Things I want to know about the US (but was afraid to ask!)

Roberta, yep Europe, ancient & modern it certainly is.

The village my mother came from has a big old Norman Castle & a Big Old Norman Church dating from the 12th century AD. It's historicaly quaint in a tour bus sorta way. Buttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

As I walk the city street
I like to feel beneath my feet
What I consider is very neat
A layer of super thick concrete

I know Setanta can elaborate on this but there are various reasons for this and it depends in part on who owned the land before it became a state. For the original 13 colonies, these were various territories under different rules (Rhode Island, for example, was a place of religious tolerance whereas Pennsylvania was Quaker and Massachusetts was Puritan). Delaware's Northern border was decided by a lawsuit which was decided not too long before the Revolution. Texas was a separate country before becoming a part of the US. Etc.

Populations vary because, of course, of where people want to live, but I know that for a while there (I don't know if this was ever changed) statehood depended upon population. California became a state fairly quickly because, during the Gold Rush (1849 and a few years beyond that), the population swelled to 1 million.

Borders (aside from Delaware's Northern border, which was a compass arc drawn on a map) tend to depend upon either natural boundaries or straight line-type surveying, so far as I can tell. Hence Texas is bordered by the Rio Grande but Kansas is nearly a rectangle. But a lot of the borders are wacky. Back to Delaware again, there is frontage on the Delmarva peninsula that belongs to Delaware, but also some that belongs to Maryland and some that belongs to Virginia (hence the name, Delmarva). The Delaware portion is separate from the rest of the state of Delaware. And Michigan - what's up with that? Lake Michigan bisects the state so it's divided into Upper and Lower Michigan, which just looks odd (my apologies to any Michiganders out there).

Because of geographic borders (wiggles) like rivers and land contours and the straight lines are just agreed upon. The states didn't all become states at once - America was settled from the East coast downward and then to the West over a long period of time. California and Alaska didn't get many people until the gold rush. Because of the somewhat halphazard distribution of people and the timing - groups petitioned to become states and were granted statehood at different times. I think this mostly what accounts for differences in size/area.

note: there was a lot of controversy over Utah becoming a state and allowing women to vote in Utah because it was settled mostly by mormons who were polygamous at the time.

To compensate for this, we have two houses in congress - the house and the senate. The house gets a number of delegates per state based on population size, and the senate gets two delegates from every state, regardless of size.

In addition to what others have said, I'd guess it's prolly about the same reason your counties are of varying sizes and populations and have squiggly line borders. Poop happens??? lol

GD, the first thirteen states were created from the colonies, which were creations of both the royal governments, and of pragmatic considerations. In Theory, Virginia and Massachusetts (the first two) claimed all the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This was ludicrous in practice, for reasons which ought to be obvious. Part of the settlement of issue which lead to the constitution and the establishment of our current government voided any such claims.

Rhode Island and Connecticutt were both formed from those fleeing the strictures of Massachusetts and its established chruch, although the same establishment was later formed in Connecticutt. New Hampshire was originally the Hampshire Grants, which were a political "buy-off." New York and New Jersey were formed from the territory conquered from Holland at the end of the Anglo-Dutch War in the 17th Century. Pennsylvania (literally, Penn's Woods), was a grant by Charles II to William Penn, son of Admiral Charles Penn, who had supported the King's father in the Civil Wars. Maryland was a grant to Lord Baltimore and the English Catholics, who had sheltered the King, and smuggled him out of England after the debacle at Worcester in 1651. Virginia was the oldest colony, as mentioned above, and the Carolinas were so named in honor of King Charles--many French Huegonots (sp?) and Scots-Irish settled in those colonies. Georgia, obviously named for King George, was originally conceived by Oglethorpe as a penal colony, but the land was too valuable, and that colony quickly resembled the others.

Vermont, the Green Mountains, was a pragmatic consideration. It became a state after the revolution, and ended bitter rivalry between New York and New Hampshire, and the settlers in that region. Maine was a "province" of Massachusetts, but the pragmatic considerations won the day, and it became a state. Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin were all parts of the old Northwest Territory. Kentucky and Tennessee were largely settled from Virginia and the Carolinas, and, after the Creek Wars (at the same time as the War of 1812--Americans claimed, nor unreasonably, that the British had stirred the Indians up against the Americans as part of the war plan), Alabama, Mississippi and Florida were settled.

