If you have Syrian or Lebanese ancestry, you might want to read an article by Tamie Dehler published in the Tribune-Star:
Early Syrian and Lebanese immigrants to the United States began arriving in this country in the 1870s. These people were from the areas we now call Syria and Lebanon, but the land was then a part of the Ottoman Empire, and had been ruled by the Turks since 1519. The modern-day nations of Syria and Lebanon had not yet been created. Within the Ottoman Empire, Greater Syria bordered the eastern Mediterranean and was made up of parts of modern-day Iraq, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, and part of southern Turkey. The Mount Lebanon area included primarily the city of Beirut and surrounding areas.
The immigrants had Turkish passports and most often called themselves Syrians. Most were Christians.
You can read the full article at http://www.tayyar.org/Tayyar/News/PoliticalNews/en-US/128953944000832136.htm.
