Whether you hail from the North, South, East, or West means something depending on where you’re from. Generally speaking, the south is posh in the UK and the North is more working class, but in the United States, it’s flipped. Southern Americans have the reputation for being less educated and less wealthy than Northerners. This association has stood the test of time for centuries, primarily due to the economic models of the 18th and 19th centuries. History also explains why the eastern and western United States are so different! The East has a huge population, and the West has a ton of land. The East had a couple of centuries of head start, and only a small portion of the population was willing to make the journey out west because it was a high-risk thing to do. And don’t even get me started on the inherent contradictions of the Midwestern United States.