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Outside of the states that fought in the Civil War, there isn't really too much of a North-South divide like there is in the States that participated in the Civil War. Most states that were not states during the Civil War have no dog in that hunt and they just as soon stay out of it.
As a basic metric, examining where people in each state were born helps to understand the most pervasive cultural connections. The Midwest is the most common across the board and the Northeast always outranks the south for both Pacific Coast and Mountain West states. I don't think it's ever been anything like southern culture.
Of my extended family that goes back three generations, we are the only ones on the West Coast (California). Everyone else stayed where our immigrant ancestors originally settled: New England/NY, Illinois, Wyoming, and southern Alabama/Florida panhandle.
Oddly, we're probably most similar to the Illinois and Wyoming families (they live on farms, we are in SoCal cities) in terms of demeanor, sense of humor, etc. The New England/NY ones are a bit more uptight, but still pretty similar mentality towards careers, education, etc. No one really talks to the people in Alabama. They are very different from us all. They are nice people, but we all struggle to connect with them.
So basically, my own anecdotal family history and data on where people were born lead me to believe that West Coast people are more Northern.
I lived in Wisconsin, California, Nevada and now Washington State. When I moved to WA I wondered if it would remind me more of WI because of how North it is or CA and NV being fellow Western states. The very clear answer is the other Western states and nothing like Wisconsin. The West is its own culture and within the west the North/South divide means little or nothing.
I'll toss in my 2 cents worth- I was raised in Arizona (Scottsdale), family is from Cali, AZ, and TX. I've lived in NOLA for a few years and Tennessee for a decade. Arizona felt like a blend of California and Texas to me. It felt very similar to El Paso. My father's family is from Waco- it felt less similar to Waco. Southern California felt nothing like my time in Boston or New York (my experience in the North is limited to there and times as a kid in WI and Minn). Northern California (Bay Area) felt more similar to the Northeast to me- but Santa Rosa/ Occidental area felt more MidWest to me. The pacific west feels like its own thing to me and doesn't neatly fit into the north south divide, but if I had to pick I guess North (But I'm really only limited to Seattle and Cali). AZ feels like a blend of South, West, and a bit MidWest- thus, ironically, southwest... It felt most similar to New Mexico. Arizona was heavily influenced by the south in its founding, as was southern california- jack swilling founded phoenix, arizona was offered stateship to the confed states; both AZ and Los Angeles had confed groups (mounted rifles)- both regions (Southern Cali and AZ) felt split (historically). In more recent times AZ had a huge influx of folks from the Midwest, California and Texas. Very few of my friends' parents were born in AZ. Almost my entire school was a combo of folks originating from California, PA, and Texas, with Illinois, specifically Chicago, being number 1. From the San Fernando valley through the inland empire, to central cali, to AZ, NM, and West TX, there are quite a few commonalities- obviously the ones in cali are more similar to pacific west culture and the ones in TX more similar to TX culture. I don't think folks in the West really care one way or the other about the north/south divide- however, they do try and distance themselves from the South as much as possible. Honestly, American corporate culture as a whole isn't too terribly different across the US- my gf and friends from the UK claim they cannot tell a real difference from Suburb to Suburb and felt like Los Angeles was similar to Houston- they only felt like the difference between most cities was the history and public transport hah.
Yeah anything past the plans is pure western. I know Bakersfield was influenced by like culture during the dust-bowl, and Wyoming had Texan migrants but most of the west is more northen influenced hence why the west stayed in the union while Texas was the only state west of the Mississippi to join the Confederate States.
There weren't many "states" west of the Mississippi at that time in the 1st place --most of that territory hadn't been developed yet..
The West Coast (or the West) is a separate region that doesn’t really fit into the North-South divide. In fact the Midwest is either separate from the divide or sometimes the Great Lakes region is lumped in with the North (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana), although the North generally refers to the Northeast.
The West Coast (or the West) is a separate region that doesn’t really fit into the North-South divide. In fact, the Midwest is either separate from the divide or sometimes the Great Lakes region is lumped in with the North (Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana), although the North generally refers to the Northeast.
Pretty much, lots of southerners call the midwest northerners. Anything past the plains would just be purely western since Texas was apart of the conference states most people today deem it as southern when it was originally considered western. Since Texas is directly south of the plain states it would be logical to say ND, SD, NE and KS are northern stated despite being plains states.
I think most true southern people view any American that is not from the core south as a Yankee. Doesn't matter if you are from New York Wisconsin Wyoming Iowa or California.
But times are definitely changing. Not only am I from the south, all my great grandparents were from here. I'm becoming a rare breed. The population is becoming so mixed, true southern culture is becoming more watered down. Peoples views of the south and the rest of America are changing but that's life. Nothing ever stays the same so people better get use to it if they don't like it.
no, i'm mexican. why would i take a US history course?
Because you live in America and it may help you pass the citizen test?
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