Which of the 11 American Nations Do You Live In?

[mominatrix]

this is a couple of years old, but just came across my FB feed, and is kind of interesting

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Which of the 11 American nations do you live in?


By Reid Wilson November 8, 2013




Red states and blue states? Flyover country and the coasts? How simplistic. Colin Woodard, a reporter at the Portland Press Herald and author of several books, says North America can be broken neatly into 11 separate nation-states, where dominant cultures explain our voting behaviors and attitudes toward everything from social issues to the role of government.

“The borders of my eleven American nations are reflected in many different types of maps — including maps showing the distribution of linguistic dialects, the spread of cultural artifacts, the prevalence of different religious denominations, and the county-by-county breakdown of voting in virtually every hotly contested presidential race in our history,” Woodard writes in the Fall 2013 issue of Tufts University’s alumni magazine. “Our continent’s famed mobility has been reinforcing, not dissolving, regional differences, as people increasingly sort themselves into like-minded communities.”

Take a look at his map:


Woodard lays out his map in the new book “American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.” Here’s how he breaks down the continent:

Yankeedom: Founded by Puritans, residents in Northeastern states and the industrial Midwest tend to be more comfortable with government regulation. They value education and the common good more than other regions.

New Netherland: The Netherlands was the most sophisticated society in the Western world when New York was founded, Woodard writes, so it’s no wonder that the region has been a hub of global commerce. It’s also the region most accepting of historically persecuted populations.

The Midlands: Stretching from Quaker territory west through Iowa and into more populated areas of the Midwest, the Midlands are “pluralistic and organized around the middle class.” Government intrusion is unwelcome, and ethnic and ideological purity isn’t a priority.

Tidewater: The coastal regions in the English colonies of Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Delaware tend to respect authority and value tradition. Once the most powerful American nation, it began to decline during Westward expansion.

Greater Appalachia: Extending from West Virginia through the Great Smoky Mountains and into Northwest Texas, the descendants of Irish, English and Scottish settlers value individual liberty. Residents are “intensely suspicious of lowland aristocrats and Yankee social engineers.”

Deep South: Dixie still traces its roots to the caste system established by masters who tried to duplicate West Indies-style slave society, Woodard writes. The Old South values states’ rights and local control and fights the expansion of federal powers.

El Norte: Southwest Texas and the border region is the oldest, and most linguistically different, nation in the Americas. Hard work and self-sufficiency are prized values.

The Left Coast: A hybrid, Woodard says, of Appalachian independence and Yankee utopianism loosely defined by the Pacific Ocean on one side and coastal mountain ranges like the Cascades and the Sierra Nevadas on the other. The independence and innovation required of early explorers continues to manifest in places like Silicon Valley and the tech companies around Seattle.

The Far West: The Great Plains and the Mountain West were built by industry, made necessary by harsh, sometimes inhospitable climates. Far Westerners are intensely libertarian and deeply distrustful of big institutions, whether they are railroads and monopolies or the federal government.

New France: Former French colonies in and around New Orleans and Quebec tend toward consensus and egalitarian, “among the most liberal on the continent, with unusually tolerant attitudes toward gays and people of all races and a ready acceptance of government involvement in the economy,” Woodard writes.

First Nation: The few First Nation peoples left — Native Americans who never gave up their land to white settlers — are mainly in the harshly Arctic north of Canada and Alaska. They have sovereignty over their lands, but their population is only around 300,000.

The clashes between the 11 nations play out in every way, from politics to social values. Woodard notes that states with the highest rates of violent deaths are in the Deep South, Tidewater and Greater Appalachia, regions that value independence and self-sufficiency. States with lower rates of violent deaths are in Yankeedom, New Netherland and the Midlands, where government intervention is viewed with less skepticism.


States in the Deep South are much more likely to have stand-your-ground laws than states in the northern “nations.” And more than 95 percent of executions in the United States since 1976 happened in the Deep South, Greater Appalachia, Tidewater and the Far West. States in Yankeedom and New Netherland have executed a collective total of just one person.

That doesn’t bode well for gun control advocates, Woodard concludes: “With such sharp regional differences, the idea that the United States would ever reach consensus on any issue having to do with violence seems far-fetched. The cultural gulf between Appalachia and Yankeedom, Deep South and New Netherland is simply too large. But it’s conceivable that some new alliance could form to tip the balance.”

Take a look at his fascinating write-up here.



www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/11/08/which-of-the-11-american-nations-do-you-live-in/?tid=sm_fb

[laurenpetro]

i feel like "New Netherland" needs to add "as long as you are as rich as Midas" at the end.

