Dear Cousins, Thank you so much for your thoughtful commentary. No, Barb, no one is offended! Yours are always considerate opinion. Richelle, the way I see those special groups is as a means to re-establish heritage that has been lost. In the case of Black people, there has been the need to re-learn about African traditions, in addition to re-connecting to one another in the face of extreme persecution. These groups are set up to re-affirm their unique experience and survive it. The same can be said for Indian peoples. And Josie, we have had some discussions of David Hackett Fischer's "Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways," prior to your coming to us. The way I see Fischer's premise is that he ignores the the diverse contribution of the backcountry. The backcountry people (Swedes, Indians, Finns, Central Europeans, and yes, even Blacks, were living together in the Delaware River Vally in the 1600's. A very long time before the migrations into Virginia and the south and west, and a really long time before Andrew Jackson. And frankly, I regard Andrew Jackson a very hateful product indeed. It seems to me he was far more interested in impowering well positioned friends to take Indian lands for speculation than he was in doing anything for his diverse constituents. Jackson is not a person I find admirable. He totally ignored the Supreme Court's ruling about the Indians' rights, which says to me that he didn't truly value our Democratic system. The backcountry movement is what I most try to present on American Crossroads. Fischer either ignores or glosses over the backcountry's diversity as he tries to stick to his "British Folkways." And Fisher doesn't develop any information of his own. He borrows copious amounts of other historians' studies and works plops it in his book, and re-interprets it to fit his thesis. The studies we are doing RIGHT NOW at American Crossroads are ORIGINAL. Your own families confirm its validity. The Holston River in SW Virginia was named for one of those Swedish guys! John Hanse Steelman, Abraham Pennington's friend, was either Swedish or Danish, and many many Cecil County and Philadelphia Perimeter names and history confirm the diverse nature of this culture that was in existance long before Quakers or any other British settlement. Christopher Gist's son Nathanial was the father of Sequoah, the famed Cherokee who developed an alphabet which gave the Cherokees a written language. Then we have the Melungeons! We are rediscovering now that the American values that unite us are far stronger and deeper than our differences. Whatever was our long ago identity has merged into what we have become now. A Japanese American I met last year was born in one of the camps where his family had been interred during WWII. He was a recipient of a monetary attempt the US government made to recompense the internees. The money wasn't important. He said, "What a country this is! A country that can make a mistake and the President of the United States will stand up and admit it, and say the country is sorry! Now THAT is a COUNTRY!" Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn

You wrote: "Jackson is not a person I find admirable. He totally ignored the Supreme Court's ruling about the Indians' rights, which says to me that he didn't truly value our Democratic system." I will just substitue LINCOLN where you wrote Jackson and we will be in agreement. cheers, josie At 11:41 AM 11/7/2001 -0800, Carolyn McDaniel wrote: >Dear Cousins, > Thank you so much for your thoughtful commentary. No, Barb, >no one is offended! Yours are always considerate opinion. >Richelle, the way I see those special groups is as a means to >re-establish heritage that has been lost. In the case of Black >people, there has been the need to re-learn about African traditions, >in addition to re-connecting to one another in the face of extreme >persecution. These groups are set up to re-affirm their unique >experience and survive it. The same can be said for Indian peoples. >And Josie, we have had some discussions of David Hackett Fischer's >"Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways," prior to your coming to us. > The way I see Fischer's premise is that he ignores the the >diverse contribution of the backcountry. The backcountry people >(Swedes, Indians, Finns, Central Europeans, and yes, even Blacks, were >living together in the Delaware River Vally in the 1600's. A very >long time before the migrations into Virginia and the south and west, >and a really long time before Andrew Jackson. And frankly, I regard >Andrew Jackson a very hateful product indeed. It seems to me he was >far more interested in impowering well positioned friends to take >Indian lands for speculation than he was in doing anything for his >diverse constituents. Jackson is not a person I find admirable. He >totally ignored the Supreme Court's ruling about the Indians' rights, >which says to me that he didn't truly value our Democratic system. > The backcountry movement is what I most try to present on >American Crossroads. Fischer either ignores or glosses over the >backcountry's diversity as he tries to stick to his "British >Folkways." And Fisher doesn't develop any information of his own. >He borrows copious amounts of other historians' studies and works >plops it in his book, and re-interprets it to fit his thesis. > The studies we are doing RIGHT NOW at American Crossroads are >ORIGINAL. Your own families confirm its validity. The Holston River >in SW Virginia was named for one of those Swedish guys! John Hanse >Steelman, Abraham Pennington's friend, was either Swedish or Danish, >and many many Cecil County and Philadelphia Perimeter names and >history confirm the diverse nature of this culture that was in >existance long before Quakers or any other British settlement. >Christopher Gist's son Nathanial was the father of Sequoah, the famed >Cherokee who developed an alphabet which gave the Cherokees a written >language. Then we have the Melungeons! > We are rediscovering now that the American values that unite >us are far stronger and deeper than our differences. Whatever was our >long ago identity has merged into what we have become now. A >Japanese American I met last year was born in one of the camps where >his family had been interred during WWII. He was a recipient of a >monetary attempt the US government made to recompense the internees. >The money wasn't important. He said, "What a country this is! A >country that can make a mistake and the President of the United States >will stand up and admit it, and say the country is sorry! Now THAT is >a COUNTRY!" > >Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn > > > >============================== >Visit Ancestry's Library - The best collection of family history >learning and how-to articles on the Internet. >http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library