SPANISH, FRENCH AND DUTCH INFLUENCES ON THE UNITED STATES
Jan 18, 2016
SPANISH, FRENCH AND DUTCH
INFLUENCES ON THE UNITED
STATES
Spanish, French and Dutch cultures have all influenced life
and culture in the United States. This has been true in the past and
is true today. This presentation will go over
many of the influences by these 3 nations and how they have
influenced life for people in the United States.
SPANISH INFLUENCES
OUR LANGUAGE
SPANISH PLACE NAMES
THERE ARE THOUSAND’S OF SPANISH PLACE
NAMES IN THE UNITED STATES
FIVE STATES HAVE SPANISH NAMES
1) FLORIDA - this means “flowery”
2) CALIFORNIA - this was the name of a “paradise” in a Spanish novel from the 1500’s
3) NEVADA - this means “snowy” or “snow covered”
4) COLORADO - this means “red colored” or “reddish”
5) MONTANA - the means “mountain” or “mountainous”
THERE ARE MANY, MANY CITIES, TOWNS AND
VILLAGES WITH SPANISH NAMES
1) LOS ANGELES - this means “the angels” or “angels”
2) EL PASO - this means “the pass” or “passage”
3) LAS VEGAS - this means “the meadows” or “meadow”
4) LAS CRUCES - this means “the crosses” or “crosses”
5) FRESNO - this means “ash tree”
6) ALAMO - this means “poplar” or “poplar tree”
7) BOCA RATON - this means “mouse mouth” or “rat mouth”
8) ALCATRAZ - this comes from the word meaning “pelicans”
HERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER SPANISH PLACE NAMES
SANTA BARBARA - saint BarbaraSAN FRANCISCO - saint Francis
SANTA FE - holy faithTRINADAD - trinity
CANAVERAL - canebrakeAMARILLO - yellow
SAN JOSE - saint JosephSAN ANTONIO - saint AnthonySANTA MONICA - saint MonicaSAN DIEGO - saint Didacus
MODESTO - modest
SPANISH WORDS IN OUR
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF SPANISH WORDS THAT WE HAVE AND USE IN OUR ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ALL THE TIME. HERE ARE A FEW OF THEM:ALLIGATOR - meaning “the lizard”ARMADILLO - meaning “little armored one”BONANZA - meaning “fair or calm weather”BURRITO - meaning “little donkey”CANYON - meaning “hollowed area”CARGO - meaning “load”CINCH - meaning “belt”COMRADE - meaning “roommate”MESA - meaning “table”MUSTANG - meaning “stray”PINTO - meaning “painted one”RODEO - meaning “round-up”
HERE ARE SOME OTHER WORDS WE USE EVERYDAY WITHOUT
TRANSLATION:ADOBEALBINOARMADABARRACUDABUCKAROOBRONCOCAFETERIACANARYCHAPSCHILICHOCOLATECOCKROACH
CORRALCOYOTEFAJITAFIESTAFLOTILLAGARBANZOGUERILLAIGUANALASSOLLAMAMAIZEMANATEE
MARIJUANAMATADORMOSQUITONACHOPALAMINOPLAZAQUESADILLARANCHSAVANNASIESTASTAMPEDETOBACCO
TACOTAMALETANGOTOMATOTORTILLATUNAVANILLAVIGILANTEWRANGLERYUCCA….and many, many more
THERE IS A LOT OF SPANISH INFLUENCE IN THE ARCHITECTURE OF
HOMES AND BUILDINGS HERE IN THE UNITED STATES
THE SOLID WHITE
WALLS AND ARCHES
THE RED TILED
ROOFS
HERE ARE SOME OTHER EXAMPLES OF SPANISH INFLUENCE IN BUILDINGS AND
HOMES HERE IN THE UNITED STATES
WROUGHT IRON GATES AND ARCHED
DOORWAYS ARE FROM SPANISH ARCHITECTURE
HERE ARE SEVERAL PICTURES OF THE CURVED RED ROOF TILES WHICH
COME FROM SPAIN. (These tiles really come from the
Middle East. Islamics, called Moors, who invaded Spain and lived there for centuries brought the tiles to Spain. The Spanish continued to use the red
tiles and brought them to the New World.)
SPANISH MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ARE A PART OF OUR LIFE HERE IN
AMERICA. THE GUITAR IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IN OUR POPULAR MUSIC SUCH AS JAZZ,
BLUES AND ROCK AND ROLL. THE ELECTRIC GUITAR IS USED IN
POPULAR MUSIC ALL THE TIME.
SPANISH FOOD IS IMPORTANT THROUGHOUT AMERICA. THEY
INTRODUCED BEEF (HAMBURGERS, STEAKS) INTO
OUR DIET HERE IN AMERICA. THE SPANISH ALSO BROUGHT PIGS
(PORK, BACON), CHICKENS (KENTUCKY FRIED!!!!), SHEEP AND
GOATS TO AMERICA.
FRENCH INFLUENCES ON
AMERICAN CULTURE
FRENCH INFLUENCE IS STRONGEST IN CANADA,
IN THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.
FRENCH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE SPOKEN AND
WRITTEN THERE.
HERE’S QUEBEC
HERE’S A BETTER MAP OF QUEBEC
HERE ARE SOME STREET SIGNS YOU
WOULD SEE IN QUEBEC, CANADA.
