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Honestly, why should you care if they don't like you. It is a very small group of people and as long as you don't associate with them, you will never have to worry about it. Just my two cents.
I'm thinking about moving to Charlotte from the mid-west, and I'm a little iffy about the over-abundance of "northerners" (specifically, New Jerseyans and New Yorkers) moving to Charlotte. One of the main reasons I want to move to CLT is the "southern hospitality" and charm the city has. My parents' families are originally from New Jersey and New York, and my husband is originally from Philly so I am familiar with the way people are in the north east. Suffice it to say that my parents and husbnad left NJ, NY and PA for various reasons including general attitudes of "north-easterners." Now, I realize that generalizations aren't fair, and that not everyone from NJ, NY, or PA are loud-mouth, obnoxious whiners with strong accents and corrupt morals, but stereotypes exist for a reason, and no one can intelligently argue that. I just hope that when I get to Charlotte, my neighbors and co-workers are nice, friendly people, who embrace that "southern hospitality" mentality, and I don't end up feeling like I've moved to "Little New Jersey."
that overall people in Charlotte are very friendly to everyone. That being said, the quickest way to put a halt to some of that hospitality is to be rude or disrespectful. For instance, I work with a lady from New Jersey who constantly talks about how her children do anything they can to NOT adopt a southern accent, and we are always hearing about how "back in Jersey, blah blah blah..." Immediately my co-workers start rolling their eyes or reminding her that southern accents are much more pleasant to the ear than "other" accents....
I always have to pump my own gas here in VA... unless I get dh to fillerup for me.... the other day I had one of the lines fling gas all over my leg when i took it off the pump, I asked the girls inside if the had any haz mat info for me and they asked me if i wanted a paper towel... I went home and took a shower, dh washed my shoes and jeans, my car smelled like gas for 2 weeks, so much fun... 2hour delay getting to the mall....man I tell ya!
I'm thinking about moving to Charlotte from the mid-west, and I'm a little iffy about the over-abundance of "northerners" (specifically, New Jerseyans and New Yorkers) moving to Charlotte. One of the main reasons I want to move to CLT is the "southern hospitality" and charm the city has. My parents' families are originally from New Jersey and New York, and my husband is originally from Philly so I am familiar with the way people are in the north east. Suffice it to say that my parents and husbnad left NJ, NY and PA for various reasons including general attitudes of "north-easterners." Now, I realize that generalizations aren't fair, and that not everyone from NJ, NY, or PA are loud-mouth, obnoxious whiners with strong accents and corrupt morals, but stereotypes exist for a reason, and no one can intelligently argue that. I just hope that when I get to Charlotte, my neighbors and co-workers are nice, friendly people, who embrace that "southern hospitality" mentality, and I don't end up feeling like I've moved to "Little New Jersey."
Just my two cents...
I wholeheartedly agree!!! And I'm from New Jersey! Please, people from New Jersey and New York, keep your bad attitudes and loud mouths at home! And I'm not referring to everyone from those areas. I've met quite a few Northeners who are very nice, polite and try their best to "go with the flow". But, boy when I come across those loud obnoxious people in some stores, I cringe! I met a woman from New Jersey the other day, who started talking in a fake "Southern" accent, who said to me: "Honey, you better start tawkin' like this, or they'll neverrr accept you heere!" I thought: "No wonder people around here get annoyed at these folks with a "better than thou" attitude!"
I've been here for 3 years and am a native NY'er. I have never, ever, ever, for one minute felt that someone in Charlotte was looking at me cross-eyed for being from the north.
I agree with the poster above who commented that you shouldn't come here saying/believing that X, Y, or Z isn't like in New York. If you do feel that way, then you should just stay up north. As a family, we've tried to truly integrate ourselves into the local culture. We came here because we wanted to get away from New York--not because we wanted to find a cheaper place and try to make it like NY. This is the south, and that's the lifestyle we're trying to enjoy.
Charlotte was born on the 20th July, 1692 at the intersection of two Native American trading paths, one of which ran north-south Great Wagon Road, followed closely today by U.S. Route 21, and a second that ran east-west along what is now modern-day Trade Street. In the early part of the 18th century, the Great Wagon Road led settlers of Scots-Irish and German descent from Pennsylvania into the Carolina foothills. Charlotte has been called "The City of Trees" and "The City of Churches".
In 1755, early settler Thomas Polk (uncle of United States President James K. Polk) built his house at the crossroads of a Native American trading path and the Great Wagon Road, which subsequently became the village of "Charlotte Town," incorporated in 1768. The crossroads, perched atop a long rise in the piedmont landscape, is the heart of modern Uptown Charlotte. The trading path became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road became Tryon Street, in honor of William Tryon, a royal governor of colonial North Carolina. The intersection of Trade and Tryon is known as "Trade & Tryon" or simply "The Square."
