Yankee_cultural_history Yankee

1 yankee cultural history

1.1 stereotypes
1.2 religion
1.3 politics , reform
1.4 presidential yankees

yankee cultural history

the term yankee may mean resident of new england or of of northeastern united states. original yankees diffused across northern united states, leaving imprints in new york, upper midwest, , places far away seattle, san francisco, , honolulu. yankees typically lived in villages consisting of clusters of separate farms. merchants, bankers, teachers, or professionals. village life fostered local democracy, best exemplified open town meeting form of government still exists today in new england. village life stimulated mutual oversight of moral behavior , emphasized civic virtue. new england seaports of boston, salem, providence, , new london, among others, yankees built international trade routes, stretching china 1800. of profit trading reinvested in textile , machine tools industries.

stereotypes

yankee ingenuity worldwide stereotype of inventiveness, technical solutions practical problems, know-how, self-reliance, , individual enterprise. stereotype first appeared in 19th century. mitchell wilson notes, yankee ingenuity , yankee git-up-and-go did not exist in colonial days.

the peculiar yankee became stock character in standardized comedic venues, popular humor magazine yankee notions, published in new york city in years leading american civil war. visceral stereotype of greedy, witch-burning yankee developed in literature of english-speaking world, epitomized in character of brother jonathan. burlesques or comedic performances yankee impersonators dominated popular theater in 1800s. yankee irksome, meddling, , purer-than-thou peddler theme appearing in american literature written washington irving (critical of character ichabod crane), james fenimore cooper (particularly in chainbearer; or, littlepage manuscript series), , nathaniel hawthorne (author of scarlet letter), copperhead sought more christian compassion sinners , violators of civil laws , held strong antipathy toward puritans.

in defense, new englander embraced insulting term yankee . great majority of yankees gravitated toward burgeoning cities of american northeast, while wealthy new englanders sent ambassadors frontier communities became influential bankers , newspaper printers. using influence in positive ways, introduced term universal yankee nation represent , proselytize hopes national , global influence.

religion

in religion, new england yankees followed puritan tradition, expressed in congregational churches. beginning in late colonial period, many became presbyterians, episcopalians, methodists, baptists, or, later, unitarians. strait-laced 17th-century moralism derided novelist nathaniel hawthorne faded in 18th century. first great awakening (under jonathan edwards , others) in mid-18th century , second great awakening in 19th century (under charles grandison finney, among others) emphasized personal piety, revivals, , devotion civic duty. theologically, arminianism replaced original calvinism. horace bushnell introduced idea of christian nurture, through children brought religion without revivals.

politics , reform

after 1800, yankees spearheaded reform movements, including abolition of slavery, temperance in use of alcohol, increase in women s political rights, , improvement in women s education. emma willard , mary lyon pioneered in higher education of women, while yankees comprised of reformers went south during reconstruction in late 1860s educate freedmen.

historian john buenker has examined worldview of yankee settlers in midwest:

because arrived first , had strong sense of community , mission, yankees able transplant new england institutions, values, , mores, altered conditions of frontier life. established public culture emphasized work ethic, sanctity of private property, individual responsibility, faith in residential , social mobility, practicality, piety, public order , decorum, reverence public education, activists, honest, , frugal government, town meeting democracy, , believed there public interest transcends particular , stock ambitions. regarding elect , in world rife sin , corruption, felt strong moral obligation define , enforce standards of community , personal behavior…. pietistic worldview substantially shared british, scandinavian, swiss, english-canadian , dutch reformed immigrants, german protestants , many of forty-eighters.

yankees dominated new england, of upstate new york, , of upper midwest, , strongest supporters of new republican party in 1860s. true congregationalists, presbyterians, , (after 1860) methodists among them. study of 65 predominantly yankee counties showed voted 40% whigs in 1848 , 1852, became 61–65% republican in presidential elections of 1856 through 1864.

ivy league universities remained bastions of old yankee culture until after world war ii, particularly harvard , yale, little ivy liberal arts colleges.

presidential yankees

president calvin coolidge striking example of modern yankee stereotype. coolidge moved rural vermont urban massachusetts , educated @ elite amherst college. yet flint-faced, unprepossessing ways , terse rural speech proved politically attractive. yankee twang worth hundred thousand votes , explained 1 republican leader. coolidge s laconic ways , dry humor characteristic of stereotypical rural yankee humor @ turn of 20th century.

the fictional harvard graduate thurston howell iii of gilligan s island typifies old yankee elite in comical way; boston-born m*a*s*h surgeon character maj. charles emerson winchester iii more satirical, portrayed david ogden stiers.

by beginning of 21st century, systematic yankee ways had permeated entire society through education. many observers 1880s onward predicted yankee politicians no match new generations of ethnic politicians, yet presence of yankees @ top tier of modern american politics typified presidents george h. w. bush , george w. bush, , former democratic national committee chairman howard dean, losing 2004 democratic presidential nominee john forbes kerry, descendant through mother of scottish forbes family, emigrated massachusetts in 1750s.