Why is the Northeast U.S. so different from the Southern U.S.?

They both have their positive points. They both have a lot of natural beauty.

The South has a better climate.
People are friendlier in the South.

The Northeast has all of the historic buildings.
There is more intellectual discussion in the Northeast.

As to why, I think part of it is the climate;s effect on personality. Part of it is the traditions the areas were settled with.

Geography, history and the Civil War (which was caused by geography and history.)

Marinelife….“there is more intellectual discussions in the Northeast”?

Hmmmmmmmmmm…...............there could be a backlash for that comment.

Not all of us hillbillies sit on our duff in a rocking chair on the front porch.

Some of us actually have college degrees from prominent universities like UT and Vanderbilt.

Ehh, they’re not really that different. People have just developed different political views and accents. But the south has just as many historic old cities and huge cities as the north. And for that matter there are liberals in the south and conservatives in the north (they’re just “minorities” to the dominant views). They both have nice people and pricks, intellectuals and idiots, etc, etc, etc.

Having been to both I don’t view them as that different really.

I read this really interesting essay that looked at the first settlers for the Northeast as compared to the first people to settle the South. Basically, the settlers in the Northeast were more educated and had a more reserved culture and lifestyle than the people who first began to populate the South. The original Southerners came from wilder, less educated parts of Europe. Things like work ethic, value of education, sexual attitudes, etc. varied greatly. The point of the essay was to compare Southern culture in general to today’s urban black culture, but it started out comparing New Englanders to Southerners. The comparisons were more stark because they were based on people as they were a couple hundred years ago, when they were even more different than they are today. The essay is called “Black Rednecks and White Liberals if anyone is interested in reading it. It was really interesting.

Surface differences aside, people are people. I moved from the Midwest to New England several years ago, and it was a bit of a culture shock. Now that I’ve been here for a while, I think people are just the same under those superficial differences.

Having lived in both for a significant amount of time, I do agree that the people who live in each are quite different (and yes, this is a generalization and I know individuals are the same all over etc etc). Without going into a doctoral thesis, I’ll just say that I think the biggest influences are the differences in population density, ethnic makeup, cultural/ethnic history as @MissAusten has described, weather (think about it), and economic drivers (what are the biggest industries?). Think about how each of these would affect your daily behavior toward your family and neighbors.

Oh, and I prefer living in the South, but I was born here and spent my early upbringing here so maybe it’s just comfort with the familiar. I also don’t like very densely populated areas. I have a sister who has happily spent most of her life in New Hampshire, so I know YMMV.

I see no difference. Except for the weather.
What we see is stereotyping that people feel the need to put on it. And, the people that feel the need to be different, exploit that stereotyping.

To boot. The south is full of “northerners” and the north is full of “southerners”.

@john65pennington Did not mean to cast intellectual aspersions upon the denizens of the South who are numerically very strong in leadership (presidents. generals, astronauts).

It is simply a matter of discussing things. I have not experienced people in large social gatherings in the south discussing the politics of the day, racism, sexism, or other intellectual topics which are chewed over regularly in the living rooms of the Northeast.

^^^^^^^^ marine, you might just have a point. (;

@marinelife

I think with that last one you kind of hit on what I think is the main difference between the Northeast and South. I as well have lived in both, and have family from both (deep south and hardcore northeast).

I think the main thing is that Southerners are typically polite, and Northeasterners are typically up-front. This accounts in part for the speed at which things happen in both areas (S-slow, NE-fast), the idea that people from the S are more friendly and those in the NE are more rude (people in the S will say “bless your heart” to your face, but you should see what they say behind your back; people in the NE will do all they can to help you out, but if you don’t listen the first time, god help ya), and the whole intellectual discussion thing (politics, racism, etc. are simply not polite dinner discussion, people in the NE don’t have time for your BS. ;-)).

Both are totally valid, of course…I settle in the NE and visit the S because I prefer up front.

@iamthemob Me too.

As a born-and-raised New Englander, I strongly prefer the Northeast out of familiarity.

I find the South’s questionable education system to be a strong enough contrast to be uncomfortable. Most of the Southerners I personally have dealt with are actually intelligent, but it’s more wisdom and cunning than the academic intelligence I am accustomed to; basically culture shock.

I find the South to be too Conservative and religious for my liking, and it’s kind of a bitch disagreeing so strongly with people so nice. Us Yankees are relatively rude (I’ve traveled the world and have yet to find a place where people are ruder (on average) than the Northeastern US) but Southerners do a lot of things that us Yankees find odd, if not outright offensive, like the Butler Act and similar things that have happened since. Honestly, they seem a bit backwards to me in some ways. (I feel the same way about old-fashioned Yankees too, but I’ve run into more Southerners that seem to be living in the past than I have Northerners thinking it’s still 1910, culturally speaking.)

The weather in the South is unbearable to me. Even Seattle is uncomfortable since I am accustomed to thunderstorms in the summer, a few feet of snow (not inches; enough to bury a car) in the winter, and temperatures that can swing from -30F to 98F in the same year. How many people here have scraped hard frost off their windshield in the morning and had to turn on their A/C in the afternoon because it was in the low-80s? The first three months I spent in Orlando resulted in four ER visits for heat exhaustion, and the humidity often made it hard for me to breath.

As for why we are so different, you have to bear in mind that the US is rather big geographically. Look at the cultural differences between various European countries that are closer together than NH and Georgia.