We are truly, a diversified nation, a melting pot, a collage of different cultures from around the globe, and the strongest free country in the world, but how many of us really know how this came about? I mean, how many of us know when, why and how our ancestors came to be Americans? How did we inherit the luscious lifestyles that we so blatantly take for granted? What really was behind the motivation to rebel against our mother country and form a free and independent nation? "Believe me, it wasn't just petty taxation for tea!"

The American history that we are taught in school is limited, generalized and is a far cry from the whole story. We know a little about the pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower and Jamestown. We know about the Dutch and New York, we know a little about the British Colonies, we know about the Irish potato famine and we know about slave trade. At least, we know what "the powers that be" want us to know, but how many of us really know what our ancestors went through to give us the greatest gift of all, the gift of liberty. Our ancestors fought to give us the gift of our freedom because they truly understood what it meant to be without it, they understood its value.

Most of our ancestors were not descended from the handful of pompous British Royalty, sent here to govern and develop this country. Most of our early relatives were Covenanters, Palatine Germans, political prisoners, criminals, prisoners of war, religious fugitives, indentured slaves, and Africans that were also, at first, political prisoners, then later kidnapped and torn away from their families. Later, we learned of the indentured Chinese who built our railways. This rag tag, downtrodden group was the bulk of the first occupants of the untamed continent. Many of our ancestors found themselves sent to the Americas, to the frontiers, at the hands of British bureaucracy, to protect the Queens proclaimed lands. They were nothing more then unknowing pawns, a dispensable buffer between French invaders, their cohorts the Canadian Indians, and the civilized cities of the British colonies. Most of the early settlers lived oppressed lives in Europe, or Africa before they came to America and every one of them has a story about what brought them to these shores. The story of the Covenanters is one of the saddest stories that I have ever heard, even sadder then the plight of our African Americans.

A little known fact, which most Americans are completely unaware of, is that many of the first white settlers were slaves, long before the first black man faced slavery on American soil. Political and religious prisoners faced slavery for life. Others, forced to leave their homes for religious or political reasons, were indentured, made to work for business owners and the British aristocracy of the colonies. Forced into servitude, they were in bondage for a supposed seven-year stint, in order to pay off the cost of the voyage over and the cost of their keep. After doing their time, instead of receiving freedom, their Lords kept them slaves, under the pretense of bogus charges of theft, or other false accusations.

As time progressed, the indentured slaves, either died, or worked off their indenturing. The rich British estate owners and plantation owners did not get rich by paying for their laborers. Soon, African slaves began to make an appearance on the American continent. For a time, in the early colonial days, white and black slaves worked side by side. The first African slaves were prisoners of war, (it was the way of European nations; prisoners were considered free labor). Soon the demand for slaves out-weighed the commodity of them, and greedy merchants resorted to kidnapping. I would like to go on record here; Black slaves were not the first kidnapped slaves. The term kidnapping was coined in the early 1700's, in London, when poor and Palatine children were kidnapped from their families, taken to America and sold into indenture-ship.

How many of us understand why America had a civil war? Why did the north wish to abolish slavery, while the south sought to exploit the use of slave labor? Why was the north anti-slavery? Black slavery was more popular in the south because many of the white people of the north had suffered slavery, themselves. As indentured servants, and the descendants of white slaves, they understood the loss of freedom and the value of liberation. Though a few did, many of the whites in the south never suffered slavery, bondage or indenturing; instead, they became landowners, farmers and plantation owners. Also, southern ports were easier to access from Africa and the holding islands off of the American coasts, so the bulk of African slaves were sold in the south.

This leads me to another little known story, the saga of my family, the story of the Palatine Germans. The story of the Palatines to America is little known because Palatine Germans barely have mention in American History books, if mentioned at all. I never heard of them, let alone knew that I was descendent from them, until I became interested in my family genealogy. I find their omission in American history very odd, since they were the largest mass migrating group to colonial America.

The story of the Palatines is fascinating and heart wrenching. It encompasses the reason, the motivation behind the strong desire for a liberated America. In fact, one of the indentured children, taken from his Palatine family, was John Peter Zenger, the man that led the fight for one of our freedoms, the freedom of the press.

The mass migration of the Palatine Germans was the largest migration in early colonial times. The trails, tribulations and courage of these people, their story deserves to be told. The saga of the Palatines can be found in the pages of my novel, "Walrabenstein - the Plight and Flight of the Palatine," and is a worthy read, a prelude to the lives of an early American culture.

Also, if you are interested in the power of our inherent gift of liberation, and what that means, if you are interested other cultures that have recently found their freedom, next time you surf the web, you are visit http://www.international-penpal.com/. Once, you become friends with someone from Russia or Ghana, both nations relatively new at being free, or anyone else from the poorer, or struggling countries of the world, you might appreciate the abundant lifestyle we so easily take for granted, and what it really means to be a liberated American.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761566973/Immigration.html

http://eh.net/Clio/Publications/indentured.shtml

http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/main_pages/madison_archives/era/african/antecedents/indenture.htm

http://www.pricegen.com/resources/servants.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American

http://www.nps.gov/stli/

http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Sthist.html

---