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
SAN FRANCISCO
SANTA FE
TRINADAD
CANAVERAL
AMARILLO
SAN JOSE
SAN ANTONIO
SANTA MONICA
SAN DIEGO
MODESTO
- saint Barbara
- saint Francis
- holy faith
- trinity
- canebrake
- yellow
- saint Joseph
- saint Anthony
- saint Monica
- saint Didacus
- 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
ARMADILLO
BONANZA
BURRITO
CANYON
CARGO
CINCH
COMRADE
MESA
MUSTANG
PINTO
RODEO
-
meaning “the lizard”
meaning “little armored one”
meaning “fair or calm weather”
meaning “little donkey”
meaning “hollowed area”
meaning “load”
meaning “belt”
meaning “roommate”
meaning “table”
meaning “stray”
meaning “painted one”
meaning “round-up”
HERE ARE SOME OTHER WORDS
WE USE EVERYDAY WITHOUT
TRANSLATION:
ADOBE
ALBINO
ARMADA
BARRACUDA
BUCKAROO
BRONCO
CAFETERIA
CANARY
CHAPS
CHILI
CHOCOLATE
COCKROACH
CORRAL
COYOTE
FAJITA
FIESTA
FLOTILLA
GARBANZO
GUERILLA
IGUANA
LASSO
LLAMA
MAIZE
MANATEE
MARIJUANA
MATADOR
MOSQUITO
NACHO
PALAMINO
PLAZA
QUESADILLA
RANCH
SAVANNA
SIESTA
STAMPEDE
TOBACCO
TACO
TAMALE
TANGO
TOMATO
TORTILLA
TUNA
VANILLA
VIGILANTE
WRANGLER
YUCCA….
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
OHIO is from a French writing of an
Iroquois word meaning “the great” or “the
beautiful”
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
HERE ARE MANY OTHER FRENCH PLACE
NAMES HERE IN THE UNITED STATES
LaPorte, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Versailles, Indiana
Dubois, Indiana
Louisville, Kentucky
Paris, Kentucky
LaCenter, Kentucky
Bellefonte, Kentucky
Des Plaines, Illinois
DuPage, Illinois
Joliet, Illinois
LaSalle, Illinois
Detroit, Michigan
Marquette, Michigan
Grand Blanc, Michigan
Grosse Isle, Michigan
Louisiana has hundreds of French
place names in that state.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Belle Chase, Louisiana
Chalmette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
La Place, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
Pointe a la Hache, Louisiana
Terrebonne, Louisiana
Even 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.
This is the Hudson River
explored by Henry
Hudson.
These were
the areas
Hudson
explored in
1609 for
the Dutch.
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
ROOSEVELTS
AND
VAN BURENS
FROM THESE TWO FAMILIES THE
UNITED STATES GOT 3
PRESIDENTS!!!
MARTIN VAN BUREN
TEDDY 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!!!