Were the Founding Fathers of the US "LEGAL" immigrants? Let's ask the Native peoples of this country.

Question

And, didn't they "terrorize" the native people with guns, wars and purposefully passing on disease? (Don't forget: our ancestors taught them how to "scalp".)

Of course I know my history. You have all just missed my point; guess I counted on you all bing more intelligent!

What have "we" accomplished that is so wonderful?

The Holy Carp is INTELLIGENT! Glory Be! I may not agree but I celebrate the use of the brain! Thank you!!!

I'm 60--not a college student. Degrees in many things--including HISTORY!!!

I have no problem with protecting our borders--just the way people categorize the "illegals". Wouldn't most of us try to better ourselves in a different country if we knew that everyone was looking the other way?

Answer 1

And we use to have horses and buggy's too. There were no laws or few laws. You must also realize that at one time there were no street sign etc until cars. Then when the cars started to number many and accidents started to occur then laws had to be enacted for the safety off all. The drivers and the pedestrians
See the peroxides?

Answer 2

How many times can irrelevant remarks about supposed historical hypocrisy be made?

Let's see if this can be explained. This is, by current law, a sovereign nation.

Not all persons coming into this country can be assumed as having good intent, nor can they control the bad among them. Also, even if the ones with bad intent are a statistical minority, the people that come here collectively may or may not be an overall help to the country, economically at least. The benefit to diversity argument in part rests on mutual respect. There's ample anecdotal evidence to suggest cultural respect is at a low.

The concerns people have are not all illegitimate. Many are sound or valid. And there is a debate over the economic data. This is a time for trying to allay fears, if you support a lighter immigration policy, not to dismiss arguments against that because you feel offended, as if people are obligated to agree with you and dismiss what they find important.

The more you treat concerns about illegal immigration as racist paronia, or behave as such, the less legitimate you look to anyone trying to use reason to resolve the problem.

Put simply, your argument is an obfuscation.

EDIT: Thanks for the compliment. I wouldn't say the other answers aren't unintelligent. They're seeking to invalidate your argument by asserting current laws did not exist then, but you are infering that there would have existed a sense of invasion for the Native American tribes, long present in the country. I would suppose so, at least eventually. But my contention is such an argument on moral hypocrisy, however valid, doesn't disprove the legitimacy of complaints against illegal immigration now. Legal statuses aren't tossed out due to past hypocrisies, even when the benefit is still being reaped.

Answer 3

Immigrant status didn't exist back then. neither in europe or America. Immigration did not arise untill the rise of nations, right before WW1. When the white man got to America, the natives had their own problems among eachother. the native americans constantly took eachothers land. They were just as barberic as the Europeans.
As the world got smaller. It was only inevitable that the Europeans would make contact with America. Thus, only the stronger of the two would win.
Today, the world has become so populated that people are forced to create their own nations. The sovereignty of these nations must be respected. If they are not, then you have a One World Order, with no nation having the right over its lands.
I disagree with our government in some aspecs. We send 200,000 troops to protect Iraqs borders but we do nothing to stop the drugs, weapons, and illegal human traffic that pours over our border. Our government doesn't want to protect our border. how can we tell Syria and Iran to secure theirs.
As a person of Native American (Creek) ancestory I can not stand it when a Mexican citizen says that this land belonged to them. I don't know of any Native Americans that speak Spanish. There is a difference in Mexican Indians and American Indians.

I pursuade you to take western history classes in college, among others. Education is the key to knowing what the government is realy doing. Not believing in X-Files theories.

Answer 4

George Washington was born in Virginia, I guess that makes at least one of the founding fathers a citizen of this country. I didn't look up the rest.

The first illegal immigrants in the Americas (including North America, i.e., the current U.S.) were Hispanic Invaders who robbed, raped and pillaged the land of the native indians. The Spaniards brought smallpox and other diseases to the indians, which made it easy to subdue those natives. The indians that survived were made into slaves, or forced to assimilate with their Hispanic conquerers.

The European Colonists came peacefully 200+ years later, and fought the Spanish (and French) for territory that was ALREADY conquered, and after many treaties and purchases, the U.S. was formed. Land also was obtained from the natives, through trade and agreement.

The U.S. colonists were allies to the Indians, not enemies. There were very few fights between Indians and Colonists, in fact the Indians fought mostly against the Spaniards, French, and English Crowns, not the colonists. The colonists were welcomed, which is why we have Thanksgiving. As with any people, there were those individuals who were not tolerant of newcomers. Many deaths were caused by indians, which made some immigrants do terrible things to protect themselves, since it wasn't so easy to just pack up and leave the land.

