American Homeland highly encourages every American to research their genealogy. Doing so will give you a greater sense of purpose and responsibility. Your rootedness to the nation becomes real. Your ties to America, and its people, are no longer abstract. You are the flesh and blood product of the generations who conquered this continent and built this civilization. Though there are many ancestry sites available now, FamilySearch.org is a free and easy place to begin discovering your family tree. (We are not affiliated with FamilySearch)
Using FamilySearch, I learned about my relation to many of the founders and heroes of America. Some of them include George Washington (2nd cousin eight times removed), Alexander Hamilton (7th cousin eight times removed), Nathan Bedford Forrest (Husband of my 9th cousin four times removed), Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman (5th cousin five times removed), John Adams (5th cousin six times removed), and Robert E Lee (Husband of my 4th cousin six times removed).
You’ll come to find that we Americans truly are one large, consanguine family unto ourselves. Because the population of the founding stock was so small, compared to the population size of our mother countries, all of the heroes of America were closely related to one another through blood or marriage. For example, George Washington and Robert E. Lee were third cousins.
1.) To begin, create a free account on the FamilySearch mobile app or website. More features are available on the website.
2.) Go to your “tree” and begin building it, starting with your parents.
(Note: only deceased relatives will have a public profile that can be shared across FamilySearch accounts. Each relative will have a unique ID number.)
3.) To take advantage of the genealogy work others have done on the site, and speed up the process, see if a public profile has already been made for your nearest deceased relatives. Go to the “find” page.
4.) Enter your relative’s info. Having the approximate date of birth and death will help narrow down the search results.
5.) Once you find them, go to their profile and copy their unique ID.
6.) Paste it into the ID field when adding relatives to your tree. Doing so will ensure you’re connecting a profile that’s already fleshed out, rather than a brand new duplicate. If other users have fleshed out the tree of that given ancestor, it will automatically populate that portion of the tree for you.
You may find interesting documents in the “sources” and “memories” tabs within family member profiles.
Once you’ve connected relatives going as far back as the 17th or 18th century, you may learn a great deal about when and where your ancestors settled upon the continent. You may even be able to determine how you’re related to various American figures.
7.) Search for someone of interest (ex. Henry Ford). Be sure to enter the date of their birth and death because, for whatever reason, even famous historical figures will not be at the top of the search results.
8.) Click “view relationship” on their profile and the site will determine the relation based on the site’s existing connections (you may be more related to a given individual — the site just hasn’t been provided with the proper linkages).
FINAL TIP: If you’ve hit a road block with a relative that doesn’t have any info, and cannot automatically generate more of your tree, try to at least find the names of their parents. I’ve found that “skipping” a generation sometimes helps unlock a significant portion of your tree.
Knowing your genealogy, and your relation to American heroes, is not going to solve our nation’s problems. It may, however, reinvigorate you — helping you to become a better American. We need to honor our ancestors, and their sacrifice, by improving ourselves and reclaiming power. This is our domain. We need to be Godly, educated men. We need to accumulate wealth and influence.
Knowing your connection to the nation and its history will give you more confidence when confronted by foreigners who try to impose themselves upon your inheritance. The foreigner tells you that everyone is an American. They pervert your history and scold you based on their alien interpretation of your ancestors’ words. “This is actually what George Washington meant…”
We are George Washington.
We are Alexander Hamilton.
We are John Jay.
We come from the same blood.
This is our family and our home.
I've been searching on this site for over a year now. It's truly eye opening to learn about our ancestors journeys and the great stock that we come from. My ancestors came to America in the early 1600's and had a major role in shaping this nation. It gave me a renewed sense of purpose and fight in me.