Silvery's dumb questions about America

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You guys have never had a parmo. It's a Teesside delicacy! Chicken breast in breadcrumbs, deep fried then covered in bechemel sauce THEN covered in about 2lbs of chedder and baked so that it's all gooey. Fabulous with garlic sauce. Mind you, you can hear your arteries clanging shut when you look at it!

 

Parmo's are amazing! If you want artery clogging goodness, try Scotland. They deepfry ANYTHING up there. Deepfried Mars bars, pizza, anything!

 

Deep fried snickers are good

Back to dumb questions: Why are some Americans so proud of being able to trace their ancestry back to that boat full of misfits (the cornflower I think)?

 

I'm not a citizen of the United States of America, but in the strict sense of the word I am an American (that is to say, I live on one of the American continents.) However, common usage reserves the use of that word only for USA citizens. But I digress.

The Mayflower was among the first boats to come over from England and bring settlers to the Eastern Coast. (Actually, to be honest, that may or may not be true -- in popular culture it is always portrayed that way but a history buff like Chandos can probably cite some interesting facts that disprove the whole story. But again I digress.)

It seems that the idea of "First is the best!" is what's in action here. As in "my ancestors were to REAL ballsy ones -- they came here when there was nothing but virgin woodlands and soem irrelevant savages. Anyone who came later was just riding on our coattails!"

However, while I have met some really arrogant and stupid Americans in my lifetime, I have not met one who talked about his Mayflower ancestry.

An interesting point, this idea of "we were first" is common in all sorts of places. Christ rebukes the Jews in the New Testament for relying on their geneological lineage (they traced it back to Abraham) rather than their own merits. The book I just read about Islam's history argues that a lot of Muslims believe that because it was an Arab (Mohamed) who received the revelations of the holy Qur'an, it is better to be Arab. The author even goes so far as to point out that some Muslims from India and Pakistan alter their names so as to sound more Arabic and thus achieve more status and recognition in the greater Muslim community.

Hell, even Mormons do it. All sorts of them feel proud that they can trace their lineage back to Brigham Young. As if that means a damn thing in the grand scheme of things. (Note that I am not one of those!)

I'm sure there's even some Brits who gladly trace their lineage back to KIng Canute or something like that.

 

Forget about the Mayflower ... I know people who can trace their lineage to Bruce Springsteen. Never got them a free concert ticket though.

For that matter I can trace my lineage to the House of Windsor. I've never been offered a Bermuda vacation or a tour of Windsor castle.

 

My family traces back to Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the USA...and IMO one of the coolest. Having a pet parrot that curses just oozes coolness!

 

Here you go, LKD. The English were late getting to North America, but they decided to stay:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Anse_aux_Meadows

 

Thanks, Chandos, but that wasn't quite what I meant. I knew about the Norse arrival and probable expulsion by Native North American groups in the 1000s or so.

What I was referring to was settlers to New England. My understanding wss that the first group of English settlers to come in the was the Mayflower in the 1600s. However, history tends to have little known facts, like a boat that had actually made landfall 3 months earlier or something, that don't really jive with the popular branding of the story. Facts like these are the ones that make the basis for films like "National Treasure", wherein Cage displays lots of really interesting little tidbits that only a rigorous scholar of the time period would know (I'm sure a lot of the little ones were true in that film, maybe even some of the big ones, but I'm also sure there was significant fabrication for dramatic purposes.)

So I invoked you because you seem to have made a close study of US history, and I figured you'd know if a ship of colonists had landed in the years leading up to the Mayflower's arrival.

 

It all seems a bit weird to me! My fellas family are quite famous in the north east of england but he just gets embarresed about it

 

Ooh, who are they? Nearly my territory.

 

Ah, I see now. The first group of English that I know of, to settle, arrived in Jamestown, 1606-7. But that wasn't New England, but still the East Coast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown_Settlement

You may find this one interesting as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Island

 

@ Barmy, have you ever heard the nursery rhyme about Bonny Bobby Shafto?

 

Is Washington a state or is it just the city?

 

No I 'ant!

 

Also, a few months after the Jamestown settlement was started in Virginia, another one called Popham was founded in Southern Maine, which most definitely qualifies as NE. It's a popular beach now, though. I am quite proud to be from the state where Joshua Chamberlain, Stephen King and ... well, that's it, come from.

 

i read sometime that was placed in it's own district is to avoid potential desputes over of in witch state it was located, either maryland or virginia, so therefore the founding fathers picked neither, and made it into it's own district

 

I live in Washington state, it does exist. I also like to consider Washington D.C. a city-state, however wrong that may be.

 

That might have been the case, but during the last administration, I'm sure the general consensus what that neither Virginia, nor Maryland *wanted* DC.

 

It's a pretty good story. The city of New York was the favored location. But Alexander Hamilton "traded" the location of the nation's capital for Jefferson and Madison's support for Assumption (the federal government's assuming the debt left over from the Revolution from the states). The Constitution really did not give Hamilton the authority to assume that debt. The move greatly expanded the power of the federal government. Nevertheless, Jefferson insisted later he was "swindled" by Hamiltion and that it was one of the worst decisions he ever made.