Getting Ahead of Myself

When I asked some of my friends about what they though the modern American was, one answer that stood out was something along the lines of, “being of mixed heritage,” with heritage meaning, different ethnic backgrounds. The problem I have with that definition is that it is purely based on genetic information and doesn’t say anything about the culture of Americans. Being based on genetics that means a person would have to get their DNA tested which might be too expensive and not available for some people who want to know if they’re a “modern American.” There’s also the problem of people immigrating into the country of mixed heritage. By that definition wouldn’t those people also be considered “modern Americans” to? For my definition, I’d like for people to be determined a modern American without any testing needing to be done. Currently I’ve been thinking for a person to have had family they’ve directly descended from live in the country for four generations on at least one side (mother’s or father’s). That sounds slightly confusing when I try to type it out and is somewhat a mouthful to say so I guess I’ll polish it up later and add on more.

Also, while I have yet to finish step 1 of my plans (define the “modern American”) I decided to go on ahead and look for some possible sources. I started looking for ways to find out about immigration records and I sure am glad I did. One site I came across that was extremely insightful was the National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration), which contain information on where to find immigration records and some specific waves of immigration that were documented. What I noticed however is that most of the records seem to only be accessible after paying money to see them or special ordering them (which costs money). They are also only available for certain time periods and I have yet to see anything go as far back as 1607, which is troublesome. I may need to rethink how I’m going to go about completing this if Ican’t see immigration records.