We are a nation of immigrants. With the exception of Native Americans, we (or our ancestors) all came from somewhere else. In the 1800's everyone had an accent. And as each new wave of immigrant came here, they became the butt of jokes based on their accent or their lack of understanding of the culture as it existed then. (It's important to note that the American culture is never firmly rooted. Unlike cultures in other parts of the world which have remained the same for centuries, ours is influenced and modified by every ethnic group that comes here.)

Among those that have influenced our humor are the British, Spanish, African-American, Irish, Chinese, German, Eastern Europeans, Italians, Mexicans, Cubans, and Swedes. In each instance there have been jokes and comic stories and humor based on the particular culture, how they 'mutilate' the language, and how it differs from the existing American culture. (In collge I worked with an experinmental theatre group performing early classic vaudeville routines. These often were titled to reflect the ethnic group being mocked: the "Double Dutch Act," (Germans) the "Lady and the Wop" (Italians), the "Chink" (Asians), etc.

After awhile, the members of the immigrant groups, as they assimilate, develop their own humor and it is often based on the same things that comprised the humor that was pointed AT them. They develop the ability to laugh at themselves and, in the process, rob the mainstream of their source for material.

In early America, performers toured the country doing these routines. Some of it became part of our literature, but there's a difficulty that comes with accurately transcribing and accent or a dialect. Take a look at this classic story which Disney later adapted for the film "Song of the South" by Joel Chandler Harris. There's a link at the bottom of the page to a clip from the film and another to a reading of the story.