For My American Friends

Today is Independence Day in the United States. Although I'm Canadian, my matriarch roots go back to the Revolution. They had come over from Europe - not sure where although most likely England, France, or Ireland- and settled in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. They fought in the Revolutionary War, although - most of them fought on the wrong side, one was hanged as a traitor, and when the war was won, they had to run up to Canada, (before it was Canada) settled in Prince Edward Island and became known as Loyalists. When I told my mother that our ancestors fought on the wrong side she was insulted by the idea. Even explaining taxation without representation didn't sway her and normally she was a pretty fair minded person. Not everyone was an American refugee. Some got to stay and one relative even led away a group of Mormons. He settled them on an island in Michigan, had himself proclaimed king, and married many women at the same time. But everyone has a crazy distant cousin. All of these people came from Europe to make a better life for themselves and settled in either Canada or the U.S. They have been here for close to 250 years. That's my matriarchal grandfather's side. Now my mother's mother is a newer immigrant. She was born in Kent England and came to Canada as a war bride in the First World War. And even closer still is my father. He was first a refugee seeking safety as a small child. They escaped from Leningrad, Russia during WWII, into Finland where they were welcomed. Then when he grew up he immigrated to Canada. I won't go into his story here because it's long. And yes, it's pretty horrendous. Leningrad was not a good place to be especially at that time. And further, his father was a well known Finnish professor which as it turns out was also not a good thing to be. In fact he was so well known that he got Stalin's attention and he can be found in Finnish Wikepedia. Anyway, the point is, when things get bad - sometimes you have to move. Sometimes you have to run. Sometimes the only other option is death. The Statue of Liberty was gifted by the French to the Americans and was put into place in New York harbor in 1886. It was put there to welcome immigrants to the United States. When the people on the boats came they looked for that statue to let them know that they had come home. Embedded in this statue is an invitation in the form of a poem written by Emma Lazarus (1849-1887).

The New Collossus

Emma Lazarus Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Note, that it does not say "give me your educated, your rich, your pretty, the people who don't really need to come but just want to try out something new. " The United States invited the tired, the poor, the huddled masses, those who wanted to have freedom, the wretched, the ones that other countries considered garbage, the homeless, and the tempest tossed. Those were the people that were invited to the country. It doesn't even state colour or religion at a time when colour and religion were a big deal. The U.S. invited people who needed to come and find a home.

***** For today's Canadian Woman I am choosing a woman who has been embraced by the Americans, because you know, it's their birthday.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874 - 1942)

Born on Prince Edward Island (hey she might be a relative, the island's not that big), Montgomery was a well known and well beloved author of numerous books, most notably the Anne of Green Gables series. There is a ton of references throughout the internet so I'm just going to link you to the Wikepedia page. You'll find the links to a mountain of other places as well as a bibliography of her work. LMM Wikepedia Isn't this a lovely picture of her? She looks like a bit of a character. But then, she wrote Anne.