Independence in Ohio, as America

Ohio holds a special place in the nation. Over time it was the wild west, the cradle of presidents and once known as (and still on some license plates) the heart of it all. The Fourth of July is special all across America and Ohio holds no special Independence Day significance. Celebrations here aren't bigger, better or brighter than elsewhere. We have our backyard fireworks and sparklers (see neat photo trick below right) at our cookouts and our parades, festivals and rib events too.



But it has been said that Ohio is a bellweather state for the nation. Our demographic slice of the American Pie is that of the typical American. Many franchises sample their wares in Ohio before they trot them out nationwide, testing them on us first.

I've had the great privilege of knowing many from around the nation and learning of the linguistic idiosyncrasies of the different regions. Most Ohioans will say we don't have an accent, or "twang" of any type (sans the Appalachia region, where one might "warsh" the glass after drinking the A&W "ruht" beer from it). For whatever reason, we talk like they do on TV. The spoken American on TV sounds like the people came from Dayton, Elyria or Steubenville. In the mid 1800s Ohio was a budding and promising economic giant. Canals and railroads brought the west to the east. Towns like Cincinnati grew mightily and at one point was the biggest city west of the Appalachian Mountains. Ohio sent more soldiers off to the Civil War than all but two other states. Postwar America saw seven presidents from Ohio until Harding died in office in 1923.

The ups and downs of America are often seen through Ohio's windows. The industrial might of a nation emerging from the shadows of World War II were in large part due to the steel, rubber and aviation industries of Ohio. Perhaps nowhere else can the suburbanization of the baby boomer generation be seen like it is ringing the cities of Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. And when the current economic downturn became a national dilemma, those in Ohio had seen the housing market stumble well in advance.

So as we celebrate a nation born at the hands of revolutionary minds, Ohio has played a major role in the shaping and shifting of a nation's booms and busts. Happy anniversary America, through the eyes of Ohio.

- J.