Map shows how the US really has 11 separate 'nations'

[Beringia]

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-11-nations-of-the-united-states-2015-7






Woodard says that among these 11 nations, Yankeedom and the Deep South exert the most influence and are constantly competing with each other for the hearts and minds of the other nations.

"We are trapped in brinkmanship because there is not a lot of wiggle room between Yankee and Southern Culture," Woodard says. "Those two nations would never see eye to eye on anything besides an external threat."

Woodard also believes the nation is likely to become more polarized, even though America is becoming a more diverse place every day. He says this is because people are "self-sorting."

[meadowlander]

1. I think he's underestimating the influence of the Left Coast

both as a manufacturer of cultural content and the driving location for modern innovation and communication technology.

[demosincebirth]

29. I think you are right on the money, bro/sis

[Renew Deal]

2. Please make Red Sox fans live in Yankeedom

[Takket]

20. This map sucks lol

Yankeedom should be renamed Chowdahville!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[redqueen]

3. Really not a laughing matter. This is another reason I support Yang.

We really need to work towards common goals.


From last year but still relevant

America’s Next Civil War
https://thewalrus.ca/americas-next-civil-war
The United States shows all the warning signs of impending social and political collapse

[TwilightZone]

4. I would think Minnesota and Wisconsin are more "Midlands" than "Yankeedom"

Particularly rural areas. Michele Bachmann's (former) district is like the Northeast? Nah.

And parts of North and South Dakota are in Yankeedom?

[Beringia]

5. I agree

[Hortensis]

14. The premise is that the dominant cultures of the original European

settlers to a region have dominated ever since. One, the "first nation," is entirely in Canada. It's a very interesting, and entertainingly written, book with a lot of different information on cultures and histories distilled and brought together to make his points.

There are some unpleasant stereotyping and stretches where faith is needed to take the leap with him, but you can't help thinking there's something to it. It certainly adds a great deal more to the usual red v blue and rural v urban coast-to-coast generalizations. It's been a long while, but I tend to be reminded of various details when visiting or reading about different regions reminds me of them.

[TwilightZone]

15. From the article:

"Yankeedom values education, intellectual achievement, communal empowerment, and citizen participation in government as a shield against tyranny. Yankees are comfortable with government regulation. "

That's not rural Minnesota, SD, ND, etc., especially the government regulation part. This would also extend to states like MI, where anti-government sentiment is quite high. Hence, the militias.

From Midlands:

"The Midlands are a welcoming middle-class society that spawned the culture of the "American Heartland." Political opinion is moderate, and government regulation is frowned upon. "

That is much more descriptive of those areas.

I realize that there's a historical basis to the grouping and that they have to be lumped in somewhere. I just don't agree that the influence of the NE extends that far and think that those areas are much more like IA, eastern NE or KS than similar to, say, NY or MA.

[Hortensis]

17. Sounds like regional horoscopes. :) But take a look at the book.

And the diagram below reporting DNA patterns of post colonial genomes put together long after the book was published. It supports the general outlines of the cultural "nations" that don't conform to legal/political boundaries.

There's a lot more than "pop culture for dummies" to it, like the very different attitudes of ancient southern and northern European cultures toward individual identity, rights and freedom. First nation is the only treatment of non-European culture that I recall.

In any case, I know I really enjoyed the first half and, with it brought up again, and the DNA support for some of it, would like to revisit if I can find it. It's around here somewhere.

https://miro.medium.com/max/926/1*ewAxbrlwQii-4QgcS8VzQA.jpeg

[csziggy]

22. Your link didn't work for me - is this the article you mean?

Clustering of 770,000 genomes reveals post-colonial population structure of North America

Abstract

Despite strides in characterizing human history from genetic polymorphism data, progress in identifying genetic signatures of recent demography has been limited. Here we identify very recent fine-scale population structure in North America from a network of over 500 million genetic (identity-by-descent, IBD) connections among 770,000 genotyped individuals of US origin. We detect densely connected clusters within the network and annotate these clusters using a database of over 20 million genealogical records. Recent population patterns captured by IBD clustering include immigrants such as Scandinavians and French Canadians; groups with continental admixture such as Puerto Ricans; settlers such as the Amish and Appalachians who experienced geographic or cultural isolation; and broad historical trends, including reduced north-south gene flow. Our results yield a detailed historical portrait of North America after European settlement and support substantial genetic heterogeneity in the United States beyond that uncovered by previous studies.

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14238

[Hortensis]

23. No, but may be a better one, and fig. 3 was what I tried to post.

[csziggy]

24. OK, interesting article

but as one of the Ancestry people whose DNA test they probably use, place of birth of individuals is a way outmoded method of grouping geographical populations.

For instance, both my husband and I were born in Florida, but genetically we are not from Florida.

My mother was from Alabama with ancestors who lived there from 1819 on. My father's parents were from Escanaba, Michigan but his ancestors came from New York state, Canada, Wales, and Scotland.

My husband's parents came from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and their ancestors had lived there for at least two prior generations.

