what part of the country is the closest to a feudalist system?

[Torie]

Well I don't know about now, Al, but I remember Duval County, TX (that county made famous by its creative vote counts, one of which got LBJ elected Senator), being characterized as "feudal," where the Hispanics were the serfs tied to the land for life, and totally controlled by the land baron, and his team of vassals.  But I don't think in the economic structure it was the same as feudalism, where technically the serfs had certain rights of use of the land. So it was not the same, just reminiscent.

[Torie]

Feudalism was all about exchange between different estates in an ordered society; I'd be amazed if something like that has ever existed in the area covered by the U.S.A. Of course the word feudal is misused almost as much as the word fascist.

A message Simfan asked me to pass along: The Hudson valley during the patroonage era was literally feudalist.

So it would appear.  Interesting that that was not included on the series of books I have read so far on New Amsterdam, in which is a host of new information contained in the archaic Dutch language records/journals (only about 30 people on this planet can translate it now), resting in the catacombs of Albany.  The information is coming out now as this one guy is translating them from archaic Dutch into English as his life's work project; his translations are then used as material by writers to publish books about New Amsterdam in English. It is all most fascinating.