Did George Washington and the rest of the founding fathers from Virginia speak with southern accents?

Question

Did they in 1776 sound simmilar to what a native Virginian from the rural areas of the Tidewater speaks like today in 2007?

Answer 1

Most likely yes, even though there is no way to positively prove it since they didn't have electronic recordings in the 18th century.

The lady who said that accents change over time is right on a certain level of analysis. So George Washington's accent wouldn't have sounded precisely the same as a that of a modern rural Virginian. However, I think the differences would have been negligible.

If you have ever heard the 1957 recording of the late John Salling (1846 - 1959) of Slant, Virginia, generally considered the last Confederate Veteran of the American Civil War, his accent sounds pretty much the same as a modern Southern Midlands accent. Some linguists use the term "Chaucerian" to describe it. That term alone implies that the accent is very old.

The founding fathers who came from the northern colonies may have sounded somewhat like the modern residents of the state of Maine. Because Maine was isolated and received relatively little non-English immigration, its accent has probably changed little since the time of the American Revolution.

Answer 2

You had over a hundred years from the time of the 1st everlasting English contract (Jamestown replaced into settled in 1607) to the time of Washington's delivery (George Washington replaced into born in 1732). On appropriate of that there have been countless different countries which based colonies in what could develop into usa in the process that era (Spain's first colony certainly predates the Roanoke Island colony, aka the lost Colony, which predated Jamestown). because of this there replaced into sufficient time for the american accents to strengthen by making use of the time Washington replaced into born. the blend of English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Scottish, German, and local American could have led to the evolution of the american accessory by making use of the time he replaced into born. in spite of the undeniable fact that it is not so straight forward as could he have spoken with an American accessory as you could ought to look on the distinctive close by accessory he could have had. He could have spoken with a Southern American accessory which could have been distinctive from a clean England American accessory. and because he replaced into from Virginia his Southern accessory would not be quite the comparable as that of the Deep South which could be somewhat thicker.

Answer 3

Accents change over time, and today we all hear other English speakers over radio, TV and the Internet so our accents are actually more enmeshed than ever before.

Answer 4

They probably spoke with English accents.

Answer 5

More likely they spoke with soft British accents.