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Old 08-04-2019, 11:04 PM
 
Location: California
1,726 posts, read 1,709,527 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Foamposite View Post
What's funny about that is that the accent changes once you cross the NY/PA border (in my experience)
It depends on where you cross the state line. For example, Erie County, PA and Warren County, PA have very similar accents to neighboring Chautauqua County, NY. However, all of those counties squarely fall within the Inland North accent zone, whereas counties in northeastern Pennsylvania lie at the convergence of many different accent zones (e.g., Northern New Jersey, Inland North, Southeastern Pennsylvania, Hudson Valley, etc.). As a result, the local accent of northeastern Pennsylvania is surprisingly neutral for the Northeast United States. The same neutral accent may be heard in what I refer to as the “gray area” of Upstate New York, which lies at the convergence of the Hudson Valley, Inland North and Western New England accent zones and is centered on Gloversville/Fulton County, NY.
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Old 08-04-2019, 11:31 PM
 
Location: On the Great South Bay
9,154 posts, read 13,187,624 times
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Default Why does the Southeast extend further west than the Northeast?

Quote:
Originally Posted by PNWFated View Post
Just curious why there are several states in the Southeast that if you were to go north of you'd be in the midwest. It seems like geographically the more Eastern Midwest states could be considered the Northeast even if they aren't culturally similar. Does this just have to do regions getting named before the US had expanded out west? Thoughts?
I have been curious about this as well. I am just guessing, but the answer to your question is probably for historical reasons very early in the nation's history.

Why is the North divided? (my guess)

Until the Louisiana Purchase was completed in 1803, the North was divided into two main sections, the older colonial area (today the Northeast) and the Old Northwest / Northwest Territory which is today the Great Lake States of the Midwest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territory

This old Northwest consisted of the future Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and even part of Minnesota. This is a large area, as large as the original North (the Northeast). So I am guessing that because the North was so large and was so clearly divided between the old colonial states and the new territories - people began to see the North as two separate areas.

Why is the South NOT divided? (my guess)

In contrast, the "Old Southwest" (Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida) never was seen as a complete region like the Old Northwest became. Instead of developing into a new region, these newer Southern territories just entered the Union ad hoc. Kentucky joined the Union quite early in 1792 when George Washington was President, while in contrast Georgia continued to claim most of Alabama and Mississippi until 1802. Florida was part of the Spanish Empire until 1821.

So in other words, because the "Old Southwest" territories were so different from each other - Kentucky was a state, Tennessee was a Federal territory, Alabama and Mississippi were claimed by Georgia and Florida was ruled by Spain - they never developed into their own region but instead just joined the already existing South one by one.

Just a guess LOL.
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Old 08-05-2019, 08:02 AM
 
4,147 posts, read 2,936,044 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNWFated View Post
Just curious why there are several states in the Southeast that if you were to go north of you'd be in the midwest. It seems like geographically the more Eastern Midwest states could be considered the Northeast even if they aren't culturally similar. Does this just have to do regions getting named before the US had expanded out west? Thoughts?
Because of the Gulf, which stretches all the way to Texas, and the fact that the Appalachians stop in Northern Georgia/Northern Alabama, making for easy travel across flat land from Georgia to Alabama and Mississippi, all the way to Texas.
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Old 08-05-2019, 09:28 AM
 
Location: TN/NC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars View Post
I think the real underlying question here is: why does the southern half of the country seem to keep a unified culture as you move west, much longer than the northern half of the country does?

Slavery is probably a major reason. I don't think the Southern states thought of themselves as all that similar until after the Civil War when they all suffered the same economic blow and national humiliation. I think there's even linguistic evidence that (rural) Southern accents are much stronger now than in pre-Civil War times, which is likely a reflection of a stronger regional identity.

Also, the culture that the Northeast is known for is heavily dependent on urbanization and, historically, shipping. That culture obviously can't permeate as far inland as plantation agriculture can.
There isn't a "unified Southern culture."

I'm from northeast TN. The culture here is dramatically different than even in west TN, much less somewhere like Louisiana or Mississippi. Some things are similar, but many are dramatically different.
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Old 08-05-2019, 09:30 AM
 
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For the same reason the northeast region extends much further east.
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Old 08-05-2019, 06:04 PM
 
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Do you know what’s due south of Maine?

Provincetown to Dunkirk NY is like 500 miles. Savannah on the coast is due south of Ohio.

The East Coast is Northeast to Southwest. In addition the Mountains which contained development sweep away from the coast south of PA. This means there was a clear flat land between Charleston/Savannah/Jacksonville to The Mississippi River.
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Old 08-05-2019, 06:23 PM
 
Location: The High Desert
16,059 posts, read 10,655,786 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious Conversation View Post
There isn't a "unified Southern culture."

I'm from northeast TN. The culture here is dramatically different than even in west TN, much less somewhere like Louisiana or Mississippi. Some things are similar, but many are dramatically different.
Bravo! The common myth of a monolithic Southern culture is actually detrimental to the southern states. If a space alien parachuted into Charleston, Memphis, Atlanta, Huntsville, and Texarkana they would find more differences than similarities. For much of the country, rural is rural and has a bit of a twang that sounds southern but even in the south, rural Louisiana and Virginia and Georgia are quite different in many ways.
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