I won't go on and on about the rest of the states, but mostly, they were created haphazardly. When a territory applied for admission to the Union, they usually had not settled all of their territory, so their borders would be determined by the Congress, which results in the long, straight borders you mentioned, which usually occur west of the Mississippi. We stole most of the Southwest and California from the Mexicans in the 1840's, and the Northwest resulted from literally generations of haggling with England and Russia. We bought Alaska from the Russians (just as much of the west was purchased from Nappy in the Louisiana Purchase), and we more or less convinced the Brits of our proximate national interest in the Sandwich Islands, now Hawaii.

That's a hell of a question, although i doubt you realized it when you asked.

Intra state info:

http://www.fairvote.org/redistricting/gerrymandering.htm

Ceili -- Yikes... but I believe it.

Simple answer to #13) Each line on each border has a story, often as simple as a river runs through it. Others were drawn lines on maps, all plotted out, which is why surveyors became important.



There were also some strange divisions based on the Civil War. States were admitted in pairs, with hastily drawn up boundaries during the anti-slavery period. All v. confusing and political as people in a territory banded together and petition the United States.

So it's for a whole variety of reasons: political, religious, military and geographical. The main source of my confusion was that I had (somewhat naively) thought they had come into existance at roughly the same time, and therefore some logical system could have been used to chop the land up into equal parts, which would have made administrating them alot easier.

I have no real idea how the British counties came to be the shapes they are. Some are only 20-30 years old, some are hundreds of years old, and the government chops some of them about every now and again. The counties here have no real power or distinguishing features, other than minor differences in bye-laws. Oh, and the cricket teams. They tend to be named after one of the cities in them, so I guess they took on their shapes according to the influence of the nearest cities.

Thanks again to everyone for all the info.

14) Why is the Baseball World Series called the World Series, when the teams all appear to be American? Could a British team join in, for example?

15) Does everyone take their shopping (groceries) home in paper bags without handles? Does anyone use plastic bags with handles? Would handles make them easier to carry?

14. An early example of American self-centeredness. Sorry, but I think a team from Cuba or the Dominican Republic may beat the Brits to a real Fall Classic.

15. "Paper or plastic?" is a standard query in American markets (where others still do the bagging; self-checkout is a fast-rising trend). I have been a plastic bag (yes, they have handles) convert for years now; they have a second obligation as bathroom refuse liners in my house.

Probably. England get beaten at cricket (a game we invented) by Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and in fact most other countries that play it. Apart from Canada & Scotland (but it's just a matter of time)... In theory, however, could a non-US team enter?



Like I said in my opening post, all my misconceptions come from TV & films. I don't remember seeing anyone using plastic bags on TV. I suppose the paper ones are a lot more environmentally friendly however. Bizarrely, the major supermaket chains here have started offering the bagging service in recent years. I always refuse and pack my own. What else is there to do while it's being rang-in on the till? Maybe the bag-packers would be better employed doing something useful like re-stocking the shelves or returning the trolleys from the car-park. Or they could sack them all and knock a few pennies of the bill for the wages they've saved? Old people or the disbabled are the only ones who should have their bags packed for them.

14. In the US, the professional baseball teams are either "American League" or National League" and the World Series pits one against the other. The major difference between the two leagues is one does not allow Designated Hitters (DH) -- a position which does not play on the field and does replace the pitcher in the line-up. This website lists the team affiliations. In theory, a team from another country (besides Canada who has the Toronto Blue Jays, the Montreal Expos) could become affiliated, but they'd have to be close enough to make regular playing dates feasible -- that was the big argument against a Japanese team. Puerto Rico might be the first in the Caribbean. I don't know about Mexico. All it takes is money... lots of money.


