Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Speaking both demographically as well as culturally? I tend to think of Canada being more "Celtic" with Scottish and Irish influence and the United States being more "Germanic" with Anglo-Saxon, German, and Scandinavian influence.
I don't know much about Canada, but I know that a "Celts" had a big influence on the US. People of Welsh and Scottish descent were among those who crafted and signed the declaration of independence. From a Welsh standpoint I believe that most of the early Presidents (including the Confederate President) had at least some Welsh ancestry. Hillary Clinton is also part Welsh.
The Irish influence became more prominent from the 1800's, which had a huge influence on areas such as Boston, which still "feel" very Irish. The influence is so large that it helps for a Presidential candidate to be able to claim Irish ancestry, JFK was an Irish American, which endeared him to many voters, and even Barack Obama could claim some Irish lineage.
Last edited by mensaguy; 04-13-2017 at 04:51 AM..
Reason: Corrected spelling
I think Canada is more English and French influenced while the US has more Celtic influence, with large numbers of Irish and Scots-Irish coming here. The Northeast has many Irish communities and the South saw a lot of Scots-Irish settle there especially in the mountainous areas. Its been argued that a lot of Southern culture and the rebel mentality was directed descended from the Scots-Irish culture.
My Canadian history professor (a Mexican immigrant to USA) 25 years ago argued that Canada was largely more a mosaic than a melting pot of ethnic identities. One could point to Celtic roots of both Cape Breton fiddling and Nashville country but the former is much clearer.
Anecdotally, with pictures of Syrian refugees playing hockey in their first year in Canada, but the perceived longer persistence of ethnic language enclaves in USA compared to formerly, one wonders if the mosaic vs. melting pot difference still persists. Articles about distinguishing the Irish ancestry of many Trump administration figures from modern Irish politics would argue for continued melting, one could argue for white ethnics trying to out-white the old WASPs nowadays.
Celtish influence is not limited to Scotts, Irish and Welsh. The Celts once populated much of Europe. I am pretty sure many or most northern Europeans have Celt in them. I also believe they figured out the Celts likely originated near/in Germany.
Celtish influence is not limited to Scotts, Irish and Welsh. The Celts once populated much of Europe. I am pretty sure many or most northern Europeans have Celt in them. I also believe they figured out the Celts likely originated near/in Germany.
I agree with this. Much of Western Europe have some sort of Celtics influence. Prior to the Roman Empire. Half of Western Europe was populated by cells. When Rome conquered Spain and France, the celts romanized, and the cultures mixed. Helping to create Spanish and French cultures we see today. Let's not forget greek and German influences also played a part.
My Canadian history professor (a Mexican immigrant to USA) 25 years ago argued that Canada was largely more a mosaic than a melting pot of ethnic identities. One could point to Celtic roots of both Cape Breton fiddling and Nashville country but the former is much clearer.
Anecdotally, with pictures of Syrian refugees playing hockey in their first year in Canada, but the perceived longer persistence of ethnic language enclaves in USA compared to formerly, one wonders if the mosaic vs. melting pot difference still persists. Articles about distinguishing the Irish ancestry of many Trump administration figures from modern Irish politics would argue for continued melting, one could argue for white ethnics trying to out-white the old WASPs nowadays.
Huh... One has to wonder how that happened? How did he get into that field of study?
Huh... One has to wonder how that happened? How did he get into that field of study?
As I recall, he said that when studying the history of Mexico (including but not limited to the loss of half its territory to USA by 1867) he was intrigued by how Canada, basically as an instrument of British power was able to come together and define itself as not-US, even as late as 1949 when the last province joined in Confederation despite having been effectively US occupied during World War II. Maybe it, too, was too Celtic, even to the point of eventually revealing its Viking intrusions.
If by "Romanized" you mean died on the points of Roman swords and spears this is correct. Julius Cesar conducted one of the first recorded genocide campaigns against the Celts to become more famous and rise through the Roman ranks. Some did survive and their bloodlines are mixed in, but hundreds of thousands if not millions were simply slaughtered by Ceasar. Much of the mixing occurred before Ceasar tried to kill all of the Celts.
Still Celtic culture influence and Celtic genes are not exclusive to nor even primarily found in Ireland. The idea that Irish = Celts is partially misguided.
Germans had a huge influence on the US. Prior to WWI,Germans were the second most populous background in the United States. Many cities or neighborhoods, street names, monuments, schools, theaters, and newspapers were German. Leading up to and during WWI Germans were ostracized at best. Terrorized may be a better term. Everything German was renamed, closed, removed. Many Germans changed their last names. It was not as bad as in Canada where they were sent to work camps in the thousands, but they were the target of some mob actions/riots here. The huge German influence in the USA was essentially erased in a matter of a few years. The Germans mostly remained, but they went into hiding and were not a prominent part of our culture to the previous levels ever again. But for WWI, our country would likely be close to half German culture and half English (with a mix of others thrown in for good measure.) It is amazing how such a massive influence in our culture just mostly disappeared.
Of course there is still some German influence, but when people think of the USA, they do not instantly think of a place of German immigrants like it was.
Last edited by Coldjensens; 04-18-2017 at 07:10 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
One has to wonder how that happened? How did he get into that field of study?
