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Generally speaking, most Midwesterners call themselves Midwesterners.
With that said, the southern perspective generally seems to relate to the states that they fought during the Civil War. Going off that premise, Midwesterners are actually the ultimate Northerners even though people generally think of the Northeast. The Midwest as a whole contributed more troops to the Union than the Northeast did and on top of that, they produced almost all of the food. Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusettes gave the most troops in the Northeast but it was almost the same amount as Ohio, Indiana and Illinois gave.
I generally refer to myself as a Midwesterner. However, I have lived in Kentucky and was constantly referred to as a Yankee and a northerner by Kentucky folk. For those reasons, I do sometimes use the term northerner.
I don't ever "call" myself Midwestern or Northern. Weird, if someone asked you where they were from, would people generally say, "I'm from the South", or "I'm from the Southwest." No, they would, most likely, say they were from the state they live in....not the region. I have NEVER said I'm from the North, or the Midwest....I live in Wisconsin. I can't believe others would respond differently.
Just curious since I live in NC most people who move here are northeasterners but we do have quite a bit of people from Ohio and Michigin that come here and they refer to themselves as northerners as well. Outside the south I never hear people call the midwest the north unless if it's referring to history with the civil war or great migration. Do you call yourselves northern?
I don't hear people in the midwest call themselves northerners, but probably just because it's obvious and assumed. It's in the north pushing against Canada, it was for the Union during the civil war and it's up north and cold during the winter, etc.
Maybe people in far southern Indiana or over into Missouri wouldn't call themselves northerners, but everyone else is naturally more "north" than "south".
I think you'd be more common to hear it in the eastern Midwest. It seems that west of the Mississippi, the north/south divide isn't as big, culturally. Life in North Dakota doesn't look that different from life in the Texas panhandle in many respects.
I've never referred to myself as a northerner, except for in the context of the Civil War. I identify as an Iowan first, and Midwesterner second. I don't know that I've ever heard anyone else use it either.
I don't ever "call" myself Midwestern or Northern. Weird, if someone asked you where they were from, would people generally say, "I'm from the South", or "I'm from the Southwest." No, they would, most likely, say they were from the state they live in....not the region. I have NEVER said I'm from the North, or the Midwest....I live in Wisconsin. I can't believe others would respond differently.
I feel like it is generally assumed that you would state your locality first without needing an explanation. That isn't the point of the thread.
I think you'd be more common to hear it in the eastern Midwest. It seems that west of the Mississippi, the north/south divide isn't as big, culturally. Life in North Dakota doesn't look that different from life in the Texas panhandle in many respects.
I've never referred to myself as a northerner, except for in the context of the Civil War. I identify as an Iowan first, and Midwesterner second. I don't know that I've ever heard anyone else use it either.
While I'm sure they have some similarities I overall disagree about the plains losing most of its northern/southern cultural differences. I might have thought that at one time but a friend of mine experienced this in real life and thought there was a huge difference. He grew up and lived his whole life in North Dakota and then transferred for a job in Wichita Kansas. In his mind he was moving from one Midwestern state to another...he didn't expect culture shock. He said Wichita felt very southern to him and that pretty much every person he talked to made a comment (in what sounded to him like a Southern accent) "You ain't from around here are you". I know that's a one person anecdotal example but for him the northern and southern plains felt like two completely different regions.
While I'm sure they have some similarities I overall disagree about the plains losing most of its northern/southern cultural differences. I might have thought that at one time but a friend of mine experienced this in real life and thought there was a huge difference. He grew up and lived his whole life in North Dakota and then transferred for a job in Wichita Kansas. In his mind he was moving from one Midwestern state to another...he didn't expect culture shock. He said Wichita felt very southern to him and that pretty much every person he talked to made a comment (in what sounded to him like a Southern accent) "You ain't from around here are you". I know that's a one person anecdotal example but for him the northern and southern plains felt like two completely different regions.
They certainly have differences, but it's nothing at all like going from Ohio to Alabama, for example.
You have lots of farming, ranching, and energy production driving the economies in both. In my experience, that alone creates more cultural similarities than what you see in the north/south divide at other longitudes. There's definitely a shift in accents (you actually see it happen pretty sharply in Iowa), and predominant religious denominations, but the southern plains and northern plains are much more similar than the north/south divide in the eastern half of the country.
By the time you get into the mountain west, there seems to be even less north/south divide.
It rarely, if ever, came up in conversation when I lived in the midwest. Southerners tend to make, and persist with applying, regional labels more than others. The discussions like this one seem to be initiated more frequently by southerners for some reason.
It rarely, if ever, came up in conversation when I lived in the midwest. Southerners tend to make, and persist with applying, regional labels more than others. The discussions like this one seem to be initiated more frequently by southerners for some reason.
So very true. I don't understand the curiosity....
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