I read an article by historian Colin Woodard a few months past. The author purported to have divided America into eleven "nations" the same being a sociological division. Interesting enough that I wrote the accompanying piece but did not post it on STSTT at the time. Actually, I keep such stuff in a private blog. I keep lots of stuff there, most of which you will never see because to some degree, it is a journal. Private.
Interesting division. According to this map, I was born right smack at the point where the Midlands, the Far West, and El Norte converge. After a brief interlude in Greater Appalachia, my next four years were spent in the western Midlands. After that, we moved to The Far West where the balance of my formative years was spent. A brief stint in a factory at one of the points where Greater Appalachia meets The Midlands was sufficient to convince me a college education was in my future, so a move to The Left Coast to accomplish that end. Sometime before graduating, I married a girl from a city on the border of The Midlands and Greater Appalachia.
After a few years on the Left Coast, it seemed that the Midwest was beckoning, so we moved into an area which is here designated Greater Appalachia and we bounced around in Greater Appalachia and The Midlands. Retirement reintroduced me to El Norte wherein I have wintered several years.
My travels have taken me to all the Nations on this map, including both far-flung sections of New France; forty-eight US states, three Canadian provinces and a Mexican state, in fact.
5 comments:
I can't imagine the amount of research needed to support these claims. Woodward really nails it for the Far West. I'm sure his book is thought-provoking and I'm adding it to my list of future reads.
One has to wonder (considering the number of people who relocate and those from different "nations" who marry) how values, beliefs, politics, and attitudes remain stable over time. "Intensely libertariain."Does this designation fit someone we grew up with like a glove?
Vee, yes, and "deeply distrustful of big institutions." The amount of study would be incredible to a tiny intellect such as mine.
Lived most of my life in Yankeedom. (There were three years that we lived in central and south America--plus my life isn't over.) I have, however, visited all of the nations displayed on the map.
Yankeedom, New Netherlands (I think that's what it says hard to read the map even when clicking on it) and Tidewater for me (at least I think Tidewater encompasses where I am living now)...I like Tidewater best even tho it doesn't reflect my cultural up-bringing, I've always felt (mostly) most comfortable here.
Chuck, I fear things may be Simpler. The country may be divided into two nations: The Xs and the Ys, mutual intense dislike for each other. I hope l am wrong.
Grace, one is most comfortable where she feels most at home.
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