Simon

P.S. After the Hispanic Europeans began to lay claim to more American lands, they in fact tried to wipe out any indian population that would not assimilate with them. The ones that did were called Mestizos, and were forced to subject themselves to Spanish religion and culture. Many indian women were raped to force assimilation. The young U.S. sent troops to help the Mestizos(Mexico) gain independence from Spain, and bought lands from the new Mexican government. It seems now they want the land back, and they want it back for free. Funny thing is, they claim that the U.S. 'stole' the land, which is not correct. The Hispanics' own ancestors stole the land, and sold it. The U.S. recognized those actions, and after much debate, made laws to protect Indian Territory, where it was possible.

Answer 5

The Founding fathers of the U.S. were legal, because their was no country when they came here.

They took this untamed land, and planted the seeds that helped it grow , and today this land harbors the most powerful country on the face of the Earth, but like in the evolution of most countries, we do have some dark pasts. Best thing to do, is to learn from the mistakes made, and celebrate our accomplishments as a nation.

Food for thought : Aztecs were cannibals, so does that mean that all Mexicans Nationals are cannibals as well ?


Responce : We built the greatest Nation on Earth, a democracy governed by the people, we enjoy freedoms other countries only dream about. Are you so spoiled by this country, that you are not able to see what is going on ?


Thats total arogence, to make that closing statement, look at those thumbs down, and give it a little thought.

Answer 6

First of all there were no immigration laws set up by Native Americans.

Secondly, if we were to say something should be OK because our ancestors did it shouldn't we be OK with slavery, lynching, piracy, and the idea of manifest destiny. Just because somebody did it in the past doesn't mean it's right. Oh and before you go saying anything, all of these things, no matter how wrong, helped create the United States of today.

Also:
Certain tribes of North American Indians practiced scalping, in some instances up until the 19th century. According to ethnohistorian James Axtell, there is abundant evidence that the Native American practice of scalping existed long before Europeans arrived.

If you know history so well how did you blaringly screw up this bit.

Answer 7

Since there was no statutory authority or rule of law governing The American tribes individually or collectively, the term "Legal" is not applicable; however, I do understand the intent of your question.

In attempt to have a thoughtful and respectful discourse here, I will attempt to answer your question as follows:

Human sensibilities and understanding have been and continue to be maturing. Although the British interlopers of the 1600s committed atrocities in colonizing North America, they were involved in a political and economic system in Europe that compelled them to seek territory and resources elsewhere or risk being conquered by other European powers. There was no sense of cooperation among 16th and 17th century European kingdoms, especially between Catholics and Protestants. Faced with the prospect of be conquered by any one of the Catholic kingdoms, the British crown pursued economic resources in the Americas preserving protestantism in the process.

Ultimately, conflict was inevitable. Do you rationally think that the tribal structure of the America's would be in a state of coexistence and isolation today had the innovations of modern civilization been isolated to Europe and Asia? At best, an enterprising tribe would have embraced European civilization and used the resulting technology in manner similar to the inhabitants of the British colonies.

Your reference to purposefully passing on diseases was much more common and devastating as practiced by the Spanish in Central and South America, and though it may have been lost in your recollection of historical fact, but the various tribes were also frequently at war with each other -- much like Central and Northern Europe were before the Romans. However, I, like my ancestors, have long since abandoned efforts at envoking the atrocities committed by the Romans to sow discord with thier Italian descendants. You may want to consider the same.

Answer 8

You are several generations too late for that comparrison. The Virginia Company was here almost 200 years before the Revolutionalry War. If you are second generation you are a citizen and our founding father were well past second generation born in the US. The native Americans came from somewhere else also. Mankind did not evolve in the US. Everybody came from somepalce else.

Answer 9

And they took the land from the earlier inhabitants also. And so it goes on and on thru history in every country in the world. Todays people took it from others. Check your history. Who were the mound builders? Where did they go? Who were the first inhabitants? The Sioux drove the Kiowa and Comanche south. The Iroquois drove the Shawnee south and west and fought war after war with the Hurons, and even the Cherokees, who fought the Creek nations. Quit the BS. If you knew history you would not post such ludicrous messages

Answer 10

You are really out there aren't you? We all came from tribal peoples way back when. How far back do you want to go? And which people should we appoint as experts? People have all terrorized each other in the past.

Now we face Islamic Jihadists who aren't willing to allow different people to live on reservations. The final word is convert or die.
They like killing.

How much trouble do you have with reality in general?