Do people in Maryland consider themselves North, Southern, or in Between? (Baltimore: 2010, townhouses)

[Joykins]

I'm just waiting for the crack about "Southern efficiency and Northern charm" to surface

[appalachiangirl]

Loved the pictures of Frederick,Md. Used to live there and often wished I still did! I always considered the state Mid-Atlantic--like Delaware,PA and WV.

[pbr33]

Originally Posted by Joykins

I'm just waiting for the crack about "Southern efficiency and Northern charm" to surface

I was tempted, but have you ever heard "Where casual Southern racism meets Northern urban decay"?

[pbr33]

Originally Posted by TheWereRabbit

Why Maryland is southern:
It's ridiculously hot and humid in the summer. RIDICULOUSLY!
You have cycadas, ewwwwwwww
You have black people who aren't Cape Verdean
It's south of the Mason Dixon line
You had slaves....for a whiiiiiiile
You don't have real towns you have "housing developments"
You have decent bud
You have ANY republicans in congress
It's close to Virginia

And of course, you are the south if it's even debatable

Why Maryland is northern:
It's catholic

Yeah, if I go South people think I'm Northern. If I go North, people think I'm southern. Everyone can agree that I'm a "Baldimoron"--so that's something.

Doesn't the South have Catholics, too?

One question: how high were you when you posted this??

[the watcher]

During colonal times border wars was fought between Pa., and Md.,.During the civil war
of the 1860s it was the front lines of many battles.My family fought on both sides of that war.
I grew up on the southern end of Pa.My language is rich in local cleokoisms with a
twang of southern accent quite different from most that live to southeast in much of Marland. That region was of great unrest for many years.We often would use are heart
not our head for answer.

[spoonman3]

Maryland is southern, and like I said, if you are brown stay out of town. These people hate Middle Eastern or indian people.

[kjg1963]

Originally Posted by spoonman3

Maryland is southern, and like I said, if you are brown stay out of town. These people hate Middle Eastern or indian people.

Wow, talk about being blunt! I'm born and raised in Maryland and don't identify as southern at all. Can't even say I identify as northern either. I'm kinda in limbo land when it comes to a regional identity. The state as a whole can't be concretely classified as either. It seems to be a personal issue of identity, not a state issue.

PS, I don't hate Middle Easterners or Indians. I just hate certain individuals no matter what their race. Someone's crappy personality is a big deciding factor in my opinion them.

[The_Fairfaxian]

Originally Posted by spoonman3

Maryland is southern, and like I said, if you are brown stay out of town. These people hate Middle Eastern or indian people.

Actually, In the part of MD where I live, people are fine with browns (specifically Middle Easterners and East Indians). The hatred is towards black males (especially those who AREN'T the stereotypical thug or gangster)

But about MD being northern or southern, I'll say it like this:

Northern Aspect:
-Undeserved rudeness and absolute arrogance
-Chauvinism at nearly all levels
-Materialism reigns supreme
-Stereotyping is the main form of belief and very few have the individualistic mindset to not follow it - and it's those few who get harassed and ostracized the most
-"It's not what you know, but who you know" mentality in the workforce
-Being a preppy, pretentious, loud-mouth, a**hole gets the women's attention
(actually, it's sort of a mix between the northeast and a wannabe LA)
-Wants to make the world a carbon copy of MTV

Southern Aspect:
-Humidity, humidity, and more f**king humidity
-Bigotry against blacks by not only whites, but by other races (Asians, Indians, Jews, Biracial, etc.)
-Prejudice against non-stereotypical blacks by militant blacks
-The Good ol' boy perspective of life and America
-Sprawl at its finest

I know many of these aspects can be seen in both regions, but as for the summary of what I consider Maryland: it's both Northern and Southern: Northern Rudeness and Arrogance, Southern Historic Bigotry and Narrowmindness (and West Coast cost of living).

[csb19815]

I think MD has both Northern and Southern attributes. It can't really be cleanly put in the North or the South. Back in colonial days, the part of MD settled by Europeans was mainly tobacco plantations w/slaves, so it leaned more Southern. By the Civil War, people in MD had more mixed associations. For instance, General Lee expected hordes of recruits for his Confederate army when he invaded MD, but instead got a lukewarm reception from the citizens of Frederick. But people cheered and waved American flags when McClellan's Union soldiers arrived in the city. However, Lincoln did have to put much of central MD under martial law so that he could arrest Confed. sympathizers and keep MD in the Union as a border state.

Today, I think that places west of the I-95 corridor in MD are more Northern, while places east of I-95 are more Southern. Same goes for climate (although that's becoming increasingly Southern). Garrett County has a climate much like Massachusetts, while palm trees and live oaks can grow around places like Ocean City. And I don't think tobacco, which people associate more with the South, was planted any farther north/west than PG county.

If you looked at a map, I think most or all of MD would technically be above the parallel that's halfway between the northernmost parallel and the southernmost parallel in the lower 48.

Wow that was a really long post sry

[rswanson]

Maryland, as a slave-holding border state, had remained relatively neutral in the antebellum squabbling over states rights and the sovereignty of the Federal government. However, in the lead up to the American Civil War, it became clear that the state was more sympathetic to the South than to the North. The 1860 Federal Census showed there were nearly as many free blacks as slaves in Maryland.

Of its 1860 population of 687,000, about 60,000 men joined the Union and about 25,000 fought for the Confederacy. Southern and Eastern Maryland were especially close to the South, while northern and western areas of the state had stronger economic ties to the North. The first bloodshed of the Civil War occurred in Baltimore, involving Massachuetts troops that were fired on while marching between railroad stations on April 19, 1861.

Despite considerable popular support for the cause of the Confederate States of America, Maryland did not secede during the Civil War. Marylanders sympathetic to the South easily crossed the Potamac River to join and fight for the Confederacy. According to the best extant records, up to 25,000 Marylanders traveled south to fight for the Confederacy while about 60,000 Maryland men served in all branches of the Union military.

And now you know the rest of the story.