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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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The largest self-reported group by ancestry in the United States are Germans. Culturally, however, the United States is and will probably always remain a mostly British-based civilisation. From your legal system, to your language to most of your customs. The vast majority of presidents have had English, Scottish, or Irish last names (a few Dutch too).
Anyway, I'm wondering what are some examples of the German cultural legacy which makes American culture different from British culture?
I can think of two: hot dogs, and hamburgers, what else? It can be anything from cuisine, to customs, to linguistic features. Did German influence the accent in the Midwest, for instance?
It does seem Germans integrated faster than other ethnicities due to the cultural/genetic similarities with Britain, so it's hard to really see a big cultural imprint like the Italian Americans left.
Anyway, I'm wondering what are some examples of the German cultural legacy which makes American culture different from British culture?
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You mentioned linguistics and that is the typical starting place for academic explorations.
So, you are sitting on your couch watching a blitzing linebacker, enjoying a stein of beer, your Doberman curled on the floor next to you, your kid comes home from kindergarten and expresses angst because you are out of pretzels. You would send your hausfrau out to get more, but ever since she discovered your romantic wanderlust, she has been giving you the iceberg treatment.
I'm pretty well read on the history of Chicago, and German fingerprints are all over the city. They were a skilled immigrant group from the very early days of Chicago. I can suggest some very good books on the subject if you are interested :-)
The largest self-reported group by ancestry in the United States are Germans. Culturally, however, the United States is and will probably always remain a mostly British-based civilisation. From your legal system, to your language to most of your customs. The vast majority of presidents have had English, Scottish, or Irish last names (a few Dutch too).
Anyway, I'm wondering what are some examples of the German cultural legacy which makes American culture different from British culture?
I can think of two: hot dogs, and hamburgers, what else? It can be anything from cuisine, to customs, to linguistic features. Did German influence the accent in the Midwest, for instance?
It does seem Germans integrated faster than other ethnicities due to the cultural/genetic similarities with Britain, so it's hard to really see a big cultural imprint like the Italian Americans left.
That's because the Germans kept a low profile. Everybody else did not. Especially so called "Italian Americans". And I put it this way because - just because your great grandfather came from Italy, or possibly even great great grandfather, dosen't make you "Italian American". You're less than 1% Italian. Hardly anything you can talk about.
But it has also a lot to do with stereotypes. Italians are this and that, the French are this and that.. they are a lot of things to people. Of course they've never been there and don't know any better. So being "Italian" or "French" is "hip" to a lot of people.
Well, and then there was WW1 and WW2.
Due to a large influx of German speakers to America, it's influenced how Most Americans speak their English.
Winner rather than winter In my area, many pronounce it "Win - der"
wadder rather than water
Here in America, I feel that we follow a lot of German rules when it comes to the pronunciation of vowels and consonants. If we don't follow them, due to the German influence, we've dropped them altogether or heavily modified them, and therefore, we speak our English much differently than the UK, NZ, and AU. I could well be wrong, but that's my suspicion. I'm no linguist...
In my area, there's a huge German influence for names of streets and towns. For example, I live 25 miles west of Hamburg and Womelsdorf. There are generally three nationalities used in my area, British, German, or Native American, but I do live in one of the original states as well as being in areas that were settled first. My area was under British rule at one time. The lobsters even had forts all about me.
I think the anti-German sentiment from WWI up to the Linbergh kidnapping caused much of the country to drop the German connection.
I can think of two: hot dogs, and hamburgers, what else? It can be anything from cuisine, to customs, to linguistic features. Did German influence the accent in the Midwest, for instance?
Where would Cajun food be without the rice German immigrants brought to south Louisiana?
Surely, you jest!
Where the frack is rice grown in Germany? And what German founded the rice plantations in Georgia and South Carolina where slaves taught Europeans how to cultivate a crop that they have been growing for over 2 thousand years?
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