Changes

*[http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3143 Episcopal Church in Alabama, J. Barry Vaughn, St. Alban's Episcopal Church (encyclopediaofalabama.org)]</ref>

*[http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3143 Episcopal Church in Alabama, J. Barry Vaughn, St. Alban's Episcopal Church (encyclopediaofalabama.org)]</ref>

Up into the 1940s, WASPs dominated American society and culture. The term ''WASP'' is often used in a historical context as a pejorative to classify their historical dominance over the financial, cultural, academic, and legal institutions of the United States. Although WASPs had a strong influence, they did not actually control American politics. They usually were very well placed in major financial, business, legal institutions and had close to a monopoly over high society, due in some cases to [[nepotism]]. Nevertheless, they were dominant in the leadership of the [[Whig Party]], [[Republican Party]] and [[Democratic Party]]. The post-World War II era saw a steady movement of new groups into high positions, where WASPs developed a style of understated leadership.

Up into the 1940s, WASPs dominated American society and culture. The term ''WASP'' is often used in a historical context as a pejorative to classify their historical dominance over the financial, cultural, academic, and legal institutions of the United States. Although WASPs had a strong influence, they did not actually control American politics. They usually were very well placed in major financial, business, legal institutions and had close to a monopoly over high society, due in some cases to [[nepotism]]. Nevertheless, they were dominant in the leadership of the [[Whig Party]], [[Republican Party]], and [[Democratic Party]]. The post-World War II era saw a steady movement of new groups into high positions, where WASPs developed a style of understated leadership.

Edward Digby Baltzell stressed the closed or [[caste]]-like characteristic of the group by arguing that "There is a crisis in American leadership in the middle of the twentieth century that is partly due, I think, to the declining authority of an establishment which is now based on an increasingly caste-like White-Anglo Saxon-Protestant (WASP) upper class."<ref>E. D. Baltzell ''The Protestant Establishment'', 1964, page 9</ref>

Edward Digby Baltzell stressed the closed or [[caste]]-like characteristic of the group by arguing that "there is a crisis in American leadership in the middle of the twentieth century that is partly due, I think, to the declining authority of an establishment which is now based on an increasingly caste-like White-Anglo Saxon-Protestant (WASP) upper class."<ref>E. D. Baltzell ''The Protestant Establishment'', 1964, page 9</ref>

Originally, the W in the acronym probably meant "wealthy" rather than "white," as the term ''WASP'' has historically referred only to an elite group, not to all people of English descent. A man may be white, but that does not make him either of Anglo-Saxon origin or a Protestant, or wealthy. The American people in the sixties broke with the tradition of WASP [[hegemony]] when they elected [[John F. Kennedy]] as president. He was white, wealthy, and of Anglo-Saxon ancestry, but he was not Protestant: he was [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]. The term is usually used by [[Elitism|elitist]]s to distinguish upscale WASPs from ordinary folks of various other White ethnic origins, predominantly [[Italy|Italian]], [[Corsica]]n, [[Sicily|Sicilian]], [[Malta|Maltese]], [[Crete|Cretan]], [[Eastern Europe]]an, and northern [[Middle East]]ern ancestry from around the [[Caucasus]] and the [[Ural Mountains|Urals]] around the [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] and the [[Black Sea]]s, none of whom had Anglo-Saxon ancestry. The term is also used in Australia, New Zealand and Canada for similar elites.<ref>C.P. Champion, ''The Strange Demise of British Canada: The Liberals and Canadian Nationalism'', 1964-68, publisher MQUP, 2010.</ref><ref>Margery Fee and Janice McAlpine, ''Guide to Canadian English Usage'' (2008) pp. 517-8</ref><ref>"WASP" in Frederick Ludowyk and Bruce Moore, eds, ''Australian modern Oxford dictionary'', 2007.</ref> Today it is used more broadly. Sociologists sometimes use the term very broadly to include all Protestant Americans of Northern European or Northwestern European ancestry regardless of their class or power.<ref>Ronald M. Glassman, William H. Swatos, Jr., Barbara J. Demballs, ''Social Problems In Global Perspective'', 2004, University Press of America, Lanham, Maryland, page 258.</ref>

Originally, the W in the acronym probably meant "wealthy" rather than "white," as the term ''WASP'' has historically referred only to an elite group, not to all people of English descent. A man may be white, but that does not make him either of Anglo-Saxon origin or a Protestant, or wealthy. The American people in the sixties broke with the tradition of WASP [[hegemony]] when they elected [[John F. Kennedy]] as president. He was white, wealthy, and of Anglo-Saxon ancestry, but he was not Protestant: he was [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]. The term is usually used by [[Elitism|elitist]]s to distinguish upscale WASPs from ordinary folks of various other White ethnic origins, predominantly [[Italy|Italian]], [[Corsica]]n, [[Sicily|Sicilian]], [[Malta|Maltese]], [[Crete|Cretan]], [[Eastern Europe]]an, and northern [[Middle East]]ern ancestry from around the [[Caucasus]] and the [[Ural Mountains|Urals]] around the [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] and the [[Black Sea]]s, none of whom had Anglo-Saxon ancestry. The term is also used in Australia, New Zealand and Canada for similar elites.<ref>C.P. Champion, ''The Strange Demise of British Canada: The Liberals and Canadian Nationalism'', 1964-68, publisher MQUP, 2010.</ref><ref>Margery Fee and Janice McAlpine, ''Guide to Canadian English Usage'' (2008) pp. 517-8</ref><ref>"WASP" in Frederick Ludowyk and Bruce Moore, eds, ''Australian modern Oxford dictionary'', 2007.</ref> Today it is used more broadly. Sociologists sometimes use the term very broadly to include all Protestant Americans of Northern European or Northwestern European ancestry regardless of their class or power.<ref>Ronald M. Glassman, William H. Swatos, Jr., Barbara J. Demballs, ''Social Problems In Global Perspective'', 2004, University Press of America, Lanham, Maryland, page 258.</ref>