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!!!