Jos Soriano Mors

MG 545

What
do
you
think
of
Woodward's
characterization of America's regions? Do you
find this plausible?
In American Nations, Woodward sets the idea that North America
is formed by 11 different state-nations, which have nothing to do with
the actual state division of the U.S.A.
This division he proposes is based on both cultural and ideological
factors.
It is important to distinguish a State from a Nation, whereas the first
one refers to a political entity, the second one makes reference to a
group of people with a common origin- trusting the same principles,
sharing believes, culture, history, and in many cases even language.
If we can see the difference between this two terms, we will
understand why he makes this particular division.
The eleven nations for Woodward are: Yankee Dom, El Norte,
Netherland, The Left Coast, The Midlands, The Far West, Tidewater,
The First Nation, Greater Appalachia, New France and The Deep
South.
From this text, I get the impression that the American people would
find it hard to agree in major issues political, social, educationaldue to the big differences between the different nations.
Nevertheless, the image that we have in Europe of the U.S.A. is the
one of an integrated country, with a strong patriotic feeling, and a
nation that have been able to left behind all the differences between
its citizens, and keep united by the same rules, culture, language
and symbols. Americans are proud of it, at least that is the feeling
that I have since I am living in this country.
Lastly, Woodwards frontier definition doesnt seem plausible to me,
as long as these boundaries would not be fixed, they would be
changing, according to globalization and the mixture of cultures and
people that is taking place nowadays.