We live in The Midlands. (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: title, areas, courses)

[JimboPGH]

American Nations is a great read, and despite the inherent flaws of having such sprawling borders for the different "nations," the first half of the book does a fantastic job of blowing up the ahistorical, oversimplified, downright lazy regionalism of "Northeast/Midwest/South/West." The second half of that book falls into some lazy thinking of it's own when it tries to explain the political influences of each nation, but the basic premises of the book is sound.

And Pittsburgh is most definitely a Midland city, by Woodard's definitions.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by JimboPGH

American Nations is a great read, and despite the inherent flaws of having such sprawling borders for the different "nations," the first half of the book does a fantastic job of blowing up the ahistorical, oversimplified, downright lazy regionalism of "Northeast/Midwest/South/West." The second half of that book falls into some lazy thinking of it's own when it tries to explain the political influences of each nation, but the basic premises of the book is sound.

And Pittsburgh is most definitely a Midland city, by Woodard's definitions.

I wasn't contesting Pittsburgh's inclusion. I could even see parts of Indiana and Illinois as a transition zone, but Nebraska and Iowa...

[ny789987]

Who new that Appalachia extended into New Mexico.

[JimboPGH]

You folks need to read the book for the borders to make any sense.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by JimboPGH

You folks need to read the book for the borders to make any sense.

This has been posted here before. IIRC, the Midland is united in great part by its Quaker roots, which, AFAIK, weaken considerably past eastern Ohio.

[Goodjules]

Interesting. The Left Coast description leaves out the Spanish and Hispanic influence in Northern CA. The description of El Norte applies to much of CA, not just the southern and central part of the state, IMHO.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by ElijahAstin

This has been posted here before. IIRC, the Midland is united in great part by its Quaker roots, which, AFAIK, weaken considerably past eastern Ohio.

The premise of the book is that American Nations were born during the colonial era and spread westward. Quakers didn't have to actually go west of the Schuylkill for the Mid-Atlantic culture they helped to spawn to migrate westward, just like the puritan-born Yankee culture. The various Anabaptists sects are essentially Midlands as well, and they actually did go as far was as at least Indiana.

Granted the Midlands are the hardest of the Nations to define, since it largely exists for long stretches as a buffer zone between Yankeedom and Greater Appalachia. And there is obviously a huge culture difference between Iowa and South Jersey, just like there's a huge cultural difference between Minnesota and Massachusetts. However, there are also some things that Iowa and South Jersey hold in common, from dialect to architecture to political leanings, that they don't hold in common with Minnesota and Massachusetts, respectively.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by JimboPGH

The premise of the book is that American Nations were born during the colonial era and spread westward. Quakers didn't have to actually go west of the Schuylkill for the Mid-Atlantic culture they helped to spawn to migrate westward, just like the puritan-born Yankee culture. The various Anabaptists sects are essentially Midlands as well, and they actually did go as far was as at least Indiana.

Granted the Midlands are the hardest of the Nations to define, since it largely exists for long stretches as a buffer zone between Yankeedom and Greater Appalachia. And there is obviously a huge culture difference between Iowa and South Jersey, just like there's a huge cultural difference between Minnesota and Massachusetts. However, there are also some things that Iowa and South Jersey hold in common, from dialect to architecture to political leanings, that they don't hold in common with Minnesota and Massachusetts, respectively.

I'm not saying the book is entirely full of spit, but I would be more easily convinced if they had broken these parent regions into several sub-regions each, depending on geographic size. That shouldn't have been hard to do.

[szug-bot]

We have a cool country. I love this thread.

[NYCTelevisionWriter]

New Netherland = New York. No surprise here.