“The accession of these places to US rule does not wipe out their history.”
Go back even further and their history will be of some Native American tribe that inhabited the area. No one said anything wiped out their history. You keep changing the argument.
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St. Augustine was a Spanish settlement, but it is no longer a Spanish town.
New Orleans was a French settlement, but it’s no longer a French city.
Ditto Santa Fe.
“But that isn’t the anniversary of the first continuously inhabited European settlement in America, or the first settlement of European ancestors of today’s American population.”
You pulled St. Augustine out of a hat. St. Augustine had nothing to do with the settlers and descendants who established governments in Virginia which eventually evolved into the USA, and had nothing to do with Ellis Island, and was not in one of the thirteen original colonies.
But if you think St. Augustine is America’s birthplace, then have your own celebration of ___the birthday of America. The rest of the country observed the 400th anniversary a few months back.
America as a nation has two birthplaces - Lexington on the battlefield, and Philadelphia in government.
Jamestown, Plymouth Rock, St. Augustine, Santa Fe, New Orleans, etc. are simply places of settlement.