Yankee

Yankee, term of unknown origin, applied during the 18th century to New Englanders. One hypothetical origin is an attempt by the Indians to pronounce either English or Anglais. This seems unlikely, since the word was first applied to the Dutch in the 17th century and may have been derived from Janke, diminutive of the common Dutch name Jan, or from Jankees, a blend of Jan and Cornelis. At some time in the 18th century the name began to be applied to the English colonists rather than the Dutch. The song “Yankee Doodle” did much to establish the name, which was adopted by the Americans after it had been contemptuously applied by the British in the Revolution. During the Civil War it was invidiously applied to Northerners, usually as “damn Yankee.” During World War I it had mainly a kindly, facetious connotation, and long before that it was applied to Americans generally, although it is more properly restricted to the typical New England native and associated with the Down East character. The Yankee has long been a stock comic figure, and some of the notable characters of this type are Royall Tyler's Jonathan in The Contrast, Seba Smith's Major Jack Downing, T.C. Haliburton's Sam Slick, and Lowell's Hosea Biglow. Irving's Ichabod Crane, although he has some of the usual characteristics, lacks the conventional acuteness. The figure is usually marked by shrewd, homespun wit, caution, ability in trading, and taciturnity. When he speaks, it is frequently to ask a dry but astute question, or to make a striking understatement in his famous nasal twang. Later examples of the type include the title characters of Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and E.N. Westcott's David Harum.