15. "Is plastic OK?" Most grocery stores "push" their plastic bags because they are less costly and take up less storage room. Conversely, a fancier grocery just bags things in extra-nice paper bags and only uses plastic for potentially wet things. Someone who wants paper bags may have to specifically ask for them. You never see white bags anymore though.

I often ask for paper bags because they are useful -- they also hold more and are sturdier and keep the groceries from getting jostled. I have in order to recycle waste paper as specified by my garbage service rules -- usually 4 every two weeks. They are handy around the house... fruit will ripen in a paper sack and rot in a plastic bag. Sometimes, if it is raining, a nice store will open a paper bag into a plastic bag and then pack your groceries, which is the best of both worlds since stuff in plastic bags tends to roll to the center and get squished.

There is two-fold reason that many stores want to pack groceries: first, they can get people to move along and secondly they can be sure that nothing is put inside the bags without being paid for. At a very few places packing & carrying out groceries was done for tips but that is no longer common. One of the grocery stores I frequent uses four mentally disabled people from a group home nearby, but they have to be carefully supervised by the clerks & their fellow carry-outs who are generally retirees or high school students.

Paper bags are almost unheard of here now. Smaller paper bags sure, and flat paper bags for flowers, but even hard ware stores put everything in plastic. I think there are a few specialty store who offer paper but I can't remember the last time I saw them in a grocery store. It's cheaper, takes less space and they are recycleble.

Where I live in northern California the paper bags are often light in weight, and not very sturdy. Only one very good grocery store has regular thick brown paper bags. The plastic bags also seem to vary in thickness and can tear with cartons of milk, for example.

My favorite option is available randomly at my Co-op; they'll pack (or you can, I always do it, they know me) your items into the boxes their store goods came in. At this particular market there aren't great masses of items along a lot of aisles; it is a small, cramped store with lots of different things and the boxes are often a handy small size. Your chance of choosing boxes varies with their shelf stocking timing.

That's right, Osso, different grades of paper and plastic, for sure, but boxes are the best. I like to pack my stuff in boxes, too, when it's available. None of the standard grocery stores do that anymore. Trader Joe's will, sometimes, and there's a Cash and Carry that does (Do you know that store? It's an outlet for restaurants here.). Of course, Costco doesn't have either paper or plastic -- only boxes. When I'm shopping there, I pick up handy-sized boxes as I go along.

Ceili -- Isn't it odd? You'd think, in Canada, with all the forestry there, you'd have a lot of paper products.

We have dairy products delivered so I don't have to bag that up. Does anybody else do that? It's cheaper than the carton milk at the grocery and a great time-saver. I was chatting with my milkman about it last week -- he's been delivering milk to us for 13 years. He even puts it in the outside refrigerator and moves the old stuff to the front.

I only use cotton bags (and that's, what many other Germans do as well).

That's good, Walter. I had a cotton bag and I ended up using it to bring things back and forth to work. I would need more than one anyway. A good idea, but it involves an initial investment I haven't made, as buying three (for example) has stopped me from doing it so far.

The forrest industry may have lost grocery chains as clients but I'm sure the computer industry has taken up the slack. lol

New York City
I've taken to using a cotton bag for one-stop shopping, just like my European customers, but for the Sunday morning exstravanza shop for the week's groceries, they are delivered by cart in boxes and plastic bags.

Yep, Ceili, ... instead of turning us into a "paperless" society as advertised! I just printed six pages of paper for a "paperless ticket." What's that all about?

Cotton bags are a good idea and I used to have four that I bought with the Safeway logo. (Whatever happened to them I wonder? I don't think they sell them anymore either. They were kind of cheap and eventually tore.) The deal was the store would even take five cents off the bill for every bag (cotton or paper, that we reused). The clerks grumbled about them though, I don't know why. I still use a couple of sturdier cotton bags when I shop at a Farmer's market, but they otherwise do double duty: one transports my shopping notes, library books and "stuff" while the other ferries Mr.P's lunch & coffee back and forth since his briefcase won't hold it all. The best cotton bags have really good handles that support the weight at the bottom -- L.L. Bean sets the gold standard for good cotton bags in this country:

Ooooooh, nice!