The 11 Cultures of America

Colin Woodard’s new book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures in North America divides North America into districts that have no bearing on state borders, but are identified as unique cultures. Who knew that you could draw a map that puts John Farrier and me into the same category?

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."

Woodward also says the regions are becoming more polarized, because humans are mobile and “self-sorting.” That’s not universal. I am still in Kentucky because of relatives and the property I own, not the politics. Read a short history and description of each of these cultures at Business Insider. -via mental_floss

(Image credit: Colin Woodward and Tufts/Brian Stauffer)

Newest 5

Newest 5 Comments

This doesn't look much different from "The Nine Nations of North America"as broken out in a 1981 book (that I bought at the time). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Nations_of_North_America
Out of print, but you can still get used copies and the author revisited the concept rather recently http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/07/03/where-do-borders-need-to-be-redrawn/nine-nations-of-north-america-30-years-later

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

When I was in Florida, I heard the saying, "The further north you go, the further South you go." And vice versa, of course.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

I'm used to thinking of SWFL as just New New York, although the proportions of snowbirds from different states changes over the years. Regardless, I've lost count of the number of times explaining how some place could be too far south to be the South.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

Old joke down here in SW FL is that "the South" ends around Gainesville FL. The map is close on that, but there probably is also a big difference between SE FL and SW FL. Take a look at where I-75 goes and it might give you a clue.