America's Ancestry Craze Summary

Maud Newton’s “America’s Ancestry Craze” discusses genealogy and how it is used to find out information about your ancestors. Newton shares her experience while having access to centuries of public records online and how discovering some of these records, should be done with caution. The idea of someone using these online websites, to find out who they are as a person, is only some of the many ideas newton goes over in her essay. Newton also goes into much detail on genes and how they, including details of her ancestors, are used to make up a person. The fascination people have for DNA analysis is strongly encouraging more people to put together their family tree. The only true way Newton believes we can find out who we are as a person, is
The possibility of having different types of backgrounds that her mother or father may not have known about, really sparked her interest. Throughout her essay she compares her thoughts on genealogy to her thoughts on her ancestors. She believes the reason people seek to find out about their past is for our exploration and for our superstitious minds. We are trying to find out who we are, by finding out who they were. As stated in her article, "The ultimate goal of DNA based on genealogy is to create a universal genetic family tree" revealing exactly how everyone in the world is related.
Another way newton uses resources to discover more information, is through online websites. She brings up many times throughout her essay, ancestery.com and 23 and me.com. The information newton finds from these websites, to create her family tree, is the most effective expression of her passion and ideas throughout the essay. The details she discovers, sums up what she learns about her mother and father's past family and how this changes her views on them. The way she states that she is just as white as she always thought she was, really shows how important this research was to