Faces of America: Ancestry and Immigration Discussion

After watching the interesting "Faces of America" video of immigration and ancestry, I have learned that many people are unaware of just exactly who and where their ancestors are and where they come from. I learned that most of immigration between the time of about 1880 to around 1920 came from the East and into the city of New York, more specifically into Ellis Island which is right of the coast of New York, practically literally. It seems that if one really digs deep and really tries to figure out the ancestry, it is very possible, but many have never really tried. I learned that the earliest of many people's ancestors were practically 100% foreign which makes tons of sense in the fact that people merely wanted to start over and create new lives and opportunities for themselves and they would all migrate to "free land".

What I believe it means to be a "nation of immigrants" is that pretty much our nation accepts the fact that we are one huge "melting pot". Being a nation of immigrants is what makes this country considered the greatest nation in the world. The mixture of the different ethnicity of people is what the different styles or ways of doing things such as religion. I do not really feel aware of the connection I have with any of my ancestors because I have never out forth the effort to figure out where my roots come from. I have had maybe one conversation with my grandmother about the ancestry of my family, but she never really got into detail with the topic. I think I would be very interested to find out about my roots and hopefully one day will find the time to research it.