FRENCH PLACE NAMES IN OHIO
Auglaize River - means “muddy water”
Bellefountaine, Ohio - means “beautiful fountain”
Belmont county, Ohio - means “beautiful mountain”
Clermont, Fayette, Gallia, Champaign, Lorain counties are all from the French language
OHIO is from a French writing of an Iroquois word meaning “the great” or “the
beautiful”
HERE ARE MANY OTHER FRENCH PLACE NAMES HERE IN THE UNITED STATES
LaPorte, IndianaTerre Haute, IndianaVersailles, IndianaDubois, Indiana
Des Plaines, IllinoisDuPage, IllinoisJoliet, IllinoisLaSalle, Illinois
Louisville, KentuckyParis, KentuckyLaCenter, KentuckyBellefonte, Kentucky
Detroit, MichiganMarquette, MichiganGrand Blanc, MichiganGrosse Isle, Michigan
Louisiana has hundreds of French place names in that state.
Baton Rouge, LouisianaBelle Chase, LouisianaChalmette, LouisianaLafayette, LouisianaLa Place, Louisiana
New Orleans, LouisianaPointe a la Hache, Louisiana
Terrebonne, LouisianaEven the name “Louisiana” is named for
King Louis XIV of France
THERE ARE MANY FRENCH WORDS IN
ENGLISH WE USE ALL THE TIME.
HERE ARE 3 PAGES OF FRENCH WORDS:
a la carte - means “on the menu”
a la mode - means “in the current fashion”
a propos - means “on the subject”
Art nouveau - means “new art”
Au gratin - means “with gratings”
blond(e) - means “fair haired”
brunette - means “dark haired”
carte blanche - means “blank card(check)
chic - means “stylish”
cinema - means “theater or movie”
critique - means “critical judgment”
cuisine - means “food style”
cul de sac - means “dead end street”
déjà vu - means “already seen”
Encore - means “encore”
faux - means “false”
fiance’ - means “engaged person”
hors d’oeurve - means “outside work”
lassiez-faire - means “let it alone”
maitre d’ - means “master of”
Mardi Gras - means “fat Tuesday” (the day before Ash Wednesday)
petite - means “small, short”
protégé - means “protected one”
rouge - means “red”
soiree - means “evening”
souvenir - means “memory or keepsake”
voila - means “there it is”
In St. Genevive, Missouri, there
are a large number of homes from the French colonial times in North America. Here are some
pictures of French colonial
architecture.
THE FRENCH HOMES OFTEN HAVE
LARGE PORCHES THAT ARE ELEVATED.
FRENCH COLONIAL
HOMES WERE OFTEN MADE OF
STONE.
DUTCH INFLUENCE IN THE UNITED
STATES
The Dutch influence on the United States is not
nearly as widespread and in as many areas as the Spanish and French
influences…
…but the influences are still quite
important and worthy of our
notice.
In 1609, this explorer, Henry Hudson, explored the northeast coast of what would become the United States for the country of Holland (the Dutch). He was looking for a Northwest Passage to Asia. He discovered a beautiful harbor (New York harbor) and river (the Hudson River) and claimed them for the Dutch.
These were the areas Hudson explored in 1609 for the Dutch.
This is the Hudson River explored by Henry Hudson.
Hudson explored in this ship called the Half Moon.
The Hudson River is a wide, beautiful river bordered by hills called Palisades, for the river’s first 50 miles or so.
The Dutch built two forts for
its settlers in the
Hudson River
Valley.
One was built on Manhattan Island. It was
called Fort Amsterdam. (This would become the
future site of New York City.
The other fort was built where the Mohawk River flows into the Hudson River. This was called Fort Orange.
(This would become the future site of Albany, New York, the state capital.)
This is a picture of Fort Orange…
…and what some of the early settlers were like.
The Dutch called their colony New Netherlands. The way most of the money was made in the colony was fur trapping.
The colony was under Dutch control from
1624 to 1664. The English, under the Duke of York, captured and controlled the
colony in 1664.
The colony was renamed New York.
SEVERAL PLACE NAMES IN THE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY WERE LEFT BY THE DUTCH
SETTLERS SUCH AS:
1) The Bronx (where Yankee Stadium is) - named after Dutch settler John Bonck
2) Brooklyn - named after a city in Holland
3) Harlem - named after another city in Holland
4) Coney Island - from the Dutch words for “Rabbit Island”
5) Hoboken - from a Dutch area of a city in Europe
6) Tappan Zee - the word “zee” in Dutch means “sea.” The Tappans were an Indian tribe that lived along the Hudson River
(There are many, many more Dutch names along the Hudson River Valley.)
Probably the most important influence by the Dutch settlers in New Netherlands were
two Dutch families who moved there, the
ROOSEVELTSAND
VAN BURENS
FROM THESE TWO FAMILIES THE UNITED STATES GOT 3
PRESIDENTS!!!
MARTIN VAN BURENTEDDY ROOSEVELT
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT
AS YOU CAN SEE, SPANISH, FRENCH AND DUTCH
INFLUENCES HAVE BEEN VERY IMPORTANT TO THE
UNITED STATES IN THE PAST AND ARE STILL IMPORTANT
TO US TODAY!!!