During the Civil War, or “the War of Northern Aggression” or “the War Between the States” as some Southerners deemed it, Johnny Reb would call Union soldiers “Yankee” or “Bluebelly.” Bluebelly was used for the Union blue uniforms, and as a reworking of the term “yellow-belly” (coward). I’m not sure why Yankee was used solely for Union forces, since the term as a nickname was used generally as a derogatory term for all British colonials in North America.

Yankee was used first (1755) to make fun of New England colonial militia by the British Regular Army during the French and Indian War (7 Years War) in the tune “Yankee Doodle Dandy” by British Army Surgeon Dr Richard Shuckburgh. The song mocked the colonial troops as bumbling peasants trying to put on airs of nobility, or by stepping outside of their class. “Doodle” may have been a slang term in that day for “penis.” A “dandy” is a fop or a foolish person. Macaroni refers to a prestigious and private British club of its day that had a great deal of influence on fashion. Young men of wealth who traveled the continent of Europe saw macaroni as an exotic dish (at that time). Macaroni began to be a term of style and excellence, hence the name of the club. To call something “Macaroni” was to declare something exotic, fashionable, to be desired, and having the approval of the Macaroni Club. This explains the mockery of the Yankee Doodle Dandy who “stuck a feather in his cap and called it [the cap] Macaroni.” It was a very popular term and tune that was modified by both sides several times up until the latter days of the Revolutionary War, when the dandies, though not technically winning the battles, began winning the war (with the aid of the French and Spanish). American rebels took the intended insult and reworked it as a badge of honor. The current version of the song was rewritten by a Minuteman named Edward Bangs, later a Harvard graduate, in 1776. Some historians believe that the Flemish (Dutch-speaking Belgians) first coined the term to make fun of the Dutch, calling them “Jan Kaas” (John Cheese), which the Dutch in turn used to belittle the English as “Janke” (Little John). After the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the term “Yankee” was shortened to “Yank” and has been used by the English to refer solely to citizens of the US.

After the American Civil War, and largely due to the harsh policies of the Reconstruction, “Yankees” were Persona Non Grata in the South, slightly more tolerated than the utterly despised “Carpetbaggers” of the Reconstruction Period. Carpetbagger was a term that originated about 1830 for traveling men, seeking their fortunes and carrying all of their worldly goods in a cheap handled bag, or piece of luggage, made of carpet material. During Reconstruction, a carpetbagger was a Northern opportunist who moved South to exploit (or cheat) the local inhabitants. “Carpetbagger” began to become a term less aimed at one’s alliance in the war, but rather to a person who was an opportunist (usually for economic or political gain) from outside the local area (a stranger or Yankee) and in the most negative sense… one step below pimps and rapists and two steps below freed slaves.

Today, “Yankee” refers to anyone from the “North” (Union) or Northern States (North of the Mason-Dixon line that divides MD & PA & DE), regardless of how they were allied in the Civil War. For example: West Virginia split from Virginia in 1863, is considered to be Southern, but was part of the Union. The border states, Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware, all Southern states, did not join the Confederate government, and were distrusted by Lincoln’s administration as they had economic and political ties to both North and South. They had slavery, and had recruiters that raised forces that fought on both sides. Missouri started out a Union border state, and neutral, but when the federal government invaded, the state changed sides. Most Kentuckians, though in the Union, consider themselves Southern, while Missourians have mixed views. Maryland, though South of the Mason-Dixon line, and viewed itself as Southern, was a strong and vitally important member of the Union.

At least one Union state was of supreme importance in the slave trade, as well as in the Union’s naval, manpower, and industrial needs. Rhode Island, a state whose number 1 financial activity from 1720 to 1807 was slavery. Though Rhode Island passed an act to abolish slavery in the state in 1792, this did not prevent wealthy citizen merchants from engaging in the trade outside of the state. Rhode Island was a heavy producer of rum and needed the triangle trade to keep costs down and maintain profits. Despite this history of slavery, few would characterize RI as a slave state, or having Southern sympathies. RI successfully made the financial transition from a slave economy to a whaling and industrial economy, as well as the moral transition, from slavery to abolition, long before the Civil War. The last slave in RI was James Howland, who was freed in 1792, and died a freeman at the age of 100 in 1859, 2 years before the Civil War began.

In some Southern states today, particularly Texas, some Northerners (regardless of being Yankee or not) are referred to as “Snow Birds.” There are a few uses for this term. (1) Most prominently a snowbird is a retiree from a Northern state, who moves South to enjoy the low cost of living and milder weather. (2) A snowbird, in a generally likeable sense, can also be a Northerner who vacations in the South during the colder months to enjoy the warmer weather. (3) The most odious usage of the term is for those who detest the hard costs of living in their own states, move to Southern states for the economic benefits, and then work hard to change the laws in their new states to match the laws and welfare mentality of the hellhole locations they just fled from.

Any one? Any one? Hope this helps.

…but still not getting 30 secs of co-comment promo at the end of the vid…or maybe I do…

You are SO much better and enduring than a temporary Sponsor…it’s YOU Marina – you will be around after they have had their moment in the sun…

I feel it – know it…notice the date here…and the future will tell…

…but then again, I could be wrong…

By the way, there are too good words to investigate: sophisticated and snob.

lostforwords