Editing Midwestern United States (section)

=== Cultural overlap ===
{{more citations needed section|date=September 2011}}
[[File:Mount Rushmore Closeup 2017.jpg|thumb|[[Mount Rushmore]] is located in the [[Black Hills, South Dakota|Black Hills]] of [[South Dakota]].]]
Differences in the definition of the Midwest mainly split between the Great Plains region on one side, and the Great Lakes region on the other. Although some point to the small towns and agricultural communities in Kansas, Iowa, the Dakotas, and Nebraska of the Great Plains as representative of traditional Midwestern lifestyles and values, others assert that the industrial cities of the Great Lakes—with their histories of 19th century and early 20th century immigration, manufacturing base, and strong Catholic influence—are more representative of the Midwestern experience. In South Dakota, for instance, [[West River (South Dakota)|West River]] (the region west of the Missouri River) shares cultural elements with the western United States, while [[East River (South Dakota)|East River]] has more in common with the rest of the Midwest.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Karolevitz|first1=Robert F.|last2=Hunhoff|first2=Bernie|title=Uniquely South Dakota|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1blPQAACAAJ|year=1988|publisher=Donning Company|isbn=978-0-89865-730-2}}</ref>

Two other regions, [[Appalachia]] and the Ozark Mountains, overlap geographically with the Midwest—Appalachia in Southern Ohio and the Ozarks in Southern Missouri. The Ohio River has long been a boundary between North and [[Southern United States|South]] and between the Midwest and the [[Upper South]]. All of the lower Midwestern states, especially Missouri, have major Southern components and influences, as they neighbor the Southern region. Historically, Missouri was a [[Slavery in the United States|slave]] state before the American Civil War (1861–1865) due to the [[Missouri Compromise]].

[[Western Pennsylvania]], which contains the cities of [[Erie, Pennsylvania|Erie]] and [[Pittsburgh]], shares history with the Midwest, and overlaps with Appalachia and the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]] as well.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.america2050.org/2005/12/defining-the-midwest-megaregio.html |title=Defining the Midwest Megaregion |publisher=America 2050 |date=December 8, 2005 |access-date=July 16, 2017 |archive-date=October 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004215153/http://www.america2050.org/2005/12/defining-the-midwest-megaregio.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Kentucky]] is not considered part of the Midwest; it is a northern region of [[Southern United States|the South]], although certain northern parts of the state could have possibly been grouped with the Midwest in a geographical context, even though it is geographically in the Southeast overall.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite book |title=''The North American Midwest: A Regional Geography''|url=https://archive.org/details/northamericanmid0000garl|url-access=registration|publisher=Wiley Publishers |location=New York City |year=1955}}</ref> Kentucky is categorized as Southern by the U.S. Census Bureau due to its industries and especially from a historical and cultural standpoint with the majority of the state having a thoroughly majority Southern accent, demographic, history, and culture in line with her sister states of Virginia and Tennessee and even the areas that have certain Midwestern influences tend to be mixed with the native Southern culture of the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.travelsouthusa.org/states.html |title=Welcome to Travel South USA |publisher=Travelsouthusa.org |access-date=October 3, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100720024504/http://www.travelsouthusa.org/states.html |archive-date=July 20, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/315026/3822/The-Upper-South |title=Encyclopedia – Britannica Online Encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=October 3, 2010}}</ref>

In addition to intra-American regional overlaps, the [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan]] has historically had strong cultural ties to Canada, partly as a result of early settlement by [[French Canadians]]. Moreover, the [[Yooper accent]] shares some traits with [[Canadian English]], further demonstrating transnational cultural connections. Similar but less pronounced mutual Canadian-American cultural influence occurs throughout the Great Lakes region.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}