Are most people in Appalachia of Scottish ancestry?

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by 7th Direction

Not far off, considering the Appalachians and the Scottish Highlands used to be one mountain chain!

Yes, +1

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

We are rapidly forming our own ethnic nationality in this country that is a composite of just about everywhere, but at the same time like nowhere else.
Being American is distinct, and that includes being distinct from the Canadians who sound and look a lot like us but attitudinally are in a whole different world. The border has been in place for almost a quarter millenium and fortunately for us it kept a lot of the crazy north of it.

Canadians definitely have a different worldview compared to those of us in the US. Their economy is very diverse, and I have heard Ontario has weathered the storm pretty well. Then again, they do have Toronto which is an "international city."

[rubber_factory]

This is a complicated topic.

I agree with the earlier posters who say that the people of the Appalachians are typically Scotch-Irish who migrated toward the mountains from Philadelphia, Charleston SC, or Williamsburg VA.

The issue is, very few Scotch-Irish descendants understand what the term "Scotch-Irish" means. Generally speaking, they were not Irish, and only a portion of them were Scottish. Many of the Scotch-Irish were German, Swiss, French, Dutch, or English, who had been expelled from various parts of Europe by Catholic rulers.

The only thing that the Scotch-Irish have in common was that they were Protestants whose last stop in Europe was northern Ireland, hence the "Irish" part of the name.

I am not very familiar with the details of West Virginia's history, religious or ethnic geography... but if a West Virginian claimed to be "Irish", I would imagine he or she would be talking about an Irish Catholic who migrated to the new world (probably NYC) in the 1800's or 1900's, not a Presbyterian "Scots Irish" who migrated in the 1700's.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by tallydude02

According to the ARC, none of West Virginia is in southern Appalachia. The northern 2/3 is in Northern Appalachia and the remaining is in Central Appalachia.

The Appalachians extend into Vermont (something many aren't aware of) so I'd have to call WV either Southern or Central Appalachia.

[arctichomesteader]

FWIW: when the ancestors of my father's family came over from Britain in the 1630's, most settled in CT and eventually moved North into VT, NH, and ME. However, some landed in VA instead (seems the ship was blown well off course by storms, some of them stayed on board and went North, others got off there). They moved West gradually, into what is now WV. Some of them homesteaded out in the West in the late 1800's (as did members of the Northern branch of the family). My father's family is English, Scottish and Irish, all of whom were descended from a common Danish ancestor who arrived in England in the 900's when the Danes ruled a large amount of land there. The family spread around during the Middle Ages, ending up in Scotland and later some ended up in Ireland too. There's also a German branch of the family that I am related too but how they got there is a bit of a mystery (likely from a Dane again I suspect, as it seems to originate the same time my other ancestor landed in England). On my father's side I'm very distantly related to Robert Bruce (and also oddly enough, Winston Churchill). My mother's side is even more interesting, getting German and Welsh and yet more English into the mix. One can find interesting stuff researching history. I'll wager that most people who think they are simply Irish or Scottish or Scotch-Irish, if they researched their family history (if it's possible), may find they are a mix of many different nationalities...

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Canadians definitely have a different worldview compared to those of us in the US. Their economy is very diverse, and I have heard Ontario has weathered the storm pretty well. Then again, they do have Toronto which is an "international city."

Fully 50% of Canadian jobs depend on having an American customer. If the border were to be closed, they'd quickly become a third world country. The reason they have some prosperity is because our Government is very generous in terms of permitting their exports here.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

Fully 50% of Canadian jobs depend on having an American customer. If the border were to be closed, they'd quickly become a third world country. The reason they have some prosperity is because our Government is very generous in terms of permitting their exports here.

Yeah, but without Canada Vermont would have almost no electricity. No joke. Because of our environmentalists blocking power plants...

[GottaHerdOn]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

Fully 50% of Canadian jobs depend on having an American customer. If the border were to be closed, they'd quickly become a third world country. The reason they have some prosperity is because our Government is very generous in terms of permitting their exports here.

and considering we get NEARLY all of our oil from Canada, if they closed the border... WE would be a third world country. Our economy is high dependent on oil, sadly.

[snorpus]

Originally Posted by GottaHerdOn

and considering we get NEARLY all of our oil from Canada, if they closed the border... WE would be a third world country. Our economy is high dependent on oil, sadly.

Hyperbole, GHO.

While Canada is the largest single source of imported oil (both crude and refined), it's nowhere near "all" of our oil.

According to the DOE, Canada accounts for about 23% of total imports. Next are Mexico and Venezuela, at about 12% of total imports, each. The U.S. currently imports about 60% of its petroleum consumption.

[David Kennedy]

The early organized religon of Wv was none....

Methodist Bishop Asbury was the begining of religion here. (1790's)
His journals are eyebrow raising as he describes the wanton sex and alcohol consumption at public gatherings by the heathen community at large.
As schools (with the churches built beside them) taught a new generation to read and write, more order and church attendance came into the communities.

Baptists were next...before 1800.

The Presbertarians came into the area later..with business and government management.

Catholics? Not until after the Civil War...first church was in Wheeling. (those accounts are interesting too)