The Southern States is a large region in the southeastern United
States. In the agricultural southern states, where cotton cultivation
played an important economic role, slavery was practiced until the
1860s, while it was abolished in 1804 in what was then the northern
states. When Abraham Lincoln, who advocated banning new slave-owning
states, won the presidential election in 1860, the southern states broke
away from the Union (secession) and formed the Confederate States. This
sparked the American Civil War. It ended with the victory of the
northern states.
Subsequently, the US Congress ordered a
reconstruction of politics and society in the southern states, which
lasted 14 years. Former Confederate supporters (which affected almost
all Southerners) were temporarily disenfranchised and barred from
political office. Military governors were installed. With them often
came entrepreneurs and soldiers of fortune from the north, so-called
carpetbaggers, who, in view of the removal of thousands of previous
officials from their positions in many places, quickly rose to the ranks
and thus profited from the defeat in the south. This was perceived by
many Southerners as foreign control by the North. As a result, many
Southerners felt, in some cases to this day, a sense of separate
identity and distrust of anything that came from the North.
Another name for the southern states is Dixieland or Dixie. Where this
came from is not entirely clear. Possibly from the French inscription
dix on the Citizens' Bank of Louisiana ten-dollar bills circulating
south, or from the Mason-Dixon line dividing northern from southern
states.
The southern states largely coincide with the American
Bible Belt, a region whose population is considered to be particularly
religious and is characterized in particular by evangelical Protestants
who represent socio-politically conservative positions.
The South is filled with historic sites, from colonial settlements to
Civil War battlefields to Civil Rights landmarks. Visit historic
Jamestown in Virginia to explore the first successful British settlement
in North America (1607). Also consider a visit to nearby Colonial
Williamsburg, which offers a picturesque recap of life in a Colonial
village, with 500 restored and rebuilt period buildings. From here we
recommend continuing to Yorktown, where Lord Cornwallis surrendered to
General George Washington in 1781, thus ending the fighting of the
American Revolution.
Many Southern cities from the late colonial
or early Republican period retain their original charm. Interesting
among them are Charleston and Beaufort in South Carolina, Savannah in
Georgia, and the French Quarter of New Orleans in Louisiana. Many
smaller towns boast historic neoclassical and Victorian districts, and
many old boulevards in the Deep South are lined with ancient oak trees
covered in Spanish moss. In the spring, summer, and fall, prewar
plantations and famous presidential estates, such as George Washington's
Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, and Andrew Jackson's
Hermitage, are popular attractions. The second-oldest university in the
state, the College of William and Mary (1693), is tucked away in the
heart of Virginia's Colonial Historic District. Several of the oldest
public universities in the United States are located in the South,
including The University of Georgia (1785), The University of North
Carolina (1789), The University of South Carolina (1801), and The
University of Virginia (1819 ), a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The
American Civil War was the bloodiest conflict in US history, and it has
in many cases scarred the South to this day. Battles have taken place
throughout the southern states, and many of the major battle sites are
preserved by the National Park Service, including Manassas (Bull Run),
Fredericksburg, and Appomattox in Virginia; Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing)
in Tennessee; Chattanooga Tennessee; Chickamauga in Georgia; and
Vicksburg, Mississippi. Many wartime forts are still in good condition,
and are open to the public. These include Fort Sumter near Charleston,
Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines near Mobile,
Ala.
Many of the most visible cornerstones of the
African-American Civil Rights movement are found in the South, including
Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas; the Dexter Avenue Baptist
Church, 16th Street Baptist Church, and the Edmund Pettus Bridge in
Alabama; the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Georgia. Several interpretive
centers have been created to chronicle the struggle for equality, such
as the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama, and the Martin
Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Georgia.
Other
historic sites in the region include the Wright Brothers National
Memorial in North Carolina, Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee,
and NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center in Alabama.
The region also known as The South includes roughly those states that
broke away from the United States in 1861, causing the American Civil
War. Upset by growing resentment against slavery, ten to thirteen
breakaway slave states formed the Confederate States of America after
the election of President Abraham Lincoln. Three of the border states
had episodes of Civil War at home; each of these had two organizations,
one Unionist and one Confederate, and both claimed to govern the state.
The result was a bloody five-year conflict, which left the nation
bruised and bruised, but ultimately led to the preservation of the
nation as a single unit, and the abolition of slavery. Since most of the
battles occurred on Southern soil, the war resulted in the devastation
of the South.
The South had been around for more than two hundred
years before the Civil War began. The first settlement was on Roanoke
Island in 1585, and the first permanent colony was at Jamestown in 1607.
