The Historiest and Most Influential Region in the U.S.

[EarlJam]

Okay folks, break out your history books.

Combining History itself (e.g., famous events, birthplaces of famous people, etc.) with Influencers (e.g., geographical importance, repercussions of those famous events, etc.), which of the following nine divisions listed by the United States Census Bureau would you say can boast as being the most Historinfluential?

For example, it's not just the AMOUNT of history, it's the importance of it. Most Americans, including myself, know little about the history of Hawaii, but of the few things I know, Pearl Harbor stands out, and that is a HUGE one, obviously, when it comes to influence.

U.S. Map.JPG (11.88 KiB) Viewed 338 times

Discuss.

-EarlJam

[CathyCA]

The South Atlantic States have produced the most Presidents: (and by "produced," I mean "birthed")

Virginia: (8)
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
Woodrow Wilson

North Carolina: (3)
Andrew Jackson (could have been South Carolina, but it's still in the South Atlantic region)
James Polk
Andrew Johnson

Georgia: (1)
Jimmy Carter


Washington, D.C. is located in the South Atlantic region, and a lot of history stuff happened there.

Kitty Hawk and Cape Canaveral are in the South Atlantic region, and a lot of aviation history happened in those two places.

We have Roanoke Island, Jamestown, St. Augustine, Charleston, Savannah.

Probably most of the Civil War was fought in the south. It seems like everywhere I go here, I see signs commemorating a battlefield. Or, maybe we have more people who put up signs than in other regions. (There is a Civil War fort underneath the Golden Gate Bridge in SF--the only Civil War site I know about in California.)

Finally, Disney World is in the South Atlantic region. Therefore, the South Atlantic region wins.

[wilson]

This is a toughie. Need to ponder.

[DukeUsul]

Clearly New England - because that's where I was born, and just wait to see what I'm gonna do.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Easily the South Atlantic...if for no other reason than the civil war. They lost, the carpetbaggers came along, Reconstruction progressed, industry moved in, and Coke took over the world.

[Very Duke Blue]

I went to high school just outside of Richmond. There are so many civil war attractions in the area. Our history classes were interesting. We went to the Confederate Museum, the battle fields, Williiamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown and so on. Bud and I still go back once in awhile. My grandfather joined KKK (I'm not proud of that). He didn't stay in it very long. My family there is still "fighting" the civil war. I'm not pround of that either. My dad, born in Durham, moved to Richomond when he was 6 years old. He was in the Navy for 33 1/2 years. He did not raise my brother and me with the Richmond attitude. My brother still lives there. He most defintely has the attitude. Not good.

I voted for our region.

[cl15876]

I also voted the #5. South Atlantic regions also, for all of the historical notes already presented.

[DukeUsul]

What about the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Tea Party (the real one!). The invention of BASKETBALL!!!

Come on BD --- back me up!

[wilson]

What about the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Tea Party (the real one!). The invention of BASKETBALL!!!

Come on BD --- back me up!

I'm leaning this way too, but still mulling. This is a decidedly more complex question for me than for most.

[DukeUsul]

What about the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Tea Party (the real one!). The invention of BASKETBALL!!!

Come on BD --- back me up!

I'm leaning this way too, but still mulling. This is a decidedly more complex question for me than for most.

I find it interesting that you are debating - especially considering your expertise in the history of the Southeastern US.

[bjornolf]

Between DC, Maryland, and Virginia, it's pretty hard not to argue the South Atlantic. Plus the first shots of the civil war were fired at Sumter in SC. Also, didn't Cornwallis surrender to Washington in Virginia? Not only are all those presidents from the South Atlantic, but General Robert E. Lee was from Virginia, and the capital of the Confederacy was in Richmond. First permanent settlement at Jamestown, VA, right? The Star Spangled Banner was written in Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. You've also got the vote dispute in Florida from a decade back.

Plus, Coach K won three national titles for Duke, which is in this region! ;) All the history of CIS alone should tip the tide!

I know there's more, but I can't think of it off the top of my head. ?



PS- It seems like an odd breakdown of states. Every place I've seen the "Mid-Atlantic" region described, it includes D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. Done like that, it'd be hard NOT to argue the Mid-Atlantic, since New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia/DC/Maryland are all hotbeds of history.

[bjornolf]

Oh, and in the CIvil War, you can't forget Sherman's march across Georgia. And Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own men in Virginia.

[EarlJam]

What about the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Tea Party (the real one!). The invention of BASKETBALL!!!

Come on BD --- back me up!

I'm leaning this way too, but still mulling. This is a decidedly more complex question for me than for most.

I find it interesting that you are debating - especially considering your expertise in the history of the Southeastern US.

Remember, this is not just about history; it's also about influence and how those events changed the U.S. on the world stage. For instance, New Mexico deserves strong consideration, as that was (I believe) where the first atomic bomb was developed. New Mexico was the epicenter of what would become the atomic bomb then the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then the end of WWII, then the Cold War, and so on and so on and so on.

