If the line to immigrate into this country is longer than those in every other country on earth, it is because of the Civil War.
It is true, technically speaking, that the United States was founded with the ratification of the Constitution. And it’s true that in the early 19th century it was a beacon of liberty for some ”” mostly northern European whites.
But the Civil War sealed us as a nation. The novelist and historian Shelby Foote said that before the war our representatives abroad referred to us as “these” United States, but after we became “the” United States. Somehow, as divided as we were, even as the war ended, we have become more than New Yorkers and Tennesseans, Texans and Californians….
RE: “Somehow, as divided as we were, even as the war ended, we have become more than New Yorkers and Tennesseans, Texans and Californians….”
Honestly, that seems like more of a grand delusion than anything. I see no indication from my peers, friends, or even strangers [reading newspapers and watching television] that anybody feels more “American” than prior to the Civil War, or less “state-oriented” — one can read any number of letters and journals and discover quite patriotic individuals in all regions, prior to the Civil War.
I’m a Christian first, I am very pleased and thankful to be an American, though very somber at the current state of our country, and identify myself as a Southerner from the deep South, a Mississippian. My rootedness and heritage are Southern, not necessarily “American” especially in these days. I expect that’s the case with most of my friends and peers. America as a whole increasingly does not share our values or worldview and has been far far less involved in sculpting my identity than my family, and my region.
I second much of what Sarah1 wrote, above, especially the somberness at the current state of the nation, and also of the culture.
I also suspect we are on the verge of confirming the historical mean ([i]i.e.[/i], average) lifespan of a democracy, particularly as, it seems to me, we are steadily losing more characteristics of a republic with each passing year.
[i]Pax et bonum[/i],
Keith Töpfer
I believe that “regionalism” is an increasingly unimportant concept for the majority of Americans. Currently 13% of US citizens are foreign born. A quarter of all children in the US have one or more foreign-born parents. My mother’s family came to the US from Ireland via a couple generations in Canada. She grew up in Minnesota. My father’s family lived from time immemorial in West Virginia (my grandfather in a place that had no actual name so he made it up as an adult, just as Ulysses S. Grant invented the “S” to have something to put for a middle initial) but my father himself was born and raised in Ohio. I was born and raised in NJ, but am married to an Israeli, and my kids visit Israel once a year. My sister moved to Colorado which is where her kids were born and raised. To what “region” does any of us belong? Yet, as General Parker — a full-blooded Seneca Indian aide to General Grant — said to Robert E. Lee at Appomatox when Lee referred to him as a “real American”: “Sir, we are all Americans.” He meant Lee as well.
Of course, the fact that we are Catholics also means that we take our “identity and our worldview” wherever we go, so it is not dependent on our physical location and what the culture there happens to offer.
Re: “I believe that “regionalism†is an increasingly unimportant concept for the majority of Americans. Currently 13% of US citizens are foreign born. A quarter of all children in the US have one or more foreign-born parents.”
I’m not certain how those stats support a lack of regionalism. In fact, what I see in the culture is actually *more* of an emphasis on regional identity for immigrants. Certainly it’s quite hipster to attempt to maintain the country’s identity for American immigrants.
At any rate, I haven’t noticed regionalism being an increasingly unimportant concept at all — but that’s qualitative data and we run in different circles.
” Certainly it’s quite hipster to attempt to maintain the country’s identity for American immigrants.”
I’m unable to parse this sentence.
“At any rate, I haven’t noticed regionalism being an increasingly unimportant concept at all—but that’s qualitative data and we run in different circles.”
Exactly — 60% of the kids in my kids’ school are Asian. They barely know there *are* regions in this country, much less strong identify with one. And when they graduate, they will scatter to various universities around the country and thence to jobs in various states.
Up until two years ago my neighbors to the left were from Switzerland and my neighbors to the right were from South Africa. Then the South Africans moved to Texas. A family from California bought their house. He is Hispanic and she is Japanese.
RE: “They barely know there *are* regions in this country, much less strong identify with one.”
Again — regionalism extends beyond our country’s borders. Increasingly immigrants emphasize maintenance of country of origin identity.
So the fact that 13% of US citizens are “foreign born” doesn’t demonstrate anything about the point. I *do* recognize that we don’t have any *quantitative* data on whether regionalism has grown or not. But I’m not defining “regionalism” as solely circumscribed by regions *in the country*. Americans can be quite regional — as immigrants and in emphasis of their countries of origin identity.
Oh — and I should add that I have numerous neighbors from various other countries — Hispanic, Hungarian, and more. But again — I don’t see their identifying as “American” in the least.
The question is, do they identify themselves as being “South Carolinians” or “southerners.” Perhaps they do. Virtually no one I know identifies themselves by the state or *region of the US* (which is what this article was about) they currently live in.
All of the people that I know that were born in the US identify themselves entirely as being Americans. They enjoy visiting the “old country” but they have zero interest in living there because they feel themselves entirely of a different country. Do the people in your circles (born in America) feel more “southern” than “American”? Do the people you know who immigrated from elsewhere feel *neither* “southern” nor “American”? If so, this is most interesting.