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Can we have a moment for the fact that Chicago, being a Great Lakes city is not the same kind of Midwest as Iowa or Indiana? There's middle America heartlands Midwest, and then there is immigrant heavy, strong European immigrant "ethnic" Great Lakes culture which actually isn't limited to the Midwest. People front Iowa, being of Middle American culture, are neither Northern nor Southern. Some random Polish guy from Chicago? That is zero commonality with the South.
And honestly, while Iowa may or may not have more commonalities with the South than Brooklyn, make no mistake Chicago's dominant culture does not.
Immigrants also settled the cities of the Lower Midwest as well. St. Louis and Cincinnati both received huge amounts of German immigrants in the 19th century, and St. Louis also saw a large number of Irish immigrants as well.
Immigrants also settled the cities of the Lower Midwest as well. St. Louis and Cincinnati both received huge amounts of German immigrants in the 19th century, and St. Louis also saw a large number of Irish immigrants as well.
Yes this is true, but St. Louis has a bit of a Great Lakes influence anyway. Most large lower Midwest cities don't have the large numbers of Italians, Jews, or Polish people the Great Lakes do. These are what set Northern cities apart from others. Irish people are pretty much a De facto East Coast ethnic group (see: Boston, New York, Baltimore, Charleston, and Savannah). Germans are common in the Midlands from Pennsylvania to Kansas. And the Irish are all over the Upper South as well. And of course the Irish pretty much influenced the St. Louis accent to an amazing degree.
But it's the Mediterranean and Eastern European factor that separates the North from the Middle American region. The North - Middle American - South continuum is as follows in terms of ethnicity:
North: Mediterranean, Eastern European, Irish
Middle American: German, Irish, Scottish, some English
South: Old, rural, and colonial origin Black population, British Isles mix of Scot, Scotch- Irish, Irish, and of course lots of English, and some French in the Gulf. Germans abound in the Northern tier near the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest cultural borders. This is why Maryland and Kentucky have a lot of Germans just like Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Last edited by EddieOlSkool; 06-19-2016 at 09:56 AM..
Kentucky only has Germans in the Louisville area. The rest of the state identifies as American, which is a very Southern thing. Germans are practically nonexistent in most of the South save Florida due to the many Northerners now living there and parts of Oklahoma and Texas. https://www.google.com/search?site=&...FH1dRWW_bAM%3A
Kentucky only has Germans in the Louisville area. The rest of the state identifies as American, which is a very Southern thing. Germans are practically nonexistent in most of the South save Florida due to the many Northerners now living there and parts of Oklahoma and Texas. https://www.google.com/search?site=&...FH1dRWW_bAM%3A
There are a lot of Germans throughout the South. They just don't make up pluralities in most places.
There are a lot of Germans throughout the South. They just don't make up pluralities in most places.
Not nearly as many Germans as in the Midwest and the Northeast. Per county the only Southern states where German is the dominant ancestry are in parts of Texas and Oklahoma and Florida. Germans are primarily in Midwestern states only. Here is percent German by state...States with the highest number of Germans
As you can see, the Southern states have significantly lower numbers of Germans than the Midwest states and Maryland and Pennsylvania. As you can tell from the list, Kentucky comes in at a mere 12.7% and Texas at a mere 9.9%. German Americans don't make up a very large percentage of Southern state populations.
I live in Philadelphia and am a frequent visitor to Chicago, with my parents and lots of relatives having grown up in and around Chicagoland. Philadelphia, absolutely, is more Southern in culture, lifestyle and speaking.
Much of this is Philly's location: it's 25 miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line which is the Delaware state line, in Philly's case -- and btw, Wilmington, DE's largest city, is within Philly's metropolitan area and connected by SEPTA commuter rail (and that rail line extends SE further into DE, Newark, to be exact). In other words, a state that's considered a border/Southern state is literally in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
If you really get to know Philly, there's a very genteel, Old South mentality here. Have you heard how Philadelphians speak? It's called a diphthong where people slur vowels together. The pace of Philadelphia is also slow and country-like. It you go into many of the neighborhoods behind/next to a group of row houses, you see picket fences and, in some cases, farm animals and crops. Did you know Philadelphia actually has a working private farm within its borders (in NE Philly). It also has Saul, the nation's only agricultural high school (in the Roxborough neighborhood).
Philly is a great city and 5th largest in the nation at 1.5 million people, but one of its greatest gifts is being 90 miles SE of New York, one of the great cities of the world. I often ride the train up to New York for the day and return to Philly at night. The differences in these 2 cities is stark; you feel the much slower country-like pace as soon as you get off the train back in Philly.
I grew up and still visit/live part-time in Cleveland. Chicago is like Cleveland's big brother city imho, and both are very "Yankee," if you know what I mean -- speech, attitude, etc.
Are you serious, or just joking? Because this is truly a ridiculous post if you’re serious. Philly is one of the most urban cities in the nation, firmly based in the Northeastern United States throughout its long history--yet you claim it’s “slow and country-like” with a “very genteel, Old South mentality.” Absolutely ridiculous.
New York basically makes almost every city in the United States feel “slower”—including Chicago. Are you suggesting that Chicago is in New York’s league when compared to Philly? Granted, Chicago is a larger, more expansive city than Philadelphia with a much larger sky line. But on the ground, Chicago is far closer to Philly than it is to New York when it comes to its “pace” and energy. As far as Cleveland…seriously? My oldest brother’s wife is from Cleveland; it’s not even in Philly’s category when it comes to pace and energy.
When it comes to Philly’s accent, it is just that—a Philly accent. Are you really acquainted with real, actual southern accents? I’ve spent much time in different southern states. There are isolated traits of all American accents that show some overlap with other regional accents, and this might be the case with the Philly accent, in that it might share some isolated traits in common with some Southern accents. Many traditional southern accents shared the trait of non-rhoticity with New York and Boston, does that mean New York and Boston’s accents are therefore southern? Of course not, any accent must be taken in its totality. Any real, actual southerners would think you’re absolutely out of your mind if they heard an actual Philly accent and you tell them that it’s “southern.” The Philly accent is what it is—a Philly accent. It is its own thing.
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