Accents and History

Mind you, folks, I am no scholar on this subject of regional accents but as a resident of Ohio and a descendant of the early Western Reserve Connecticut settlers I speak from experience. Here is link: http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Connecticut_Western_Reserve Northern Ohioans speak with an almost regional-less accent. In fact, many become broadcasters just because they are understandable by all regions of the U.S. I grew up in the Firelands area of the Western Reserve. A lovely area but extremely turbulent for the early settlers. Now Southern Ohioans have a distinct accent popularized most notably by the Jimmy Dean Sausage commercials "Down on the Farm." These two particular accents are a direct result of the western movement of the survivors of the Revolutionary War who wanted to get land of their own. Southern Ohio (south of Columbus) was settled by folks from Virginia. Northern Ohio was settled by Connecticut folks. In the case of Northern Ohio, particularly in the case of the Firelands, those settlers were survivors of the notorious British burnings of Connecticut towns during the Revolutionary War. So today, if you happen to look at the names of the towns in the Ohio Western Reserve, you will see many Connecticut town names echoed. Connecticut gave land grants to its soldiers and to the survivors of the burned out towns in this "Western Reserve" area. Talk about your government swindles. Not only were the folks displaced from their homes in Connecticut, when they got to Northern Ohio, they discovered they had to fight again for their land to get it from the native Indians they had to displace. See this site to the Indian Wars of Ohio. http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Northwest_Indian_War In particular, search for the term Blue Jacket. Sigh. Men are born and die but corruption lives forever.