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It gets more southern as you go east. SE Missouri is the most Southern part of that state, by a fairly significant margin.
This is NE Oklahoma. It's pretty Midwestern. There are even lots of local businesses using the "Midwest" tag in their name if you Google around the Miami area for example. https://goo.gl/maps/s9NeoaHRGeUghnnd7
You might not think of these areas as Midwestern, but a lot of people in that part of the world view themselves as Midwestern, and the lifestyle, culture, and local economy are more similar to places that are clearly in the Midwest than anywhere in the South.
I don't judge regions based of of looks. Not all of the midwest looks like that. Like I said before, the southeast looks similar to the northeast scenery wise. Doesn't make it all one region.
These people in Grove Oklahoma sound very southern. If a place is geographically southern, has a subtropical climate, and the locals speak in a southern accent, it's southern.
I don't judge regions based of of looks. Not all of the midwest looks like that. Like I said before, the southeast looks similar to the northeast scenery wise. Doesn't make it all one region.
These people in Grove Oklahoma sound very southern. If a place is geographically southern, has a subtropical climate, and the locals speak in a southern accent, it's southern.
What if the people consider themselves Midwestern? Does that matter? If someone in Louisiana said they were part of the Midwest, I'd scoff. But 30 miles from Kansas? That's a lot different.
The area is clearly a transition between the Midwest and the South, but in that farming video for example the only thing that comes off Southern is the accent, and that's pretty mild as accents go. I would say a place like Afton, Oklahoma is definitely on that boundary of where the Midwest begins/ends. You don't just cross the street and have people sound like they're off the set of Fargo.
What if the people consider themselves Midwestern? Does that matter? If someone in Louisiana said they were part of the Midwest, I'd scoff. But 30 miles from Kansas? That's a lot different.
The area is clearly a transition between the Midwest and the South, but in that farming video for example the only thing that comes off Southern is the accent, and that's pretty mild as accents go. I would say a place like Afton, Oklahoma is definitely on that boundary of where the Midwest begins/ends. You don't just cross the street and have people sound like they're off the set of Fargo.
As a Minnesotan living in Georgia, these people would fit right in with Georgia/Alabama accent wise. The area is too southern in accent and location to be midwestern. If these people went to Iowa, Minnesota, central Illinois, most people would assume that they're from Alabama or something. The midwest is a northern region. I see nothing northern about these areas in Oklahoma.
As a Minnesotan living in Georgia, these people would fit right in with Georgia/Alabama accent wise. The area is too southern in accent and location to be midwestern. If these people went to Iowa, Minnesota, central Illinois, most people would assume that they're from Alabama or something. The midwest is a northern region. I see nothing northern about these areas in Oklahoma.
This is where we fundamentally disagree. There's not much northern about Missouri, Kansas, southern Illinois, or southern Indiana. They're still Midwestern. Emphasis on the "mid".
And northern Oklahoma gets much more frequent cold and snow than Georgia or Alabama, which doesn't make it culturally northern, but there are climactic factors that make the area appear much more like the Midwest than the South.
If these people came to Iowa, people would assume they were from Missouri. Which makes sense because they almost are.
This is where we fundamentally disagree. There's not much northern about Missouri, Kansas, southern Illinois, or southern Indiana. They're still Midwestern. Emphasis on the "mid".
And northern Oklahoma gets much more frequent cold and snow than Georgia or Alabama, which doesn't make it culturally northern, but there are climactic factors that make the area appear much more like the Midwest than the South.
If these people came to Iowa, people would assume they were from Missouri. Which makes sense because they almost are.
The mid in Midwest doesn't mean centrally located considering the first Midwestern states are Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The southern parts of Illinois are basically still southern. The closer you get to the central part of the country, the more the weather extremes. Dallas TX has been colder than NYC the past few days, is Dallas not still southern? A few cold days here and there doesn't erase the averages. Most of Missouri doesn't sound as Southern as these people in Oklahoma do. The parts of Missouri that sound like these people are more southern than midwestern. The term "Midwest” was invented in the 19th Century, to describe the states of the old Northwest Ordinance which does not include Oklahoma, or Kansas for that matter.
These people in Grove Oklahoma sound very southern. If a place is geographically southern, has a subtropical climate, and the locals speak in a southern accent, it's southern.
I would agree with that. You can't be a Midwesterner and have a Southern accent.
A while back I used to be a traveling nurse and did a stint in Wichita, Kansas. Even a lot of those people had Southern accents!
The mid in Midwest doesn't mean centrally located considering the first Midwestern states are Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The southern parts of Illinois are basically still southern. The closer you get to the central part of the country, the more the weather extremes. Dallas TX has been colder than NYC the past few days, is Dallas not still southern? A few cold days here and there doesn't erase the averages. Most of Missouri doesn't sound as Southern as these people in Oklahoma do. The parts of Missouri that sound like these people are more southern than midwestern. The term "Midwest” was invented in the 19th Century, to describe the states of the old Northwest Ordinance which does not include Oklahoma, or Kansas for that matter.
If the Northwest Ordinance is your standard for what is or isn't the Midwest, then literally nothing west of the Mississippi counts.
I'm just stating origin of the term midwest. The "mid" in midwest wasn't describing the middle of the country.
I understand that. But meanings change over time. Things aren't static.
And even latitude isn't the end all be all. The northernmost point of West Virginia is farther north than the southernmost point of Iowa.
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