And that such a view may be a bit mistaken

Both sides were Americans

With the Confederate side being more along the lines of what the Founding Fathers intended regarding small government and states rights

I actually would agree. I believe the confederates absolutely had a more literalist view of what the founders intended

The Founders were not unified in their views, to be fair.

@The Eternal Anglo We arent a democracy but a constitutional republic 😉

I think that they had a culture deeply rooted in a system that was beginning to trail behind and the rift created irreconcilable differences

Never forget that universal suffrage wasn’t a thing. We did republicanism *right*

Jackson did one thing wrong

It was a mutual fight to determine just what this nation was

And one side won

@Kingfish That breaks my heart actually but it’s true

The civil war was awful

I’m sympathetic to the idealism of it

I really am

But as a Pennsylvanian with family who fought for the union, I firmly stand on my side of the line haha

I don’t have any ancestry or ethnic ties to the southern society and being from an Italian Catholic background I understandably can’t really say I’d side with the south. But like I said I understand the idealism and respect the will of those who fought for what they believed to be right

For better or worse

@DixieBoy76 - KY I have a ancestor that fought for the union as well in Oklahoma

When he came home for his wife to give birth he was killed by bushwackers

I’d highly recommend doing a family tree and trying to go back as far as possible/meeting family members you never really knew you had, even if it’s just online. It gave me a big sense of where I came from and my role in carrying the torch. I think it’s an enjoyable hobby as well, good thing you can share if your parents and grandparents.

@Rick Flair The furthest back I’ve gotten is the 1790’s

I was able to get back to the late 1700s in Italy

traced one side of my family back to 1280AD in the HRE

@Lawrence of Eurabia How is that possible

@Rick Flair that's a great idea. Even though we're a young nation American identity is so important

HRE and Church kept good records

@Rick Flair would you recommend using Ancestry or other means?

Yea some church records go back 1600ish

@The Eternal Anglo I recommend Ancestry

23andMe is known to add “surprises”.

They were important people in the HRE from what I've gathered, but that side came to America in 1752 or 1751(cant remember)

obviously they couldn't have been royalty since they left

My 23 and me can’t decide if my small Balkan percentage is Albanian or greek. It keeps changing

I used 23 and me to connect with a cousin who had a a tree already (maternal grandma) for my paternal grandma, I got lucky. Basically 100 or so people moved from one village in Germany to a town in Illinois and one of he descendants had a tree online. You’d be surprised what you can dig up online though

Btw 23 and me updated some features last week

Tfw banished from the pledge hall

More accurate, can also identify regions in each country your dna is found in, the data it gave me agrees to information I have on my trees

I’m born from the family line of the goddess Venus

I've traced a few sides back to Scotland and England, but only can get as far as the first guy to move here

Man you guys got shafted