Was Colonial Culture Uniquely American? :: American America History

Was Colonial Culture Uniquely American?There were never, since the creation of the world, two cases on the dot parallel.Lord Chesterfield, in a letter to his son, February 22nd, 1748.Colonial kitchen-gardening was unmatchedly American simply because of the unique factors associated with the development of the colonies. Never before had the conditions that tempered the colonists been seen. The unique blend of diverse environmental factors and peoples caused the development of a variety of cultures that were mostly face, part European, and altogether original.The unique conditions, both cultural and environmental, of each colony produced a unique culture for that colony. And while each colony had its share of groups, the mix of people and their cultures in each colony was not evenly distributed. In nearly colonies there was a high mix of people, while in others one group dominated. These regional differences caused the colonies not to develop one unique culture, but rather a grou p of distinctive cultures, each unique, and each regional.The regional differences and cultures among the colonies can be divided into four basic groups. These groups each dominated a diametrical region, but they werent the only group in their respective region. There were the Puritans of untried England, the Quakers of the middle colonies, the Anglicans of the southern colonies, and the Scots-Irish of the Appalachian backcountry (Madaras & Sorelle, 1995).The culture of New England was one unique to New England. The northern colonies of New England were dominated by the Puritans, and settled primarily for religious reasons. The environment of New England consisted of rocky soil, dense forests, and large numbers of fish (Sarcelle, 1965). The culture that developed in New England was appropriate to such conditions.The soil, being rocky, had to be worked constantly and patiently (Sarcelle, 1965). Patience and persistence were trademarks of Puritan ethics. The lush forests provided fo r a ship building industry , while the fish provided a source of food (Brinkley, 1995). The New Englanders became fishermen, farmers, lumbermen, shipbuilders, and traders (Sarcelle, 1965).To the south of New England were the middle colonies. There the soil was fertile, and the weather more acclimated to solid ground (Sarcelle, 1965). Rivers flowed west toward the frontier, enabling transportation. The middle colonies, as opposed to the relatively Puritan dominated New England, were very diverse in people. A mixture of Dutch, German, Swedes, English and other smaller groups were present in middle colonial cities such as New York (Higginbotham, 1996).