Quote Originally Posted by cajunscot View Post
Sorry, Raph, but you're wrong on your second point. A number of immigrants to the USA (and Canada for that matter) have held on to ties to the old world as well as being residents of the New. I discuss this in my history classes I teach; matter of fact, I'll be taking my Ozarks history class to a church that was started by German immigrants in the 19th century and still has a lot German heritage connected with it...For many immigrants, maintaining ties to the old country was a safety valve in a country where the "native Americans" wanted nothing to do with them.
But as history teacher, I think you'd agree that this is a relatively new phenomena. From my reading -- albeit limited -- there were immigrants for a long time -- I'd guess post-Civil War til after WWII -- whose main objective was to get off the boat, learn English, get a job and assimilate as quickly as possible.

I'm into my heritage because, as a country, the US is in its adolescence. We're building our own history; we're still working on it. I think a lot of people crave belonging to something old, something bigger than they are. A lot don't.

My wife doesn't get my obsession, either, and all she knows about her own heritage -- Norski -- is that if we (Scots) built it, they (Vikings) either stole it, burned it or tore it down. Beyond that, she's really not interested.