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Iowa is peak midwest. It drops off as you move away from that center. I will postulate that the American midwest is mostly areas settled by Scandinavian immigra

by breput 5y ago

Iowa is peak midwest. It drops off as you move away from that center. I will postulate that the American midwest is mostly areas settled by Scandinavian immigrants with a little bit of German, Polish, and Dutch mixed in, mostly settled in the late 1800s by farmers. My own family was in this group and they were in direct contact with Native Americans, who watered their horses in their troughs. Minnesota - definitely. Wisconsin - definitely. North Dakota - No. Might not actually exist. South Dakota/Nebraska - mostly, but just the eastern quarter. The rest is West. Missouri - Maybe a little bit on the border but mostly no. Iowa fought a war (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_War) to keep Missouri out of the midwest. Illinois - It's complicated. The northwestern corner is but no further than Rockford and nowhere south. Kansas - probably not. It is mostly West. Indiana - No. Ohio - definitely not. Go find your own classification. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Thorrez 5y ago
Hmm, well I'm from Michigan and we always referred to ourselves as part of the midwest. Official we are (along with Indiana and Ohio): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States
- fuzzfactor 5y ago
  Michigan is definitely there. Before 1803, The Mississippi River was the Far West of the contiguous US terrirory. New Orleans & further west still belonged to France. Ohio and Indiana were known as the Midwest since they were about halfway to the Mississippi from the east coast. Part of Kentucky is very close to Ohio & Indiana and the rest were Southern States. Now Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and part of Missouri seem to have snuck in somehow but Dakota, Newbraska and Kansas are highly exaggerating. No doubt Oklahoma and Texas are in The West, with almost all of Texas being part of the Southwest. Midwesterners represent more like a regional/cultural designation than their geographical location, although both features do apply. Western Pennsylvania is not very much like the East Coast either.
bluesquared 5y ago
State lines really do a poor job of dividing regions nicely, like you've indicated. My home state of Ohio, for example, is a good demonstration of a border state. Southeast Ohio is definitely transitional-Appalachia, whereas Northwest Ohio is all flatland cornfields where you'd struggle to differentiate from Iowa. I think your distinction is Upper Midwest vs. the legacy Northwest Territory/"Great Lakes" states. Midwest to outsiders seems to be a catch-all for "not West, not South, but west of the Appalachians" when in reality it's a mix of Great Lakes, Great Plains, and other gradients of other regions.
flyinghamster 5y ago
> Illinois - It's complicated. The northwestern corner is but no further than Rockford and nowhere south. I'd say that anything north of the 618 area code would be very midwest, but once you get roughly south of I-70 the vibe is much more southern. Of course, urban midwest can be very different indeed from rural midwest.
vehemenz 5y ago
If you want to suggest your own version of the Midwest, preface your claims that you are straying from ordinary/conventional usage. If you don't know what the Midwest is, allow me to inform you. Chicago is the center of the Midwest, geographically and culturally. Always has been. Draw a big circle around Chicago, and that's roughly your Midwest states. Another good proxy for the Midwest is to look at the original members of the Big 10 athletic conference. Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, and Minnesota are the Midwestern states. Maybe some of Nebraska and the edge of Kansas and Missouri, but that's as far as it goes.

by breput 5y ago

Thorrez 5y ago

Hmm, well I'm from Michigan and we always referred to ourselves as part of the midwest. Official we are (along with Indiana and Ohio): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States

fuzzfactor 5y ago
Michigan is definitely there. Before 1803, The Mississippi River was the Far West of the contiguous US terrirory. New Orleans & further west still belonged to France. Ohio and Indiana were known as the Midwest since they were about halfway to the Mississippi from the east coast. Part of Kentucky is very close to Ohio & Indiana and the rest were Southern States. Now Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and part of Missouri seem to have snuck in somehow but Dakota, Newbraska and Kansas are highly exaggerating. No doubt Oklahoma and Texas are in The West, with almost all of Texas being part of the Southwest. Midwesterners represent more like a regional/cultural designation than their geographical location, although both features do apply. Western Pennsylvania is not very much like the East Coast either.

bluesquared 5y ago

State lines really do a poor job of dividing regions nicely, like you've indicated. My home state of Ohio, for example, is a good demonstration of a border state. Southeast Ohio is definitely transitional-Appalachia, whereas Northwest Ohio is all flatland cornfields where you'd struggle to differentiate from Iowa. I think your distinction is Upper Midwest vs. the legacy Northwest Territory/"Great Lakes" states. Midwest to outsiders seems to be a catch-all for "not West, not South, but west of the Appalachians" when in reality it's a mix of Great Lakes, Great Plains, and other gradients of other regions.

flyinghamster 5y ago

> Illinois - It's complicated. The northwestern corner is but no further than Rockford and nowhere south. I'd say that anything north of the 618 area code would be very midwest, but once you get roughly south of I-70 the vibe is much more southern. Of course, urban midwest can be very different indeed from rural midwest.

vehemenz 5y ago

If you want to suggest your own version of the Midwest, preface your claims that you are straying from ordinary/conventional usage. If you don't know what the Midwest is, allow me to inform you. Chicago is the center of the Midwest, geographically and culturally. Always has been. Draw a big circle around Chicago, and that's roughly your Midwest states. Another good proxy for the Midwest is to look at the original members of the Big 10 athletic conference. Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, and Minnesota are the Midwestern states. Maybe some of Nebraska and the edge of Kansas and Missouri, but that's as far as it goes.