People are more mobile than this paper seems to credit - and they have always been very mobile. My mother's ancestors that collected in Alabama two hundred years ago had ancestral origins from England, France, Germany, Ireland, and Scotland. Some arrived in the American South via Pennsylvania and other Northern states.

Even my husband's Minnesota ancestors came from diverse places: Wales, France, Denmark, and Scotland. We both have ancestors who lived blocks away from each other in New Amsterdam.

[Hortensis]

25. How great that after mass dispersals ruptured connections

they're being reestablished like this. I don't know as much as you do about new lines of genetic research, but of course much is being inferred and theorized until data can prove or disprove. I never considered history when I was in college, but now I might seriously go into some discipline uncovering our histories. So exciting. It's not our grandfathers' connecting the dots of names on scarce papers any more.

[csziggy]

27. I grew up with genealogy

My Dad's great grandfather started researching his family 150 years ago. Dad's mother continued the research, into that line as well as the branches that joined in later. When Mom married into the family she researched hers - and I learned to type wile transcribing old wills and deeds she got for that research.

Then I married my husband and learned that his family has been into genealogy for at least three generations. We both took the Ancestry DNA tests but didn't learn anything new about our families - except that somewhere my sister and I picked up some Native American DNA - though we have no idea where. It's far enough back that we have more Neanderthal DNA than Native American!

Genealogy is a great hook into history. I've learned all sorts of history of various areas where my family and my husband's family lived. I look for the stories of why our ancestors moved where they did and it can be fascinating.

[Ginger42]

32. ND

Like so many states, ND has a big urban/rural divide. Fargo has more in common with Minneapolis than with the surrounding rural areas.

[Lock him up.]

6. NEW FRANCE is not in the US though.

They have SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE.

Same for the portion of THE MIDLANDS in Canada.

Although the portion of THE FAR WEST in Canada has mostly the same 'CON' mindset as in the US.

[Beringia]

8. I think they may be showing New France because lower portion of deep south is New France

[Lock him up.]

11. I forgot to mention the part north of the border.

And franckly, there are some big differences between Canada's New France, where most people speak French or are bilingual and Louisiana, where a relatively small number of people are bilingual (and that's in decline) so I can't see the relation.

[appalachiablue]

26. The New Orleans, Louisiana part of New France is in the US fortunately.

New France

A pocket of liberalism nestled in the Deep South, its people are consensus driven, tolerant, and comfortable with government involvement in the economy. Woodard says New France is among the most liberal places in North America. New France is focused around New Orleans in Louisiana as well as the Canadian province of Quebec.

[Vogon_Glory]

7. I'd also say that El Norte is moving eastward

A lot of West Texas is increasingly Mexican-American by parentage if not by culture. Keep watching that space. That are is changing even if Miller’s and Bannon’s wet dreams come true. Natural increase, and shutting down family planning clinics will increase that trend.

[Ron Green]

9. The Cascades is a convenient divider between the Left Coast and

the Far West, but not entirely accurate. I can take you to the very street in my town that marks the boundary.

[Pacifist Patriot]

10. Nice use of the "logo" map.

Wonder how our overseas territories fit in to this. Yes, I know he's addressing North America's issues. Just think there is an even bigger picture we're missing here.

[ExciteBike66]

12. This has been around for a while.

As a resident of Central FL, I would point out that much of the area around Orlando is not Deep South at all, and is in fact closer to Yankeedom.

Also, as a New Englander and Red Sox fan, I take umbrage at the name "Yankeedom" for my region.

[KatyMan]

13. No way Houston and its surrounding counties

Are deep south. Fort Bend county to the west has been considered one of the most diverse counties in the US for years, and went for Hillary, as did Harris, which contains most of Houston.

[BannonsLiver]

16. We're governed by rural America.

To me, that is the essence of the problem.

[TomSlick]

18. My county in Arkansas is shown in the Deep South but on the cusp of Greater Appalachia.

I buy the definitions of both in the article.

I also think the cartographer drew boundary correctly in this case. My county is culturally different from the counties to the north and west but more similar to the counties to the south and east.

[roamer65]

19. We would be well off to dump Appalachia and the South and join with Eastern Canada.

Michigan is more like Ontario than Alabama.

We could also get out of the trade war with the Chinese.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

21. Clark County, Nevada

Clark is now definitely a mix of The Left Coast and El Norte. Washoe County, which is Reno, is leaning more Left Coast than before.

Sure, once one leaves Vegas, the rest of Clark County is a different planet, but as of a few election cycles ago, all one has to do to win the state is carry Clark County now. I read a recent statistic that estimates Nevada’s population to be 3 million now. Clark County has 2 million.

[rzemanfl]

28. I read the book some years ago It is thought provoking. n/t

[struggle4progress]

30. "How can I distract everyone from analyzing the class structure of this country?

I know! I shall produce heaps of geographical hokum!"

[Beringia]

31. Why would you deduce he is trying to distract from analyzing class

This is a lens on the geographical differences. Someone else can make a different lens, based on class.

He has excellent credentials, if you look him up on wiki. He did work on climate change and global environmental reporting.

[GoneOffShore]

33. And this, among other reasons, is why we no longer live in the US.