To What Extent does Yankee Culture still exist in New England (New Bedford: sales, big house)

[oihamad]

As a student of literature and history, I am curious about extent to which stereotypical New England "Yankee" Culture still exists in Massachusetts and surrounding New England States (Connecticut, RI, NH, VT, Maine). By this, I mean people of predominantly English/British/WASP descent (but not necessarily wealthy), belong to old-line Protestant denominations such as Congregationalist/UCC and Episcopal Church, exhibit stereotypical Yankee traits such as being reserved, etc. Are there areas where Yankee Culture is dominant in New England as opposed to people of more recent Catholic/immigrant Irish/Italian/French Canadian origin. Any responses would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Omar

[tovarisch]

Some small towns in the rural parts of NE may still have folks (individuals) like that, but the ethnicities that you mention have established themselves and mixed in pretty well. Another characteristic would be Republicanism, but of an old-school variety. I think that's still present in N. New England (again, rurally). Pretty interesting question you have asked; I have wondered myself!

[in_newengland]

When I think of old time New Englanders these days, I think of northern New England. Places like Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The immigrants came mostly to work in the mills so if you go to places that didn't have mills, you might still find vestiges of the old New England types.

I can remember my mother's family from northern Vermont. They lived on big farms and knew the meaning of hard work. You're right about WASPS not being rich--none of mine had money. They were the settlers, the farmers, the clearers of the land, the soldiers. But they started out in the Mass Bay Colony and like most, the families spread out and migrated in many directions.

You can sometimes find traces of the migrations as they headed up through Vermont or New Hampshire in search of more land. Small towns, now somewhat deserted, were often more prosperous back in those days than they are now. You have to get inland or at least away from the touristy areas.

I would say to try the Maine forum for examples of old time New Englanders. But you can still find people like that way up in rural Vermont and New Hampshire. Frugal, clean living, salt of the earth. Hard workers, neighbors helping neighbors. That's how early New Englanders existed and that's how these rural old time New Englanders still exist today. It's fading fast though, as tv, the internet, ability to travel and leave their small towns continue to erode the old ways.

There are still places where people gather for bean suppah's at the village church and hold rummage sales to raise money. Places where people don't care a fig about fancy cars or big houses, places where people live a simple life.

You won't find much of it in CT or MA. Probably not RI either. It's getting destroyed in northern Vermont by influxes of New Yorkers who change everything, but sometimes if you get off the beaten path in the mountains of Vermont, I know you can find old country stores with old time "Yankees" sitting around, chewing the fat, telling tall tales. The wives still bake pies for the country fair and homelife is what it's all about. Maybe someone else can name actual towns but I only know of general areas.

[tysmith95]

I honestly have a hard time telling the difference between Protestant whites in New England (Yankees been here since before the revolution) and Catholic whites (families who immigrated from 1800 to the early 1900s). Plus there's a ton of intermarriage between those two groups today. A growing chunk of New Englanders are also non-religious, probably the highest in the country.

[GeoffD]

The recent dairy farm collapse from declining milk prices is probably the last coffin nail for rural New England Yankees. When the farms fail, people have to move.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by tovarisch

Some small towns in the rural parts of NE may still have folks (individuals) like that, but the ethnicities that you mention have established themselves and mixed in pretty well. Another characteristic would be Republicanism, but of an old-school variety. I think that's still present in N. New England (again, rurally). Pretty interesting question you have asked; I have wondered myself!

I think Yanks can be democrats or republicans, always moderate in both though. The thing they will hold in common in an almost religious feeling that it is their responsibility to guide everyone else down the right path.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by tysmith95

I honestly have a hard time telling the difference between Protestant whites in New England (Yankees been here since before the revolution) and Catholic whites (families who immigrated from 1800 to the early 1900s). Plus there's a ton of intermarriage between those two groups today. A growing chunk of New Englanders are also non-religious, probably the highest in the country.

In the United States, Catholic families have largely adopted the Protestant mindset and cultural mores of their neighbors. Many original immigrants came from a type of intellectually wanting "folk" Catholicism in Europe (not really criticizing, most were quite poor and had more pressing needs than reading the Summa Theologiae) which, after attaining material comfort, was not strong enough to maintain a Catholic identity in the New World. My grandparents had great stories about small poor Catholic communities raising money and building beautiful churches, large families (and always hoping at least one would become a priest or nun), daily rosaries, Latin, Benedictions, processions, feast celebrations, etc. Most of that is completely gone now, or at least greatly muted. You still see a little bit of what Catholic culture was (should be) in street festivals such as Feast of St Anthony in the North End. But that is even largely taken over by the secular crowd nowadays.

[btownboss4]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

I think Yanks can be democrats or republicans, always moderate in both though. The thing they will hold in common in an almost religious feeling that it is their responsibility to guide everyone else down the right path.

If you look at elected officials and exit polls you can still see a Protestant/Catholic Divide between political parties. Specifically in Massachusetts, now it's not a clean break like in Northern Ireland but it's still there.

Also a lot of the fishing towns have patron saint celebrations, New Bedford and Gloucester come to mind.

But things as basics as New England town meetings stem from Yankee tradition and how our school districts are divided as well and most of the Blue Laws so the basis of our society is still very much Yankee.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by btownboss4

If you look at elected officials and exit polls you can still see a Protestant/Catholic Divide between political parties. Specifically in Massachusetts, now it's not a clean break like in Northern Ireland but it's still there.

What are you referencing? In general, Catholics have abandoned Church-taught moral principles in the voting booth and you can find them all over the spectrum, in many cases voting for abortion and things like that (I'm not making a judgement on the issue here, I'm just stating that the idea of a Catholic voting for a pro-abortion candidate or measure is indeed a modern phenomenon and would have been unthinkable two generations ago).

There is a "Cultural Catholicism" trend out there among people who call themselves Catholic, but don't take it very seriously. IMO it's basically an ethnic thing. So maybe people with similar Irish/Italian/Polish last names vote for each other or at least have great sympathy for others from a similar background. I don't think Catholics are any longer quite the consistent block of voters they used to be. Consider that Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi call themselves "Catholic", as did Antonin Scalia and does Rick Santorum.

[MMS02760]

Some of the traits still remain today. They are just more subtle. Things like tradition, modesty, lack of ostentation, and frugality still exist.