Yankee

The term Yankee has a variety of meanings. Generally, it refers to citizens of the United States, particularly those Americans from the U.S. Northeast.

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Origins

The origin of the term is disputed. Widely held theories claim that it originated from the Dutch in old New Amsterdam (today known as New York) in the Mid-Atlantic States. It then was adopted by the British as a pejorative for (Northern) colonists. The origin was likely to be either the phrase Jan Kees ("John Cornelius") (two very common dutch names), which the English speaking people picked up as "yankees", a word they used to refer to the Dutch.

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Another theory (deprecated by most authorities) holds that it originated among a group of Indians on the eastern seaboard of North America. They were unable to pronounce the word "English", rendering it as "yengis" or "yengeese." This later became simplified to "Yankees". This theory is not widely held, since convincing records of the tribe and their mispronunciation of English have not been produced.

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Alternatively, Indians who first learned of the English from the French may have borrowed the French name "Anglais" and rendered it as something that approximated "Yankee" in their own phonetic system. One contact area in which French, French-allied Indians, and British-descended Americans would have come into contact was the area of frontier warfare conducted during the French and Indian War of the 1760s. This is more or less consistent with the areas in which other derivations of the word would postulate its first use. If this is the origin of the term Yankee, it may originally have had a pejorative, anti-American connotation similar to that of gringo, becoming transformed by being adopted as a matter of pride by British-descended Americans who had fought on the frontier during the French and Indian War. In the absence of records, however, this is purely a matter of speculation.

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There are several other folk and humorous etymologies for the word.

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One influence on the use of the term throughout the years has been the song Yankee Doodle, which was popular at the time of the American War for Independence. Though the British intended to insult the colonials with the song, following the Battle of Concord, it was adopted by Americans as a proud retort.

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An early use of the term outside the U.S. was in the creation of Sam Slick, the "Yankee Clockmaker," in a column in a newspaper in Halifax, Canada in 1835. The character was a plain-talking American who served to mock both Canadian and American customs of that era. The stories were published in a book titled The Clockmaker, in 1836. The book was popular in Canada, the U.S., and the United Kingdom.

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The American Civil War

The use of the term was highly significant in the context of the American Civil War. It was used to refer to the soldiers and residents of the northern United States including the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and New England states. The term also referred to other border-states and African-American troops who fought for the Union.

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United States: :For other uses, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation)....

U.S. Northeast: REDIRECT Northeastern United States...

Dutch: Dutch usually refers to:...

Yankee related Images and Photos (experimental)

Yankee Dude	Yankee Stadium	Yankee Stadium	Magnificent Yankee, The (DVD)
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Daddy Yankee: Talento De Barrio CD	Daddy Yankee: El Cartel: The Big Boss CD	Yankee Doodle Dandy: Special Edition (Dbl DVD)	Yankee Ship in Pirate Waters