250 Years, Immigration, and Me

In the United States, there was a big celebration on the South Lawn of the White House yesterday. This celebration was advertised as marking the 250th anniversary of the nation. Current president, Donald Trump, and his administration want the country to look back 250 years and celebrate, as 'Americans', our collective history.

I wonder what Trump and his administration see when they think of 'Americans'. I did not follow the preparations for this celebration, but I can't imagine that their focus was on the multicultural character of this country. Given recent events, I can't imagine that the essential role of immigrants in the 'American' experience was highlighted.

Saturday night I read a blog by Hive account@grindle. His post was about Plymouth, England. It was a fascinating history blog, particularly for me. Here's why: in the blog was this line: ...it is from here in 1620 that a bunch of religious nut cases set sail and landed 10 weeks later in the good old US of A. What Hive account@grindle doesn't add is that when those 'religious nuts' reached their destination they named their new home Plymouth. Plymouth was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

This bit of history trivia is fascinating for me because one of my ancestors, Richard Norman, was among the early settlers who arrived on those distant shores (he has been called 'The Immigrant'). While he didn't take the 1620 boat out (the Mayflower), he did take one a few years later and landed at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1626. As a matter of fact, he was one of the first settlers in a neighboring community, Salem (remember Salem Witch Trials?).

_{Official seal of Salem, MA. Note the founding date, A.D. 1626. Commonwealth of MA. Public domain.}

Although many immigrants did leave England for religious reasons, apparently my ancestor was not among those. He was looking for opportunity. According to Geni.com:

Migration to New England in the early 17th century wasn’t strictly Puritans looking for religious freedom. During the 1620s, there were also other men moving to the area, primarily for financial gain, and Richard Norman appears to have been this type of settler.

A notation in a website maintained by the University of Michigan offers this information:

The biographical sketch of Richard Norman in The Great Migration Begins (book) states: Richard Norman...Migration: 1626...First Residence: Salem

Richard Norman had a child, Susanna, who married a man named Robert Lockwood. Robert Lockwood had a son, named Jonathan. Jonathan had a daughter named Abigail, who married Thomas Baxter. That marriage took place in 1698.

Looking back in history, the American Revolution was not a thought in anyone's mind at that time. The early settlers in the colonies were the foundation from which the new nation would be created.

Many generations later, generations of Baxters who moved and settled and resettled, a young girl was born, my great, great, great grandmother, Phoebe Baxter. Phoebe and her family were by that time blue bloods. The family had been in this New World for more than 200 years. They were descended from the nation's original European settlers. Yet, for some reason, Phoebe was drawn to an immigrant, a Swabian (German) farmer, named Rudolph(....). Rudolph came to the U.S. in 1848.

I can imagine there must have been consternation in Phoebe's family. Rudolph's command of English must have been quite rough. The Europe from which he immigrated was in crisis, so I cannot imagine that he had much property to offer his new bride. Yet, within a few years of Rudolph's arrival, in 1853, the couple had their first child.

The United States is, and always has been, a nation of immigrants. We are at our core a people who have moved, who have settled, who have integrated, who have blended new cultures, new people. There was, for most of our history, an invitation for people all over the world to come and become part of our national identity.

Just about 300 years after Richard Norman, 'The Immigrant', arrived on these shores my father met my mother. She was first generation 'American'. Her parents had come over from Europe, as Richard Norman had, as Rudolph had. My mother's parents, my grandparents, were Sicilian.

When my mother met my father in the mid 1930's she was not welcomed by his parents. Her reception might have been similar to what Rudolph experienced when he met Phoebe Baxter back in the mid nineteenth century. But the heart wants what the heart wants, so the blue-blood American married the scion of Sicilian immigrants, and history repeated itself. The story of 'America' continued.

Today there are great grandchildren from that union. These children are German, English, Irish, Scottish, Sicilian, Greek, French, Dutch, Spanish Puerto Rican, Taino, American Indian and West African. These children are quintessentially American. They are the descendants of immigrants.

As I contemplate what happened on the South Lawn of the White House yesterday, a few thoughts run through my head. One thought is, this president looks back 250 years. I look back 400 years.

My ancestors not only fought in the revolution that won our independence from England. They also laid the foundation for the culture and the values that would be incorporated into our founding documents. These values are fundamental to the ethos of my country: religious freedom (Roger Williams); democracy (Mayflower Compact). Unfortunately, part of that ethos includes a legacy of slavery (first slave ship, 1619). All of this is a part of who we, citizens of the United States, are.

I didn't watch the spectacle that was staged on the South Lawn of the White House last night. While it was billed as a celebration of our nation's 250th anniversary, that anniversary does not come for another twenty days. So why last night?

One must conclude that the celebration on the South Lawn of the White House had nothing to do with our nation's history. It had nothing to do with our nation's legacy. It was a celebration of one person. It was a mirror image of that person's world view. It was garish. It was violent. And it was expensive.

When the true 250th anniversary of my nation's birth rolls around on July 4, I will display an American flag on my lawn. I will double my efforts to bring about change in my country, change that may alter the (disastrous) course we are currently pursuing.

Perhaps it's a vain notion, but I'd like to think that in another 400 years descendants of my family will look back and reflect upon a very long and successful history of my country. This spectacle on the South Lawn of the White House will not even be a blip on their radar.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Peace and health to all.