[Venturer]

My people have been in this country since the 17th century.

I can trace them back that far. As far as I can find out they made good Americans, but if they hadn’t, why should I be ashamed for them.

I am an individual, I can only be responsible for my actions, and I am far from ashamed.

[Ohioan]

It is rather inappropriate for the posterity of a people to apologize for their forebears, who dealt with conditions as they found them--and as people looking back with very imperfect hindsight are not likely ever to fully appreciate.

But that general rule is not the point when one looks at the roots of America. Those 17th Century settlers carved wonderful communities out of a wilderness. Their achievements deserve admiration, not apology. And frankly, as one whose forebears came over in the 19th Century, I personally feel a deep sense of gratitude for what those 17th Century settlers achieved with their blood, sweat, toil & tears; and a debt that I will always try to repay by doing my small part to preserve the heritage of that settler culture that is so well and truly represented in our fundamental principles--the principles that are under constant attack today.

The America that we Conservatives seek to preserve, was well & truly Grounded On Experience & Reason, the experiences of those settlers & the reasoned conclusions drawn by the generation of Washington & Jefferson, based on those experiences.

William Flax