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Poll: How many generations removed are you from immigration?

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Re: Poll: How many generations removed are you from immigration?

#101

Post by fraserharris »

m0nastic wrote: post #86

My mom is a Canadian immigrant to the U.S. (fled as a young teenager). I found out a few years ago that I am technically a Canadian citizen as well (they passed a law granting citizenship to people born of Canadian parents, regardless of the location of their birth). This will hopefully make my long-term eventual moving to Vancouver easier.

Usually when people flee a country, it's associated with a calamitous situation affecting at least a large part of the country. Its probably more appropriate to say 'left'.

Re: Poll: How many generations removed are you from immigration?

#102

Post by jballanc »

dazzla wrote: post #66

This poll may not be intended to be US centric but I think the interest in it mostly is.

Well, if the migrant sub-population of humans tends to seek out opportunities, then it would make sense that the poll might seem US centric as it has been the most prosperous state over the last 50-60 years. That said, if such a migrant sub-population does exist, it would also be interesting to know if they are still arriving/settling in the US, or whether they have a new destination in mind...

Re: Poll: How many generations removed are you from immigration?

#103

Post by Mz »

jballanc wrote: post #97
Mz wrote: post #46

My mother is not only an immigrant to the US but when she was an under-aged teenager (either 16 or 17), she escaped East Germany with forged papers, with her infant niece in tow to return the child to it's rightful mother who had been denied the right to take the baby home after a visit. She claimed the baby was hers. I have heard that the only reason it worked is because the baby threw up on one of the border guards…

The stories (much more than the raw numbers) are what make this poll fun. Thank you for contributing!

No problem. I'm actually rather fond of telling my story. I try to not overindulge. It leads to trouble.

Take care.

Re: Poll: How many generations removed are you from immigration?

#104

Post by weavejester »

jballanc wrote: post #92
weavejester wrote: post #71

The problem with this poll is that it has a strong bias built into it. Those with recent ancestors who immigrated (such as parents or grandparents) will be able to answer this question fairly easily. Those who do not will find this question difficult to answer unless they have good records of their family tree. I'm not aware of any immigrants in my family tree, but I'm only aware of my ancestry two generations back,…

Certainly if I wanted to be more scientific about this, there is a lot I would do differently... That said, if you go through history, there has seldom been a time when one location or one state remained the dominant force in the world for more than 3 or 4 generations (especially looking at more recent world history). So, another way of posing the hypothesis might be: Is there a "migrant" sub-population within the hu…

It's a reasonable hypothesis, I'm just doubtful that the poll, worded as it is, counts as evidence of this.

Another hypothesis is that people know more about their parents and grand-parents than they do about their more distant ancestors, and that people are more likely to answer polls that are easy to answer than polls that are hard to answer. This hypothesis would also explain the results we're seeing in the poll.

Re: Poll: How many generations removed are you from immigration?

#105

Post by arunbahl »

jballanc wrote: post #92
weavejester wrote: post #71

The problem with this poll is that it has a strong bias built into it. Those with recent ancestors who immigrated (such as parents or grandparents) will be able to answer this question fairly easily. Those who do not will find this question difficult to answer unless they have good records of their family tree. I'm not aware of any immigrants in my family tree, but I'm only aware of my ancestry two generations back,…

Certainly if I wanted to be more scientific about this, there is a lot I would do differently... That said, if you go through history, there has seldom been a time when one location or one state remained the dominant force in the world for more than 3 or 4 generations (especially looking at more recent world history). So, another way of posing the hypothesis might be: Is there a "migrant" sub-population within the hu…

If that's the case, it could be that a "substantial move" indicative of this migrant opportunity-seeking mentality doesn't require immigration or the crossing of nation-state boundaries at all. I wonder if there's another way to phrase this to include someone uprooting themselves from the American east coast and moving to California, for example.

Similarly there are parts of the world where crossing a border to live is nearly as easy (e.g. within the EU). What's the barrier you're trying to measure? Leaving familiar people/surroundings?

[Edit - added EU example and question]

Re: Poll: How many generations removed are you from immigration?

#106

Post by davidcuddeback »

estel wrote: post #91
davidcuddeback wrote: post #78

My great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather immigrated to New York from France in 1685 to escape the religious persecutions of King Louis XIV. I think that makes me 10 generations removed from immigration. There's a town in Normandy, France that bears our name (Caudebec was our French name before immigrating): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudebec-en-Caux and a small town in New York that be…

But you know that every single one of your 256 great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfathers were at least second generation immigrants? I'm sorry, but I find that hard to believe.

No, I certainly don't know my complete family tree, especially on my mothers side. I didn't mean to imply that I did.

Re: Poll: How many generations removed are you from immigration?

#108

Post by arghnoname »

m0nastic wrote: post #86

My mom is a Canadian immigrant to the U.S. (fled as a young teenager). I found out a few years ago that I am technically a Canadian citizen as well (they passed a law granting citizenship to people born of Canadian parents, regardless of the location of their birth). This will hopefully make my long-term eventual moving to Vancouver easier.

My wife's mother emigrated from Canada as a child and even though her mother had to renounce citizenship at one point, my wife fell under the law to which you refer.

We went ahead and went through the process to get her citizenship recognized and were successful in doing it. It's a pretty easy process, though a little time consuming. We thought we best do it until they change their minds! If you may want to move to Canada I'd suggest you go ahead and put in your paperwork. It won't cost you much time, depending on what documentation you need to get from your mother.

Re: Poll: How many generations removed are you from immigration?

#109

Post by 18pfsmt »

I had to choose "2 generations" because my maternal grandfather came over from Russia ~1901. However, my paternal great-grandfather was a full-blooded Native American.

I'm not sure this poll can be that insightful as there are simply too many nuances to be considered.

Re: Poll: How many generations removed are you from immigration?

#110

Post by wnight »

MrKurtHaeusler wrote: post #98
wnight wrote: post #64

Needs another poll answer next time - 'Never in recorded history'. Or at least, '25+ generations'.

Wow where do you live?

Canada. Not me though. Sorry.

There's a guy in here from India who lived roughly where his family always has. To me, never having seen anything older than Montreal, that's just inconceivable. Can a hundred generations of children really grow up playing in the same places? Don't places get experienced out?

There's always a distance between me and the stories my ancestors tell because they were in different places, doing different things. The idea of your great-grandfather playing in the same barn you did as a kid, going to the same school... It's weird to contemplate.

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