Do I have Jamaican ancestry, can I say anything about it?

Question

I have an ancestor from Jamaica, he was born and raised there, his parents were from England however, and to top it all off he was from the late 1600s, he moved to the USA later on, can I claim partial Jamaican ancestry if I include the time period? I mean doesn't all ancestry count? Also Jamaicans are not one race so doesn't that help?

Answer 1

You can say anything you please :-D  Many Americans have Jamaican ancestry and don't know it. It was quite common in the 1600s for settlers to stay in Jamaica (due to the rum trade) for a while, until they had enough money saved to buy some land once they got on the mainland. I believe Alexander Hamilton was born in Jamaica, as most American Hamiltons were.

Answer 2

Again??!!

You can say anything you want to whoever you want, about anything.  If your friends/ family are not interested in genealogy, they won't listen anyway. Or it will be a fight.

You don't need to ask people here what you can claim.  You can prove your ancestor was born in Jamaica, you can prove he died somewhere else.

As long as you continue to worry about what you can claim or not claim, people will argue with you. You have an ancestor who was BORN there. When you use explicit terms, there can be no argument.

Stop claiming anything. The disputes will stop.