Pre U.S. Civil War ancestry ratio

[SouthDutch7991]

You could choose Dutch like your screen name as well. I swear I saw a Dutch guy who can be your mirror image while doing postgrad studying in Europe a couple of years ago.

I am 1% colonial Dutch, you know!

[SouthDutch7991]

I'm a combination of English, Native Irish, and Scottish, with varied ethnicities. I can't separate the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry in my genetic Neapolitan ice cream (with chocolate chips).

For shorthand, I just call it British Isles. Oh, and of course first and foremost American.

[Anglo-Celtic]

For shorthand, I just call it British Isles. Oh, and of course first and foremost American.

That "British" part can be problematic. Just ask Grace O'Malley.

[JamesBond007]

I just had a concerning idea, and I want to hear your thoughts. About what portion, do you think, of U.S. citizens can trace all or most of the ancestry to before the Civil War? It has to be a majority of european descended americans at the least, in my mind.

IMHO, people put too much emphasis on heritage instead of genetics. America was mostly NorthWest European up until about the time Calvin Coolidge I would guess. I am originally from America and my English grandmother's paternal father or grandfather was in charge of getting Abraham Lincoln's body to his gravesite without being raided or vandalized.

AFAIK, on paper I am English, Irish and German (minor French) and comes out to kosher approved Coolidge's strict immigration policy and is akin to the English or Dutch in genetics

[JamesBond007]

That "British" part can be problematic. Just ask Grace O'Malley.

Grace O'Malley is a plastic paddy just like you.

[SouthDutch7991]

That "British" part can be problematic. Just ask Grace O'Malley.

Sorry, the English Isles.

[Anglo-Celtic]

Grace O'Malley is a plastic paddy just like you.

I know one thing. We're plastic compared to you, Paddy.

[Anglo-Celtic]

Sorry, the English Isles.

That'll work. "The London Isles" might be more like it these days.

[Daco Celtic]

People forget that a lot of Irish Catholics came to America in the decades leading up the the Civil War so it's not just a "colonial stock" thing. The southern and eastern Europeans that came after the Civil War make up a minority of the white population so I think pre-civil war ancestry is more common than most think.

[SouthDutch7991]

IMHO, people put too much emphasis on heritage instead of genetics. America was mostly NorthWest European up until about the time Calvin Coolidge I would guess. I am originally from America and my English grandmother's paternal father or grandfather was in charge of getting Abraham Lincoln's body to his gravesite without being raided or vandalized.

AFAIK, on paper I am English, Irish and German (minor French) and comes out to kosher approved Coolidge's strict immigration policy and is akin to the English or Dutch in genetics

I think it’s the other way around. Most Americans have forgotten the ancestry of all but their most recent ancestor. Genetics are important (and a prerequisite to the second part), but knowing where you came from and what cultures your ancestors belonged to is even more important. For example I most likely had no ancestors that had any part in the siege of Constantinople of 1453 on either side, to claim some kind of pan-European ancestry would be misleading. In fact, I have very few ancestors at all besides some probable Vikings in the Scottish lines, Normans, and of course some Germans who, in any probability, spent time outside the British Isles post-600. So while I may take great interest in european events outside of them, like say Italian or Balkan or Iberian or French or Russian history, I can’t say that they are actually a part of me on a familial level.

It’s important to see your actual ancestral place in history, this is something that Americans are the weakest in when it comes to culture. I love my culture probably more than anywhere else, especially my local history, but I wish more Americans realized that they are actually Europeans, not just some white clay that rose up out of the ground, and further than that, I wish Americans realized that they have history in specific parts of Europe.