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This is some information to all of y'all that love to intermittently declare how we (the South) lost the War! 1) The South had roughly 9 million people, whereas the North had roughly 22 million. 2) The South was mainly agrarian while the North was gaining in industry. 3) The South had very few railroads and the North had many. The South was clearly the underdog, the small kid in the fight. However, on the battlefield where the sweat, blood, and tears flowed like a river, the South really gave her all! For every Southerner that died, between 4 and 6 Northerners died. The South won more battles than the North. We were winning the War y'all! The only thing that stopped us from following through and staying ahead, was our lack of factories, people, and supplies. We had pretty much exhausted it all. Lee surrendered to Grant because he had too, not because we were losing. The North won by default! Y'all Yanks didn't win due to skilled fighting prowess or exceptional maneuvering tactics! We were whoopin' y'alls butts! I think it angers y'all Northerners when we talk about the War because it either reminds you that y'all only won on paper, or because it will possibly ignite the spreading of the truth--that y'all weren't the huge, magnanimous victors you've been claiming all these years! People really need to dig into history and not accept modern text books, movies, or other such liberal, watered down nonsense.
True, the North had an advantage of more people, more industry, and better infrastructure than the South in the Civil War. But, the South had the benefits of fighting on their own soil, people more suited for warfare, and a better share in officers and tacticians from West Point.
This is really moot though, the Civil War happened 150 years ago.
Also, you make it seem like the Confederates were winning on all fronts of the war, when it was only the Army of Northern Virginia that actually had the notable victories.
I'm from East TN, and the Southern Appalachian accent is found here, Western NC, Middle TN, North GA, some parts of North AL, Southwestern VA, Eastern KY, and southern WV. I've never heard it, ever, in Texas. There is some characteristics that may be drawn from it, but it is still a much different accent. If I can find out, I'll try to send you the link to a DVD known as "Mountain Talk," which gives a great documentary on Southern Appalachian talk and way of life.
I have never personally been to east Tennessee, however friends of mine who have say they notice strong similarities. But what I am really going by is something I ran across several years ago in a book coverering many aspects of Texas culure. It was there that I read (I will try and find that article and sources again) that what people most often think of as a "Texas accent" (but again, there is NOT a single Texas accent) is that variety spoken in rural West Texas, which in turn is very similar to what is heard in eastern Tennessee. Could it be that the "Appalachian" accent you mention may be different than in other parts of eastern Tennesee? Again, I will have to locate the original article and find the sources.
Meanwhile, here is an except from an article on "general" Texas speech, which appeared in Texas Monthly magazine several years ago:
“The most basic explanation of aTexas accent is that it’s a Southern accent with a twist,†said Professor Bailey, who has determined that the twang is not only spreading but also changing. “It’s the twist that we’re interested in.†The preeminent scholar on Texas pronunciation, Bailey hails from southern Alabama; he has a soft lilting drawl that, for the sake of economy, will not be phonetically reproduced here but is substantially more genteel and less nasal than Bob Hinkle’s twang. The broadly defined “Texas accent†began to form, Bailey explained, when two populations merged here in the mid-nineteenth century. Settlers who migrated from Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi brought with them what would later become the Lower South Dialect (its drawl left an imprint on East Texas), while settlers from Tennessee and Kentucky brought with them the South Midland Dialect (its twang had a greater influence in West Texas). Added to the mix of Anglo settlers from the Deep South and Appalachia who began talking to each other was an established Spanish-speaking population and an influx of Mexican, German, and Czech immigrants. “What distinguishes a Texas accent the most is the confluence of its influences,†said Bailey.
I have never personally been to east Tennessee, however friends of mine who have say they notice strong similarities. But what I am really going by is something I ran across several years ago in a book coverering many aspects of Texas culure. It was there that I read (I will try and find that article and sources again) that what people most often think of as a "Texas accent" (but again, there is NOT a single Texas accent) is that variety spoken in rural West Texas, which in turn is very similar to what is heard in eastern Tennessee. Could it be that the "Appalachian" accent you mention may be different than in other parts of eastern Tennesee? Again, I will have to locate the original article and find the sources.
Meanwhile, here is an except from an article on "general" Texas speech, which appeared in Texas Monthly magazine several years ago:
“The most basic explanation of aTexas accent is that it’s a Southern accent with a twist,†said Professor Bailey, who has determined that the twang is not only spreading but also changing. “It’s the twist that we’re interested in.†The preeminent scholar on Texas pronunciation, Bailey hails from southern Alabama; he has a soft lilting drawl that, for the sake of economy, will not be phonetically reproduced here but is substantially more genteel and less nasal than Bob Hinkle’s twang. The broadly defined “Texas accent†began to form, Bailey explained, when two populations merged here in the mid-nineteenth century. Settlers who migrated from Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi brought with them what would later become the Lower South Dialect (its drawl left an imprint on East Texas), while settlers from Tennessee and Kentucky brought with them the South Midland Dialect (its twang had a greater influence in West Texas). Added to the mix of Anglo settlers from the Deep South and Appalachia who began talking to each other was an established Spanish-speaking population and an influx of Mexican, German, and Czech immigrants. “What distinguishes a Texas accent the most is the confluence of its influences,†said Bailey.