[irishbride2]

Lol to Tampa being the Deep South.

[ttt]

I still think that the largest philosophical and political divides in this country are urban/rural. Atlanta has much less in common with rural Georgia than it does with, say, Raleigh or Cleveland.

[Velar Fricative]

I'm in New Netherland.

"There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures...and the Dutch."

[LoveTrains]

Jul 27, 2015 10:32:24 GMT -5 ttt said:

I still think that the largest philosophical and political divides in this country are urban/rural. Atlanta has much less in common with rural Georgia than it does with, say, Raleigh or Cleveland.

Yes. For example, crazy Maine governor Paul Le Page told a constituent that southern maine should apparently secede from the rest of the state. It's definitely a divide between urban/rural up there. 

[LoveTrains]

Jul 27, 2015 10:34:32 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I'm in New Netherland.

"There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures...and the Dutch."

What is that quote from?

[Velar Fricative]

Jul 27, 2015 10:35:53 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Jul 27, 2015 10:34:32 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I'm in New Netherland.

"There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures...and the Dutch."

What is that quote from?

One of the Austin Powers movies. Reading the name "New Netherland" and reading its description about acceptance of various persecuted populations just reminded me of the quote.

[meltoine]

I was born and raised in New Netherlands.

I live on the border between Greater Appalachia and the Deep South. I'd say that's pretty accurate. There's a definite feeling of people here really hanging tight to the idea of being "The South", but they're a little too rural/mountain-y to pull it off convincingly.

[Michelle]

I grew up migrating between all 4 of these, in this order of influence: 


El Norte: Southwest Texas and the border region is the oldest, and most linguistically different, nation in the Americas. Hard work and self-sufficiency are prized values.

The Far West: The Great Plains and the Mountain West were built by industry, made necessary by harsh, sometimes inhospitable climates. Far Westerners are intensely libertarian and deeply distrustful of big institutions, whether they are railroads and monopolies or the federal government.

Deep South: Dixie still traces its roots to the caste system established by masters who tried to duplicate West Indies-style slave society, Woodard writes. The Old South values states’ rights and local control and fights the expansion of federal powers.

Greater Appalachia: Extending from West Virginia through the Great Smoky Mountains and into Northwest Texas, the descendants of Irish, English and Scottish settlers value individual liberty. Residents are “intensely suspicious of lowland aristocrats and Yankee social engineers.”




So give me some slack when I default to my sometimes bootstrapping roots. ;-)

[mbcdefg]

I'm a lifelong New Netherland resident.

Generally speaking, I think people in this area are accepting because they just plain don't care what others do. Most people I've come into contact with are busy, they have their own lives, they don't want to be bothered by others, and so they just do their own thing and stay out of other people's business. There's not a ton of "small-town closeness" where I'm from, where you're buddies with all your neighbors and say hello to everyone on the street. "Rude" in other areas of the country might mean that a stranger doesn't smile brightly and make chit-chat when they hold the door open for you no matter how long it takes ... "rude" around here means that they purposely slam the door in your face to make a point, rather than grunt and hold it open for you but then let it go and move on if you're taking your sweet time getting through. 

Of course, there are the nosy busybodies here who love to get into everyone else's business. There are the racists, bigots, sheltered people who have no experiences outside their own bubbles, holier-than-thou judgmental assholes, uneducated morons, and people who just can't keep their opinions to themselves. 

But, generally speaking, I've found that the majority of people in this area are of the mindset, "I'm tired. Let's just leave each other the fuck alone." 

[pixy0stix]

Far West for most of my entire life.

[jeaniebueller]

I think that The Midlands describes most of Michigan other than metro Detroit rather than Yankeedom.

[bronxgirl]

I've lived in Yankeedom all my life, but closely bordering New Netherland. (I think, it was hard to see the detail)

[LoveTrains]

Jul 27, 2015 11:46:10 GMT -5 @choco said:

Jul 27, 2015 10:28:20 GMT -5 irishbride2 said:

Lol to Tampa being the Deep South.

I thought so too but as soon as we left downtown, it was pretty clear the majority felt that way. Heck, that big ass Confederate Flag right off 75 made it darn clear how people felt. That flag isn't even that far from city limits. Oh and DH actually had a client tell his boss he refused to work with a "n-word."  After that, his boss refused to let him go to client meetings alone if it was in certain towns for safety reasons. 

 and 

[LoveTrains]

Jul 27, 2015 11:56:22 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

I've lived in Yankeedom all my life, but closely bordering New Netherland. (I think, it was hard to see the detail)

I think you live in New Netherland....

