LOL! Occurred to me also, reading the book. According to Woodard, the westward expansion of Tidewater was cut off by the burgeoning Scots-Irish Appalachian population. I sort of have a foot in each camp, Tidewater and Greater Appalachia. One thing he notes is that immigrants from different areas or countries, Germans into Appalachia, for example, tended to adopt the mores of the region into which they migrated. I agree that this is generally true...
Interesting point about Germans adopting the culture of Scots-Irish.
A few years ago, a fascinating book came out called "Born Fighting," by Jim Webb. You may remember him as a Reagan Republican turned conservative Democrat who mounted a short-lived presidential campaign last year.
Anyway, it's an honest, warts-and-all depiction of the strongest culture going.
They're very bottom-up. Anybody can be the chief, but you have to earn it. And if you fail to maintain the trust of the tribe, they'll boot you. They'll assimilate just about anybody,
provided the newcomer works hard, doesn't ask anybody for anything, and is willing to band together with the tribe to provide a common defense against threats. The church is very important, but it too is bottom-up....as in Scottish Presbyterianism vs the top-down English Episcopalianism (which of course came from Roman Catholicism -- about the most top-down, hierarchical organization on the planet).
The warts are that they make mules look agreeable, they hold grudges to the grave, and to their own detriment, they have been exceedingly slow to recognize the value of formal education.
The History Channel made a mini-series out of it, but the execution wasn't up to their normal standards. The book is infinitely better.
