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The word is Yankee Tories: the anglophilic dregs of bygone New England elitists (when all Republicans were Episcopalians) who still pine over the Church of England (the kind who swoon over choirs performing the music from Elizabeth’s coronation— yep, they do that at some churches).

The word, Yankee, derives from the french/indian war with Britain, in which the French “l’anglais” was warped by the Huron in their attempts at “english” into...”yengees, or yang-gees”. Naturally, linguists ignore this because they say it is not from “indian origins”— it isn’t, it’s French/Huron.

The name was picked up along the way by coexisting colonists, who continued to harbor anti-Brit sentiments into our American Revolution and proudly self-identified. Washington being a former tory, became a Revolutionary, and many more like him. The tory loyalists fled the new nation after the Revolution, to places like the Bahamas, and other Brit protectorates. The later conflagration in the South, identified these “connected” brit wannabes in the North as— yankees, and properly so.

Thanks! At least I’m not the only one here who is interested in the history of our country, our forefathers, and our customs.

I appreciate your input! Would you be so kind as to send it to my FReepmail? That way, I can print it and refer to it when the times require. And even include it in my own genealogy!

Thanks again,

‘Face

The pretentiousness is unbearable: "My people came on the Mayflower, so who are you to criticize royalty". As though where you came from and your lineage matters a whit to an American. Ironic that that was my point to begin with.

I remember that in Last of the Mohicans (the 90s version), the evil Indian (can't remember the character) called the English the yeng-eez at one point. I thought they might be claiming that that was the derivation of Yankees, but I have not checked the etymology of that word. I have heard all kinds of silly explanations for Yankee, from Dutch and Cheese and others. None seemed convincing. l'anglais makes more sense than the others I have heard.

Yankees have been pretty independent minded throughout their history, in my opinion. After the revolution, they drove the tories out. They have always believed themselves superior morally to the rest of the country, though, whether it was in their strict calvinism, or their current total abandonment of Christianity. That comes through in a lot of Yankees, no matter what their politics.