Fact is they could make more at the backbreaking jobs in America than they could in Croatia... on a small plot of land often times with many siblings... and they could not all inherit the land! And as far as recruiters, often times they were friends or family who came to America ahead of them! And even when folks had money in Europe they needed land... so they came to America. The Habsburg Empire was behind in the industrial revolution and some parts were even farther behind. While in the process of finding info for my fall tour I came acros a RR web page and found that RRs were built in Croatia later than some other parts of the Empire. Our ancestors for the most part improved their lot here and prepared the way for us to succeed. Robert Karen Heiser <[email protected]> wrote: Okay , you raise a valid issue: why did our ancestors leave their homes to come to America? In MANY, MANY cases, the reason is not noble. Many came because they were lied to by recruiters from America who were looking for cheap labor in their mines and factories. And on top of that they had to put up with discrimination to boot! (Does the term BOHUNK come to mind?) Karen Heiser, Weed, Siskiyou, CA ----- Original Message ----- From: "ashley tiwara" To: Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 10:57 AM Subject: [CROATIA-L] family discussion > The strength of this list to my mind is the family discussion, as Margaret said. Occasional old boy comments about golf are acceptable as long as the golf duffers consider it appropriate for women to make postings about matters like voting rights and union organizing. Women and men died so that we could have the right to vote, to organize, and I don't mean died only on the picket line. > Many of those who have fought in America's declared wars would say they fought for the rights guaranteed them by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. If their deaths have no meaning, it comes when free speech is denied their descendants. > Were your Croatian ancestors looking for freedom of religion? for the right to own property and pass on an inheritance to their children? Serfdom survived in parts of Europe notably including Austria until the post WW1 years. Public schools were common in the USA by 1900, they were still rather unusual in Europe then. Maybe your grandparents or great - grandparents left Europe to go to New Zealand or Argentina or the USA so that their children's children could learn to read. > So that they could someday use the internet. > So they'd have access to the resources this mailing list represents. Instead of being locked into a medieval world where neither they nor their children had the right to choose their religious preferences, or the right to an education, or the right to vote for their rulers, inherit the land they worked, or even the right to move on if the life they lead was unsatisfactory to them. > So they would have the possibility to eat roast lamb when they wanted to or golf when they chose to instead of lamb once a year and sports and games for little children only. > > Genealogy is more than dates and facts. > Ashley > ----- Original Message ----- > From: William F Kane > To: [email protected] > Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2005 4:06 PM > Subject: [CROATIA-L] Re: Girls and boys > > > There is another old Croatian saying that was true 100 years ago and > maybe even just a few years ago in some rural parts of Croatia. "a > woman holds down three corners of the farm and helps her husband with the > forth." I think we are all aware of how hard our mothers and > grandmothers worked with out much recognition. Things have changed > however. Lets get back to genealogy. I apologize for sending one e-mail > in reply to the golfing inquiry. I don't even golf. > Bill Kane > > Interested in visting Croatia? Click on the link below to find out about a wonderful tour of Croatia! http://www.kollander-travel.com/