known to contain key pieces of some civilizations.
“American Kinship is an example of the kind of kinship system which is found in most modern, western societies. This kind of system is particularly important not only because it is found in an important kind of society, but also because it is different from the kinds of kinship systems found elsewhere in the world.” (Schneider, 1980)
Each family has an interesting history, at least to their descendants. The internet has offered everyone the opportunity to become a junior genealogist. Sites such as Ancestory.com provide records searches that are easy. State and Federally supported websites provide records of marriages, military service and deaths.
Earlier historians believed that education in the history department would separate the social classes into two groups, the educated versus the uneducated. Knowledge of history should not be determined by society. You either know your material or you do not completely understand it due to how it is explained. What I did not know, was that our family trees provide us with an understanding of how our families contributed to our ever changing history. Predicting our futures with history can be challenging because we sometimes receive uninformative facts that our teachers or modern historians might not know. For example, Howard Zinn wrote a chapter in his book A People’s history on Christopher Columbus and why we should not celebrate Columbus
In Outliers, Gladwell showcases Louise Farkas studies of New York immigrants family trees. Farkas found that many families who worked in the garment industry would, by generation, climb up the ladder of the industry. For example, Farkas recounts a tailor whose children all became garment makers or a leather tanner with kids who grew up to become bag makers. This correlation exemplifies Chanel’s advantage of family history in the garment industry. Growing up with parents who had even a rudimentary knowledge of the industry she would later go into gave Chanel an edge that would not be realized for years to
Ehrenreich points out that she has seen “one group after another… stand up and proudly reclaim their roots” but for those who come from a mixed background, it is nearly impossible to discover their roots (477). Unfortunately, many people’s family trees are twisted and inaccurate, containing many flaws known only by those who are wronged, but believed by the children who read it. For example, some female immigrants, upon moving to America and marrying a white man, changed their names and accepted the white cultural as their own. With no birth records on hand, it was assumed, when recorded, that the said female was White. The same happened frequently to the Native American people, who accepted English culture as their own. There is a whole line of cultural background completely wiped from one’s tree. These cases, which are quite common, can only be disputed either by the person who is recorded, who is presumably now dead, or hearsay by family members who claim it to be another way. Regardless, it is nearly impossible to prove. Therefore, claiming to know one’s heritage is likely false, due to the frequent inaccuracies in records, and gives no assurance to anyone on their true
1. Keita, S. O. Y. and Kittles, Rick A. “The Persistence of Racial Thinking and the Myth of Racial Divergence.” American Anthropologist. 99 (September 1997): 534- 542.
“Differentiated races are fixed either by nature or God. You cannot escape your racial classification (Weidman, 2006).” This is the fifth basic belief of ideology and instantly establishes a basis on why race has survived in the twentieth century. There will always be scientists, philosophers, doctors and historians examining the origins and the continuation of race. By examining their research we are able understand this color line and how it has impacted the twentieth century.
In the depiction of the century quilt, the author touches upon how each quilt square “holds a sweet gum leaf,” before furthering the description by relating the leaves as having fingers that would “caress [me] into silence.” Such description of the quilt’s embroidery further reiterates the quilt’s metaphorical representation of familial bonds. When constructing a family tree, the grouping is divvied up into differentiating sides known as branches, upon which each individual can be considered a leaf. Though each leaf is relatively small in relation to the tree as a whole, it is the entirety of the leaves that provide a tree with a structure and shape. In this same vein, the characterization of each quilt square in possession of a leaf parallels each leaf to a member of the lineage. However, the author chooses particular words to describe the quilt squares and the leaves, noting that the squares are not the leaves themselves, but merely holders of them. This particularity in language indicates that while each square belongs to an individual, the leaf itself is not a part of that being—merely a placeholder. The leaves prove to be the common entity bonding the differing squares together, and their function is analogous to that of a common ancestor; though family members differs in origin and history, they are united under the visage of a particular individual. As was mentioned earlier, the
Everyone in the world belongs to a subculture. Each subculture has its own sets of traditions, relics, and artifacts. Relics and artifacts are symbolic, material possessions important to one's subculture. Relics are from the past; artifacts are from the present. These traditions, relics, and artifacts help shape the personalities of individuals and how they relate with others. Individuals know about these items through storytelling in the subculture. Families are good examples of subcultures. My family, a middle-class suburban Detroit family of Eastern European heritage, has helped shape who I am through story telling about traditions, artifacts, and relics.
Marks, John. "RacismEugenics, and the Burdens of History." personal.uncc,edu. Ix International Congress of Human Genetics, 20 Aug 1996. Web. 31 Jan 2014.