Are You a ‘Heritage American’?

The Atlantic ^ | October 7, 2025 | Ali Breland

[MinorityRepublican]

In August, a guest on Tucker Carlson’s podcast said something that immediately caught his interest. The United States faces a fundamental rift “between heritage Americans and the new political class,” Auron MacIntyre, a columnist for Blaze Media, argued. “Heritage Americans—what are those?” Carlson asked.

“You could find their last names in the Civil War registry,” MacIntyre explained. This ancestry matters, he said, because America is not “a collection of abstract things agreed to in some social contract.” It is a specific set of people who embody an “Anglo-Protestant spirit” and “have a tie to history and to the land.” MacIntyre continued: “If you change the people, you change the culture.” “All true,” Carlson replied.

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TOPICS: History; Society
KEYWORDS: alibreland; auronmacintyre; blazemedia; theatlantic; tuckercarlson

[dfwgator]

Back then the KKK hated Catholics as much as they did blacks.

[chajin]

3/4 of my ancestral lines were here before the Civil War. The other fourth came in the 1880s, and in one generation were just as American as the other 3/4. “Heritage” is a choice, not a bloodline; one of the many things that makes America exceptional.

[pierrem15]

‘at what point does my family lose the immigrant tag?’

When I lived in Maryland many years ago I new a family with a big farm right on the Chesapeake.

The house sprawled out from a small brick structure built in the 17th Century. They had been living on the same farm since 1650.

Which is to say, they occupied the land there for longer than just about any of the tribes who had ever been there before.

[CodeToad]

Seems to me a Heritage American is one with ancestors going back to 1776. All mine do.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

The Anglos that were invited to move to the area that is now Northern Ireland over a thousand years ago are being told that they need to get out, Ireland for the Irish.

Strangely no one is trying to force out the Irish who moved into Scotland a couple of hundred years prior.

I will leave you to figure that one out.

[ansel12]

“”””Back then”””””?

The KKK was founded after the Civil War.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

Horse Hookey.

UnAmerican.

AntiAmerican.

How many Irish immigrants fought in the civil war, not even respected as much as slaves!

[Sirius Lee]

My catholic ancestors beat the ports to what is now the United States by over a century.

[Sirius Lee]

Ports = Prots.

[MayflowerMadam]

I’ve heard both Tucker and Charlie talk about the fact that Protestants are the reason America came to be. Charlie listed the colonies where it was prohibited for Catholics to hold office.

[MayflowerMadam]

“I have seen gravestones in upstate NY with my family name on them with dates in the early 1700s.”

Our homestead is in Western NYS, and the family cemetery on the property has gravestones from the 1700s.

[Dr. Sivana]

Catholics in USA are shaped by the Protestant work ethic.

Plenty of Catholics in the parts of Germany that never revolted against the Church who have a hearty work ethic. Same with Austria. And Poland. My Catholic forebears are German, Polish and Irish. We didn’t absorb a “Protestant” work ethic.

[Vigilanteman]

America had close to zero Catholics . . .

Not so. One colony (Maryland) was founded as a refuge for Catholics. Charles Carroll invested his personal fortune in the American Revolution and was the only Catholic signor of the Declaration of Independence and the longest surviving signor.

His co-religionists were not a few of the Maryland militia.

[Semper Vigilantis]

Have 2 in Vicksburg cemetery and a Texas county bears our name. Guess I’m good.

[Colorado Doug]

You could find their last names in the Civil War registry

I can find mine on the Dawes Rolls. That goes back a whole lot further than any Civil War registry. So there!

[decal]

Started showing up in 1638.

One of the founding families of New London, CT.

An ancestor (not with the same last name) was a privateer during the Revolutionary War.

Where do I get my badge?

[the OlLine Rebel]

I double down on the Maryland contribution of Catholics - until the WASPs squelched it officially well before the Revolution.

But regardless, there were plenty of Catholics.

[Political Junkie Too]

“You could find their last names in the Civil War registry,” MacIntyre explained. This ancestry matters, he said, because America is not “a collection of abstract things agreed to in some social contract.” It is a specific set of people who embody an “Anglo-Protestant spirit” and “have a tie to history and to the land.”

This is actually Aryanist mumbo-jumbo.

The proper question should be: "Are You a ‘Constitutional American’?

True Americans believe in "We the People," the principle of a republican form of government with the consent of the governed.

Tracing one's lineage back to the Mayflower is akin to defining a "master race" of Americans that doesn't exist in our culture.

-PJ

[FLT-bird]

My family got here in 1649. I have at least 9 direct ancestors who served in the Confederate Army during the War for Southern Independence. Doubtless I have many more if you start counting cousins. I also had several who fought in the American War of Independence.

So Yes, I’m a heritage American. My family was here for well over a century before there was a United States of America.

[Crusher138]

On Dad’s side we came here during the Revolution...on the British side. It appears that they may have switched sides once here. There is also a cousin of James Buchanan somewhere in there.

On Mom’s side my I-have-no-idea-how-many-greats grandfather is Light Horse Harry Lee.

My DNA ancestry came back as 89% British Islands. The rest was mostly German. Yeah...about as white as you can get.