Related thread from a couple years ago: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1486017 http://news.ycombinator.com/item

Related thread from a couple years ago: Did Americans in 1776 have British accents? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1486017 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1486017 And the follow-up: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1489723 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1489723