Both the city and its county are named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the German-born wife of British King George III. Loyalty to King George and his consort was "short-lived". On May 20, 1775, townsmen allegedly signed a proclamation later known as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, a copy of which was allegedly sent, though never officially presented, to the Continental Congress a year later. The date of the declaration appears on the NC state flag. Eleven days later, the same townsmen met to create and endorse the Mecklenburg Resolves, a set of laws to govern the newly independent town.
From The Museum of the Waxhaws website: http://www.perigee.net/~mwaxhaw/ (broken link)
-What is the 'Waxhaws'?
Originally known as "the Waxhaw Settlement," the region encompasses an area just south of Charlotte, NC to Lancaster, SC and from the Catawba River in the west to Monroe, NC in the east. The area was named for its first inhabitants, the Waxhaw Indians.
- Who were the first European settlers in the Waxhaw area?
The earliest white European settlers began coming down the Great Wagon Road around 1740. They were predominantly Scots-Irish and German immigrants, who had come to America in search of land and opportunity. There were also a few English settlers, descendants of earlier New England colonists, who moved southward where land was more plentiful. Stalwart and hardy, these early settlers had a hard life to forge in what was then known as the Backcountry. Early roads were few and hard to travel, making communication and trade in and out of the region both erratic and unpredictable. Travel that did occur was often stymied by wet weather.
There were few encounters in this area between the Native Americans and these first European settlers, as by then most Indians in the region had been wiped out by disease and war. Those that were left often assimilated into other tribes. Consequently, these early European settlers found little competition for land, plenty of timber for homes, and an abundance of game. Many practiced the Presbyterian faith, and the first church in the region was built in 1752. The family of Andrew Jackson attended the Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church, and his father is buried in the cemetery there.
- Who were the Waxhaw Indians?
Long before European explorers came to the Americas, the Waxhaw Indians inhabited the area near Cane Creek in the Catawba River Valley. They were a small tribe of the Siouan language group. The origin of their name is not known for sure but it may mean 'People of the Cane,' in the common trade language used between native groups. Like most native populations in the area, they tended to congregate and build small settlements near the rivers, which provided food, transportation, and of course, water. The Waxhaws were referred to as 'flatheads' by early explorers and other natives. This nickname no doubt came from the tribes harmless practice of placing small sandbags on the foreheads of infants, resulting in wide-set eyes and a reshaped, flat forehead.
In 1566, Captain Juan Pardo and a party of about 100 men visited the Waxhaw Indians in search of a route west to Mexico to circumvent the dangerous sea voyage around Florida. This is the first known European contact with the Native Americans in this area. St. Augustine, Florida had only been founded the year before. Pardo describes the Waxhaw village as composed of long lodges, typical of Eastern woodland Indian tribes.
After the initial contact by the Pardo Expedition, trade developed between the Europeans and the natives. As a result, the Indians lost the ability, over time, to make weapons and tools in traditional ways, preferring instead to trade food and deer hides with the Europeans in exchange for muskets and axes. John Lederer arrived in 1670 and referred to the Indians as the 'Wisacky.' He noted that they were under the authority of the larger Catawba tribe.
John Lawson, commissioned by the Lord Proprietors of England in 1701 to survey the interior of Carolina, kept a detailed journal of his travels. According to Lawson, The Waxhaw lodges were "large and lightsome." The Indians made his stay quite comfortable. They sat on deer skins and dined on stewed peaches and corn. He noted their practice of flattening their foreheads, and also that they owned the largest iron cooking pots either he or any of his English trading companions had ever seen. Historians speculate that close to 2,000 Waxhaws lived here in two villages when Lawson made his journey.
By 1720, most of the Waxhaws had been wiped out by the dreaded diseases brought over by European settlers, particularly smallpox. The rest were decimated during the Yamasee Wars, which pitted them against South Carolina colonists and larger, more powerful, tribes. The majority of Waxhaws who survived are believed to have been absorbed into the neighboring Catawba tribe. Others joined the Seminole tribes in Florida.
What is Andrew Jackson's connection to the Waxhaws?
In 1765, Andrew Jackson, Sr., the father of the future president, moved with his wife Elizabeth (known as Betty) and their two young sons, Hugh and Robert, to the Waxhaw settlement. They were Scots Irish, originally from County Antrim in Ireland. It is believed that Andrew Jackson, Sr. bought farmland and built a home at Twelve Mile Creek, near present day Mineral Springs, NC (just off Hwy. 75 East a few miles from the museum.) This farmstead no longer exists but archaeological evidence suggests a home of modest means.
