11 American Nations Review: Episode 9 (Appalachia)

This week we are learning about the borderlanders: a collection of Scottish, Irish, and Scot-Irish people who had endured nearly 800 years of constant warfare which had left their homeland desolate and in ruin. Their culture emphasized self-reliance and defense of their home, hearth, and clan.

This is the first nation in which we see the American dream as we understand it was being born. Freedom for all. A chance to start over not just as an individual or a family, but as a people. Unbound by the past that had haunted them for 800 years. And able to look to a future where they could decide their fate. Indeed, it is this lesson we should remember- America should the place where the past wrongs can be buried if we chose to. And in burying that past, we can choose to believe in a brighter future.