I read this same thing, TexasReb. And not too long ago I was reading in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram how alot of the Fort Worth area was originally settled by people from Tennessee. Some families still in the area can trace their ancestry back to Tennessee.
I read this same thing, TexasReb. And not too long ago I was reading in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram how alot of the Fort Worth area was originally settled by people from Tennessee. Some families still in the area can trace their ancestry back to Tennessee.
I've heard this as well. Tennessee is known as the Volunteer State. A whole lot of Tennesseans volunteered to fight for Texas during Texas' fight for independence from Mexico. Many stayed in Texas. In fact, all Southern States grew in population primarily from migration of people from other Southern States to the immediate East of them all the way back to the original Southern colonies. It's really no surprise when looking at those facts.
I am a native Tennessean that has lived for a total of 7 years (in two stints) in Texas. I am married to a native Texan that lived there for 50 years before moving with me to Tennessee. While there are definitely areas of Texas that are not in anyway like Tennessee (and we enjoyed them for their own culture) we found that many, many areas and people in TX are similar to TN. We absolutely LOVE both states and people in both states. I live 3 miles from the schoolhouse where Sam Houston taught before he went to TX. I went to school with a Davy Crockett descendant. It sounds silly, but I wept at The Alamo. There was a presence there that moved me. All in all I just appreciate so much and am so grateful that we live in the United States where there are so many wonderful attributes in all of the states.
This is one thing that is different. In Texas, people may actually comment on your accent. In the south, we don't have to comment. Also, Texas has a HUGE population, and lots of urban areas, which generally means you lose some of your culture influences.
One thing I've noticed about Texas is this: although East Texas has similar characteristics to the south, the rest of the state does not. A lot of it has influences similar to the West like cowboys, chili cookoffs, ranches, etc. which are not found in the South.
Also small things like sweet tea and BBQ (in the deep south, it is always implied that bbq is pork bbq, which is not the case in Texas). Take a look at this map, in my opinion, this is exactly modern day south where sweet tea is enjoyed:
I'm sure a few of these things have been pointed out, but I hope I didn't offend you.
Sweet tea I've found is fairly easy to find in all of Kentucky, extreme Southern Missouri, and extreme Southern Illinois and extreme Southern Indiana. It doesn't surprise me if West Virginia has a lot of sweet tea. From my experience though, the only parts that had it in great numbers were the Southern parts.
This is one thing that is different. In Texas, people may actually comment on your accent. In the south, we don't have to comment. Also, Texas has a HUGE population, and lots of urban areas, which generally means you lose some of your culture influences.
One thing I've noticed about Texas is this: although East Texas has similar characteristics to the south, the rest of the state does not. A lot of it has influences similar to the West like cowboys, chili cookoffs, ranches, etc. which are not found in the South.
Also small things like sweet tea and BBQ (in the deep south, it is always implied that bbq is pork bbq, which is not the case in Texas). Take a look at this map, in my opinion, this is exactly modern day south where sweet tea is enjoyed:
I'm sure a few of these things have been pointed out, but I hope I didn't offend you.
I actually think this map is quite accurate. It has been my experience that many people in Texas actually shun anything southern (which is often equated with country/backward) in culture. In my experience, most, outside of East Texas, don't even want to be considered southern. (I've seen the survey thing of how many people in how many Southern states actually consider themselves Southern. Texans registered with somewhere in the 80 percentile range. However, I find statisical data often delineates from applicable reality. Given the size of Texas and the sparse population of West Texas.)
But in my findings, most of those who live in the DFW & Houston areas & surrounding suburbs like to be considered metropolitan/urban/cosmopolitan. And although DFW, Houston, nor SA are anywhere near as urban and dense as other metro areas outside the south, many of their residents don't care for the stigma of the traditional southern lifestyle. Therefore they "escape" to the nearest metro area available, and reject any resemblance of a conventional southern way of life.
Not that there is anything wrong with this mentality, as, combined with oil money, it has allowed TX to manifest some of the most prosperous, productive cities in the South if not the nation. Its just an observation I've made. Whether attributed to the consortium of non-native Texans/transients who undoubtedly dillute the culture, the burgeoning Hispanic/Asian cultural influence, or still yet, the many NATIVE Texans (especially parts of West/SW & Central Texas) who much like areas outside the Southern U.S., have simply bought into the notion that anything Southern in culture is offputting and should be viewed with distain; the fact is that Texas has an overwhelming and ever-increasing population of people who wish to distance themselves from the traditional south.
And although Texas certainly has strong Southern origins, most people within a 50 mile radius of any of Texas' most popular metro areas, work with abundant fervor to alleviate any trace of a discernable Texas/Southern accent. This is especially true of young native Texans.
Even within the borders of Texas itself, East Texas (purportedly the most culturally Southern region of the state) is often shunned as some sort of backward, undesirable-country-crossbreed-cousin of the South. In my opinion, the state as a whole is aligning itself to present a LESS southern face to outsiders. And I could be wrong but this seems to be pretty prevalent among the Texans I've encountered.
Last edited by solytaire; 10-31-2007 at 08:53 AM..
The South should have freed the slaves and then fought the war. then and only then would the South be helped with European supplies in exchange for Cofederate cotton.
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