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The North of this country itself has NEVER had an identity because of it's constant influx of immigrants, whereas the South, while it may be becoming more and more diverse now, was for a LONG time homogeneous. That's why it has a distinct culture and the North doesn't.
And also, most of Florida's diversity is in South Florida, which can't really be called the South. I know it's technically the lowest part of this country, but really "The South" ends with the Florida Panhandle.
I think You have nailed it pretty good.The south has more of an identity than the rest of the US.
It's the reason a lot of southerners answer "american" when they have to choose their ancestry.
Im guessing you live in NC, or SC where growth is out of control. Im sorry you are dealing with that and I dont blame you for resenting it. I wouldnt like it either. I would like to point out however that the north you describe is nothing like where Im from. That north sounds more like the northeast than here in Michigan. The whole thing about money is definately not true out here, as you have read in the papers, we have no money as we are broke. Most of us are not obsessed with the civil war, although I admit that I am. (im a history nerd) It may suprise you however to find out that I believe it was the south that was constitutionally correct, not the north.I believe every good conservative should see the southern point of view regarding "the war". I even fly a first national on my porch. Your also right regarding the reconstruction era, and the race blame game. If you want someone to blame for the souths bad rap on race relations then blame Hollywierd. They have been pushing out movies, tv and news shows depicting the south as a backward haven of KKK rallies for the last 100 years. You have a right to be upset about it, but those of us in the midwest are not responsible for it, please do not blame us. As far as us being pushy nosey know it alls, I will again refer you to our friends to the east. Those are the qualities the yankee northeast is known for, we in the midwest do not live that way. I think you should plan a vacation up here sometime in August when its miserable hot down there. Come see our cool lakes, farm towns, northwoods campgrounds and our midwestern hospitality. Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota all would be good choices, and you will see OUR version of northern living. Everywhere has a few idiots, but I bet you dont find the pushy rude know it alls that you think you will find. The northern states from Ohio west are a whole different world from those in the northeast. I know southerners are taught that anyone north of mason-dixon is a yankee and that they are all the same, but that is just not true. I would say we are more different from the northeast than we are from the south if you ask me. If you ask me we shouldnt have helped them in the war they started in 1861 either. The war and its results only enriched the northeast further, and gave them more control over the nation. The era of liberal big goverment began at Appomatix in April 1865, at the expense of state soverignty (10th amendment)
Yes, I thought the Civil War was States Rights also. Fancy that! There is a book called the Black Swan by (I think) Day Taylor that gives a fictional look at the real Southerner's version of what the Civil War was all about. It is good reading too. I must warn that it is so hot it will burn your fingers off.
Aren't most people in Michigan Southern transplants. Someone on City-Data mentioned one day that they had been very welcoming to all the Southerners that came North when they were looking for jobs.
I have been trying for some time to get reservations with our timeshare in a couple of the states you mentioned. They're always booked up. The season for travel there is so small that you almost need to start two years ahead of time. We are hoping to go to the Black Hills or Yellowstone this year and we will be traveling through some of your Midwestern States. And I do know the difference between New York, N.J. and Pennsylvania and New England and the Midwest. I have friends from all those states and more too, but I cannot help noticing the differences. Some people adjust faster than others. I call it the six month test. In six months after moving here, one has either adjusted or they probably never will or may spend many more years trying. Some just move back to where they came from.
We live in an area that is so confusing that a person can hide if they want to, so we end up with a lot of retired police officers, retired FBI agents, and other people who are looking for safety. One little policeman's wife came in one day and told me about a neighbor stopping by when she was in her yard and talking to her and she could not understand what he was saying. Here comes another of my laughable moments. She had a very New York accent and I thought but did not say, "I bet he had a hard time understanding you too." It is just funny to me that Northerners think we are the one's with the accent when they have more of an accent than we do. As a public worker, I encountered many accents. And I hope I didn't give you the impression that I don't like people from the other parts of the country. I have come to study accents and usually can pick out where a person has spent a lot of their time. The way a person from the Ohio Valley says "doll" is a dead giveaway.
Just call me Julia Sugarbaker on Designing Women. I enjoy putting people in their place when they start "putting down" Southern ways. We all need to have a little fun sometimes, don't we?
What is the concensus on use of Northerner and Northeasterner. Am curious as I have heard Northerner to mean solely Northeasterner; to mean non northeasterner and to mean North as whole; but typically does not include the Northern West
I can counter that with my wife who just took a job Monday in southern Delaware and brought in a bunch of food today to break the ice because since she got there, all she has been called is a Yank and northerner. So today she left her lights on and her car battery was dead and since she has jumper cables she asked 5 of the women that she works with for help and they told her "tough **** yank" and "too bad".
So don't freakin tell me how nice all southerners are, cause they're NOT.
The best part is these nitwits don't even know that southerners, real southerners consider them to Yanks as well.
If this story had any more BS in it, it would be mooing.
What is the concensus on use of Northerner and Northeasterner. Am curious as I have heard Northerner to mean solely Northeasterner; to mean non northeasterner and to mean North as whole; but typically does not include the Northern West
I see what you mean. I always thought a Northerner was someone from the Northeast and not someone from the Midwest or Pacific Northwest. It would seem kind of silly to lump people from New Jersey, Minnesota, and Washington state as one region in culture.
Not to get too off topic but a couple of people said "there is no such thing as a Northener". Now if you have a Northeast region, a North Central Region and a Northwest Region, who exactly lives in these areas? Well Northerners of course.
The confusion comes of course because we commonly call the North Central United States the Midwest, a name that is somewhat outdated but based on history. Its especially outdated to the states East of the Mississippi; Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.
"Northerner" means a combination of Northeast and Midwest, but not the Northwest (Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, etc). I would usdually say that it extends from Maine to Minnesota. Some might include The Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas, but for the most part, these states didn't exist at the time of the Civil War, and they might be considered as too far west, just as New Mexico and Arizona wouldn't qualify as Southern...
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Originally Posted by MassVt
"Northerner" means a combination of Northeast and Midwest, but not the Northwest (Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, etc). I would usdually say that it extends from Maine to Minnesota. Some might include The Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas, but for the most part, these states didn't exist at the time of the Civil War, and they might be considered as too far west, just as New Mexico and Arizona wouldn't qualify as Southern...
I think to Southerners anyone from the Northeast, Midwest, Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain States from Southern Colorado/Utah on north is a Northerner. If you want to know what Yankee (anyone who has to answer negatively to the question "y'aint from around here are you?") means I would also throw in the Southwest and California (Basically anywhere that is not Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and the Southeast). To Northerners - there is a big difference between Northeasterners, Lower and Upper Midwesterners, inhabitants of the Plains, Westerners, and Pacific Coasters. There is even a difference between the slave-driving, fast paced people that live in the I-95 metro corridor and those that live in say central Massachusetts and/or the Berkshires. Its just Southerners prefer to write off everyone who is not Southern by birth or by several generations even a Californian or New Mexican as a Yankee.
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