[laurenpetro]

can someone please explain the dozens of confederate flags i've seen as of late in New Netherlands? because seriously, what the fuck?

[laurenpetro]

oh, i live in Yankeedom but grew up in New Netherlands.

[irishbride2]

Jul 27, 2015 11:46:10 GMT -5 @choco said:

Jul 27, 2015 10:28:20 GMT -5 irishbride2 said:

Lol to Tampa being the Deep South.

I thought so too but as soon as we left downtown, it was pretty clear the majority felt that way. Heck, that big ass Confederate Flag right off 75 made it darn clear how people felt. That flag isn't even that far from city limits. Oh and DH actually had a client tell his boss he refused to work with a "n-word."  After that, his boss refused to let him go to client meetings alone if it was in certain towns for safety reasons. 

oh yeah for sure. We have a ton of that sort of crowd. I guess my reaction was more like TTTs....urban vs not,

[tacosforlife]

This needs to be updated. Post-Scott Walker, I don't think WI can fit into Yankeedom, what with the whole "they value education" part of the description.

[cap]

I've lived in:
-Two parts of Greater Appalachia: Central IN (birth - 13 years) and NW Arkansas (13 - 23 years)
-Two parts of Yankeedom: Michigan (23 years - 27 years) and Finger Lakes area of NY (32 years - current)
-The Left Coast: 60 miles north of Seattle (27 years - 32 years)

I have to say that I found NW Arkansas to be vastly different from Indiana - I mean, in Arkansas, you're often asked where you go to church w/in five minutes of meeting someone. I had *never* been asked that before moving there. But, this part of NY feels quite similar to MI, so that makes sense. I would argue, though, that this part of NY is vastly different from the city.

[sfy]

Seems like a bunch of malarkey, both the definitions and some of these areas that are lumped together--Monterey has more in common with the OC than with Juneau, for example. SE PA and South Dakota both in the Midlands? But hey, I guess you have to say something new to get published.

[downtoearth]

I'm Far West and yeah, it's not wrong, really.  I see that in our state and when I was in CO... people trust their local legislator and city or local authorities (and often are one of them), but they don't trust the big, bad Feds. But I think being ideologically libertarian and voting it are very different.  I don't see people following libertarianism as a political party here at all. Also built by industry is somewhat true... mining, railroads, timber were the historic things that built MT, but it's not where almost anyone is working anymore.  That was generations ago that those institutions were the main employers and now it's service industries primarily and/or government.  So I think this might be more true for people over 60 years old and it's veering farther away for the Gen Xers, Millenials, and the next generation.

The Far West: The Great Plains and the Mountain West were built by industry, made necessary by harsh, sometimes inhospitable climates. Far Westerners are intensely libertarian and deeply distrustful of big institutions, whether they are railroads and monopolies or the federal government.

Read more: pandce.proboards.com/thread/465266/which-11-american-nations-live#ixzz3h7AEJalD

[saz]

Born in the Deep South to a parent from the Deep South and a parent from New Netherland. Mostly raised in Tidewater, have lived in Yankeedom and Greater Appalachia and now I live in the Far West.

[sushi]

LOL. I'm from a nation not described: Spanish Caribbean. It's that, but it's also Yankeedom. It's such a weird mix that apparently the authors didn't bother.

[sangria]

I grew up in Yankeedom and now live in El Norte.

About as stark a contrast as you can get!

[eclaires]

I spent most of my youth in Greater Appalachia, with 6 of my first 7 years in the Deep South, Tidewater and The Midlands, respectively. I've spent most of my adulthood in various areas of Greater Appalachia with a year long stay in The Midlands. I went to college in one of the counties on the border of Greater Appalachia and The Midlands.

There are some similarities in all the places I've lived in GA, but honestly there are a lot of differences... to the point that I would say they are more different than they are similar so it's weird to see them all lumped together.

[BlondeSpiders]

Left Coast, represent!

Here's one part they got spot-on: dividing up WA and OR by the Cascades. I think Eastern WA has been wanting to secede forever and a day. The 3 largest counties in WA are King, Pierce and Snohomish, and they absolutely bleed blue. There are a few other blueish counties on the west side but once you hit Yakima when heading east, it's red-red-red. I think it's safe to say R-74 (pro-gay marriage initiative) never would have passed in an Eastern WA state.