I had a grandfather with almost no formal education that came west in a wagon pulled by mules, and settled on 20 acres. He raised 8 children, was never in debt even through the Great Depression. His house was 2 bedrooms with 3 fireplaces. All 8 children grew up to be honest hard working adults that raised families. Everyone of his 30 grandchildren graduated from college, and several had advanced degrees. Not a single criminal or drug addict in the bunch. I doubt he ever had more than a hundred dollars in cash in his life.

So I consider him to be about as historical as it gets for this country. He did it all with hard work. He had no welfare, no food stamps, no minority rights, and no insurance. You will never see his name in any history books, but if you want to know what America could and should have become, you will think of men like him.