How did accents occur in the U.S. among English speaking population?

Question

For example: New England yankee accents developed much differently than deep south accents. I always wondered how they developed so differently.

Answer 1

It happened because a group of people was isolated from another group of people. When isolation occurs, accents can change and slang can become mainstream. To go along with your example, after the South lost the Civil War, they retreated and wanted nothing to do with the United States. Certain areas of the South (like in parts of Appalachia) were just isolated because of geography, which is why (I think) they sound so strange.

Answer 2

I you remember from the oh so interesting History Class (haha)...The United States was and still is a 'melting pot'. When people from other countries started to influx and settle here in the great 'ol US of A they would tend to migrate and settle to separating locations. French in the south...English in the North is just one example of why there are different accents. :)

Answer 3

New Englanders came from a different part of England than those that settled in the south. Different mixes of people elsewhere had the same effect.

Answer 4

Started out differently-- and went from there.

Answer 5

Those are dialects, not accents.

Answer 6

WE ARE ALL DECENDANTS OF IMMIGRANTS

thats how