re: I'm proud and happy that this land, America, was conquered by European explorers

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Yes. I'm both happy and sad at the same time. Happy that my oppressed ancestors boarded those rinky-dink wooden boats and crossed the Atlantic to escape tyranny from the Crown.

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Most people cannot fathom the idea of how difficult that decision must have been. All we know is car rides and flight. Imagine crossing the frontier in wagons pulled by horses. That pales into comparison to what those explorers did in my opinion.
The decision for those people to get into a wooden ship and sail into the unknown was far more heroic than any decision made after it.