When Did Americans Lose Their British Accents?

When Did Americans Lose Their British Accents?

They didn't.

Turns out that it's the other way around. Today's American newscasters speak with a rhotic accent similar to the one employed by the British aristocracy (and their American colonists) in the 17th century. It is the British who have changed, dropping the "r" sound sometime after the American revolution as a trendy signifier of class and status. Some American port cities, having significant trading ties with England and wanting to get in on the whole "class" thing, followed suit. The Savannah/Charleston accent spread through the south, but the Boston accent remained quite isolated.