American Nations

American Nations by Colin Woodard was initially posted on YouTube on May 3, 2021, but the review is available to watch on Rumble or listen to on PodBean now.  This book hit my radar when I was reading an article about it in Business Insider and I thought “Oh, that’s an interesting premise.” So of course, I had to buy the book.

The premise of this book is not that we are the United States of America, but rather that we are a loose conglomeration of nations held together by the Constitution and tradition.  Sort of. First a few definitions:

From the book: A State is a sovereign political entity like the UK, Kenya, Panama, or New Zealand, eligible for membership in the UN and inclusion on maps.

A Nation is a group of people who share—or believe they share—a common culture, ethnic origin, language, historical experience, artifacts, and symbols.

Using those metrics, Woodard identifies 11 stateless nations that comprise the north American continent, focusing specifically on America.

1.       Yankeedom, that emphasizes education, political control, greater good ideology at the expense of self-interest. Yankees believe that government can improve everyone’s life.  This region is currently comprised of all the New England states (excluding NYC), northern PA, MI, WI, MN, eastern N and SD.

2.       New Netherland (essentially New York) is a global trading society, with a profound tolerance of diversity and an unflinching commitment to the freedom of inquiry. This region is currently NYC and norther New Jersey.

3.       The Midlands was founded by Quakers, government is seen as an unwelcome intrusion, the Midlands is an ethnic mosaic, truly a bastion of multi-culturalism, before that concept got high jacked by the PC Crowd. The Mid-landers are skeptical of top-down governmental intervention. Midlands are currently comprised of MD, S NJ, Middle PA, Middle OH, Mid IL, Mid IN, norther MO, middle N and SD, eastern ME, KS, n and NW OK.

4.       Tidewater was a powerful section during the Revolution, which has decreased ever since. Based in eastern VA, se MD, eastern NC, this was the plantation region and landed gentry of colonial America, they were based loosely on gentry in England. They have a high value on respect for authority and tradition, with very little on equality or public participation in politics.

5.       Greater Appalachia (aka the Borderlanders) was founded by the lowland scots and displaced Irish, most of whom have a very strong warrior ethic.  A large portion of our current armed forces are pulled from the Appalachian region. This section has a warrior ethic, deep commitment to individual liberty and personal sovereignty. Appalachians have an intense suspicion of aristocrats and social reformers.  Basically, they hate everyone who is not Appalachian, holding in equal disregard Yankee teachers, Tidewater lords, and Deep Southern aristocrats. Greater Appalachia is composed of southern PA, OH, IL, IN, KY, WV, western VA, western NC, northern SC, AL, GA, MS LA, most of TN, part of MO and northern TX

6.       The Deep South was founded by Barbados slave lords.  While other nations had slavery, the Deep South was the only nation that was founded on slavery. This nation is a bastion of white supremacy, built on a caste system that reigns to present day, but remains a bastion of states rights movements and is where much of African American culture comes from. This area is SC, FL, southern MS, AL, GA, LA, and in to eastern TX

7.       New France is largely located in Canada, but there is a tiny offshoot that remains around southern LA after the LA purchase during the Jefferson administration. New Francophiles tend to be down to earth, egalitarian, and consensus-driven, by far the most liberal people on the continent.

8.       El Norte is the oldest nation, excepting First Nations, on the continent.  Founded by Spanish conquistadors, this area supports democratic reform, and revolutionary sentiment, they are independent, self-sufficient, adaptable, and work-centered. El Norte is comprised of the northern states of Mexico, SW CA, southern AZ, and TX and the central part of NW up into southern CO.

9.       The Left Coast is essentially the coastal areas of CA, WA, OR.  This area was settled by Yankeedom and consequently shares many of the same qualities as that nation, with the addition of believing in personal fulfillment.

10.   The Far West was largely founded by corporations. Basically, this area would not have been settled if corporate interests hadn’t come in and settled it, due to the extreme inhospitableness of the region, being mostly desert. N AZ, NM, CO, NV, UT, WY, MT, ID, Eastern CA, WA, OR, Western N and SD up into Canadian provinces BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and AK. Basically, these are regions that are not suitable for farming, and are only sometimes suitable for ranching, due to the harshness of the environment making it difficult to grow. So mining took place, oil drilling, and government programs in the forms of military bases and research. Which is interesting, because generally speaking, people in the Far West have a libertarian bent which disdains government.

11.   The First Nations is the extreme north of Canada and has full independence from European cultures, being run and in the hands of Native American tribes in Canada.

Now, this was an interesting premise, and Woodard gave a brief rundown of history on the north American continent, largely removing the left/right dichotomy of modern politics and retelling the story through the lens of these different nations and how their shifting beliefs and values. But I noticed something quite interesting while reading it, and actually had to look of Colin Woodard on Wikipedia to see if I was right…turns out he’s a Yankee.  And this bias becomes really obvious reading the book, as basically everything good comes from Yankeedom and the Left Coast, with nods of approval for the Midlands and el Norte, while the Tidewaters, Deep South, and Appalachians are derided for all the bad that came out of those regions, with no acknowledgement that any possible GOOD can come from these regions. And I’m pretty sure he HATES the Far West for our support of corporate interests over Federal interests.  As a Far Westerner, I just gotta say, I am a Cyberpunk girl, living in a Cyberpunk world…meaning my corporations own your federal government Yankee.

So, I’m not sure I liked this one. I think the retelling of history with emphasis on specific regional responses added nuance to history that is frequently buried under Democrat This and Republican That partisanship. But like I said, his Yankee was showing…no giggity…that is not a Quagmire sex reference.  His preferences were stated with implicit bias throughout the last section. But I do think he made interesting points, and I think I even buy his premise.  But there’s a lot of surface to the idea, which the author barely scratched.