Not saying New Mexico's region should get the vote, I don't think it should, just adding my two cents.

-EarlJam

[Lavabe]

What about the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Two great towns known for their barbecue. ;)

[DukeUsul]

What about the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Two great towns known for their barbecue. ;)

We need more yankees on this board to make this a fair vote..... ;-)

[DukeUsul]

What about the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Two great towns known for their barbecue. ;)

We need more yankees on this board to make this a fair vote..... ;-)

The Census regions may be a bit unfair to this poll, considering the amount of area covered by regions like the South Atlantic and the number of major cities contained therein. I'm just sayin.

[Lavabe]

The South Atlantic States have produced the most Presidents: (and by "produced," I mean "birthed")

Virginia: (8)
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
Woodrow Wilson

North Carolina: (3)
Andrew Jackson (could have been South Carolina, but it's still in the South Atlantic region)
James Polk
Andrew Johnson

Georgia: (1)
Jimmy Carter

Yeah, but WH Harrison served for like how many days? Even Ford served more days than Tippecanoe.
And Taylor? He died some 16 months into his term.

There was a fairly important President born in Kentucky. I think he beats Madison, Monroe, Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, and WoodrowWilson COMBINED.

Kentucky is EAST SOUTH CENTRAL? Where'd you come up with THAT? It has more affinities with Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois than it does with Alabama and Mississippi.

And where does future president Shane Battier come from?

[wilson]

Every place I've seen the "Mid-Atlantic" region described, it includes D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. Done like that, it'd be hard NOT to argue the Mid-Atlantic, since New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia/DC/Maryland are all hotbeds of history.

From an historical perspective, this is not an accurate representation of the Mid-Atlantic states (or the "Middle Colonies," in early American historical parlance). Never would Virginia and Maryland be included with the Mid-Atlantic. Their plantation-based economy, slavery, and agrarian bent distinguished them considerably from the Middle Colonies/States, which did have a good bit of commercial agriculture, but also included large, cosmopolitan cities (including two of the "big three"--Philly & NYC, the third being Boston). The Chesapeake tidewater had no notable cities to speak of for essentially the entirety of the colonial period (even Williamsburg, while a seat of government and hearth of revolution, existed primarily as a designated administrative center, rather than an organically developing hive of activity), and a century later, it naturally sided with the Confederacy. The Middle Colonies have long been advanced as an early example of inclusiveness and diversity (so much diversity, in fact, that a vocal cadre of historians has claimed for some time that the very existence of the "Middle Colonies" as a discernible unit is a myth).

[DukeUsul]

Another point for New England: The Ivies and their hordes of graduates including many many presidents. Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown plus MIT. That's a lot of influence. Four of the seven sisters plus all the "little ivies."

Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Longfellow, Dickinson, Poe, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Updike, Robert Frost, Stephen King (born in or wrote works living in NE)

The birth of the US industrial revolution in the textile mills of New England.

The Revolution and the fathers and mothers of our country.

New England was a very early leader in the abolitionist movement.

Eight presidents.

ESPN

Lobster, clam chowdah, baked beans, clam bakes, maple syrup

Invention of basketball and volleyball

The Red Sox

Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams), Dunkin Donuts, Ocean Spray, Ben and Jerry's

[wilson]

I went with the South Atlantic, because as the first region of permanent settlement and commercial colonization, I believe it to have exerted profound influence on the contemporary character of the American people (this is an expression of some of my most broadly conceived notions regarding the sweep of American history). As I mentioned in my last post, Williamsburg and environs must also be considered as a heartland of the Revolution. Phrases like "Give me liberty or give me death!" (which Patrick Henry never actually said, but the sentiment remains untarnished) and important concepts of personal property gained strong voice there.
This was a close one, though. New England assuredly was a heartland of the Revolution (not for nothing were the first shots fired there), and the philosophy of the movement developed perhaps more there than in the South; whereas the South was more sparsely populated and marked by more insular, localist sensibilities, New England's cities displayed bustling activity and lively public culture that was crucial in producing critical mass for the Revolution. As (almost) ever, the answer as to which region was more important is, well, some of both, but historians have for a couple of centuries now advanced numerous strong arguments on both sides of that (largely pointless) debate. For my part, I believe that while the South provided angry, self-interested citizens and "boots on the ground" to fuel the Revolution, New England's role in shaping the discourse of revolution can not be overstated.
That said, the South provided numerous key Revolutionary figures, be they political and/or symbolic leaders, thinkers, or military commanders, and that tips the scales for me. By way of one example since I could (nay, have) written numerous pages on the subject, I'll submit Thomas Jefferson. Of obvious political significance as an early president and hero of the republican (small R, big difference) "self-made" man, he also authored the Declaration of Independence, which almost alone among such documents in world history continues to underpin certain legal precedents and philosophical tenets of the American system of government. Added in with other southerners like George Washington (no explanation needed, right?), Jefferson's addition of a philosophical weight to the South's already formidable economic and demographic weight rounds out its profile as the most historically significant in American history. New England, however, is a very close second.