Andrew Jackson, Sr. died in late February, 1767. Betty traveled south to the Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church to bury her husband. On the return trip, she gave birth to Andrew Jackson, the future president of the United States. Although stories abound as to the events surrounding the birth, as of yet no definitive evidence has arisen to authenticate the exact location of Andrew Jackson's birth on March 15, 1767.
Betty Jackson sold the home in North Carolina and moved in with the family of her sister at the Crawford Plantation just across the border in South Carolina. Young Andrew remained here until after the death of his mother and brothers during the American Revolution. During the war, Andrew served as a messenger and was captured by the British. Following the war, he taught school briefly in the area, then moved to Salisbury, NC to study law. At the age of 21, Andrew Jackson moved west to Tennessee and never returned to the Waxhaws region.
Was Andrew Jackson born in North Carolina or South Carolina?
The debate over Andrew Jackson's exact birthplace is ongoing. The two most likely locations are Crawford Plantation, located in Lancaster County, South Carolina, and the George McCamie cabin, located in what is now Union County, North Carolina. Both sites are located only a few miles from each other and at the time of Jackson's birth the state line had yet to be drawn. Jackson himself claimed on many occasions to have been born in South Carolina but it is important to remember that at the time he made these statements South Carolina was in a bitter dispute with the federal government. It is possible that Jackson may have been trying to show an affinity for South Carolina in order to ease difficulties with the state.
A strong oral tradition claims that Jackson was born in North Carolina. Chief among this is the testimony of Mrs. Sarah Lathen, who's mother was a midwife at Jackson's birth. She claims that the birth took place at the McCamie cabin in North Carolina.
The Museum of the Waxhaws does not take any official stand on the issue, preferring to emphasize that the only thing we know for certain is that Jackson was born in the Waxhaws region, which encompasses parts of North and South Carolina.
Charlotte was born on the 20th July, 1692 at the intersection of two Native American trading paths, one of which ran north-south Great Wagon Road, followed closely today by U.S. Route 21, and a second that ran east-west along what is now modern-day Trade Street. In the early part of the 18th century, the Great Wagon Road led settlers of Scots-Irish and German descent from Pennsylvania into the Carolina foothills. Charlotte has been called "The City of Trees" and "The City of Churches".
In 1755, early settler Thomas Polk (uncle of United States President James K. Polk) built his house at the crossroads of a Native American trading path and the Great Wagon Road, which subsequently became the village of "Charlotte Town," incorporated in 1768. The crossroads, perched atop a long rise in the piedmont landscape, is the heart of modern Uptown Charlotte. The trading path became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road became Tryon Street, in honor of William Tryon, a royal governor of colonial North Carolina. The intersection of Trade and Tryon is known as "Trade & Tryon" or simply "The Square."
Both the city and its county are named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the German-born wife of British King George III. Loyalty to King George and his consort was "short-lived". On May 20, 1775, townsmen allegedly signed a proclamation later known as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, a copy of which was allegedly sent, though never officially presented, to the Continental Congress a year later. The date of the declaration appears on the NC state flag. Eleven days later, the same townsmen met to create and endorse the Mecklenburg Resolves, a set of laws to govern the newly independent town.
I see your point
I think the better question to ask would be this... How do native SOUTHERNERS feel about all the folks from the northeast that have flocked to their southern cities?
Well, now that is a good question. I decided to pull out the dictionary for clarification. From Webster's II New Collegiate Dictionary:
NATIVE:
Adjectives:
1) Existing in or belonging to one by nature: innate <native skill>
2) Being such by birth or origin <a native German>
3) Being one's own because of the place or circumstances of one's birth <our native country>
4) Growing, living, or produced orig. in a certain place: indigenous <a plant native to Africa>
5) Of, belonging to, or characteristic of the original inhabitants of a given place
6) Occuring in nature pure or uncombined with other substances <native gold>
7) Natural: unaffected
8) Archaic. Closely related, as by birth or race
Nouns:
1) One born in or connected with a place by birth
2) An original inhabitant or lifelong resident
3) Something, especially an animal or plant, that originated in a given place.
See also, NATIVE-BORN: Belonging to a place by birth
I consider myself a "native" of this area because my family arrived in this area with the Scots-Irish on the Great Wagon Road in the late 1700's and I was born here. My family has farmed the same "dirt" for four generations. We get sort of attached to that dirt...LOL
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Not gonna lie...