Many of the early settlers of the South were indentured servants, and
later slaves. Many battles of the Revolution were fought in the South,
including the Battle of Yorktown which ended the war. In 1800 the
Southern economy was centered on growing tobacco (in Virginia,
Tennessee, and the Carolinas) and cotton (elsewhere) as "immediate
income crops", and did not industrialize as the North did in the early
nineteenth century . At the time of the Civil War, one in three citizens
was a slave. The rest were mostly poor farmers, who owned no slaves,
while a few owned large tracts of land and many slaves.
Texas and
Florida also broke away from the union, but are now considered separate
regions. Kentucky is considered part of the South, despite never
seceding from the union, but allowing slavery. West Virginia consisted
of 50 Virginia counties that rejected the state's secession act and were
admitted to the union in 1863. Maryland and Delaware also allowed
slavery but did not break away, and are now considered part of the
mid-Atlantic coastal region, while Missouri, another non-secessionist
slave state, is part of the Midwest.
After the Civil War the
people of the South had to struggle to face defeat. Even though Southern
blacks were "free," they remained second-class citizens. They were often
denied the vote, and many were forced to work the land as sharecroppers.
Segregation laws (called "Jim Crow") in the South were rampant. Many
Southern whites fought against black freedom and equality well into the
twentieth century. Some formed a group called the Ku Klux Klan, which
terrorized blacks and immigrants.
While the subsequent 150 years
have done much to heal wounds, the Civil War is still seen as a pivotal
event for the South. Battle reenactments are performed throughout the
region, and period reenactment is a popular hobby. While Confederate
battle flags (rebel flags) can be found in many southern settlements,
visitors should understand that outside of historical context, the flag
is seen by many as a symbol of hatred and/or treason. Except for
[Mississippi]], all southern states have removed the battle flag from
their heraldry.
Indeed, the South is more of a cultural region
than a geographical one; states west of Texas are not considered part of
The South, no matter how far south they are.
By plane
The largest airport in the South is also the largest in
the world: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (IATA: ATL).
Other major airports include Douglas International in Charlotte,
Reagan National and Dulles International in Virginia just outside
Washington, Memphis International, Durham International in Raleigh,
Nashville International, and Louis Armstrong International in New
Orleans.
The other airports in the South mostly have flights to
and from Atlanta, and many have flights from Dallas, Houston, Miami or
Washington.
By car
The coast is well served by the East Coast
Expressway I-95, which crosses Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia,
connecting the two megacities Boston and Washington to the northeast
with Florida to the south. I-20 reaches the Gulf Coast states through
Birmingham, Jackson, and Atlanta to Dallas to the west and I-95 to the
east. I-65 is the main north-south thoroughfare that passes through the
center of the region, starting in Mobile and passing through Birmingham,
Nashville, and Louisville until it almost reaches Chicago. I-55 runs
parallel to the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Chicago through
Memphis and Jackson. I-10 enters the South from Texas, arriving in New
Orleans and Mobile. I-75 originates in Detroit and Cincinnati, and
extends to Knoxville, Atlanta and Tampa. The South is also connected to
the other regions thanks to the state and federal road and highway
system.
By bus
There are many affordable Chinatown bus lines
that travel from New York City as far south as the Atlantic coast to the
Carolines. Greyhounds from New York along the North Atlantic are
affordable, and departures are frequent. The stretch to and from the
Appalachian Mountains is less busy, and Greyhound Bus has a monopoly on
bus rides in this area. Greyhound trips to less populated states can be
quite expensive; operating costs per passenger are higher, due to low
passenger volumes, and Greyhound exploits its monopoly position. Road
routes in the area generally follow the same vertical rather than
horizontal corridor, and the bus is no exception, so several transfers
may be required. For example, to get to Kentucky, a Greyhound bus would
go from New York to Philadelphia, PA, to Pittsburgh, PA, to Columbus,
OH, to Cincinnati, OH, and so on south. The same path will have to be
followed to arrive, for example, in Tennessee.
Greyhound buses
are cheaper when booked months in advance. A single ticket booked a
month in advance from New York to Memphis can cost as much as $140. If
possible, it's best to avoid depending on Greyhound for large numbers of
consecutive trips between individual Southern cities, as bus travel
between Southern cities is prohibitively expensive compared to cities on
the Atlantic or Pacific. (Traveling from Lexington, KY to Louisville,
KY, which is about an hour away, will cost about $50).
Freeway travel is arguably the cheapest way to get around the South.
Interstate expressways cover nearly the entire region, connecting all
major cities. Of course you can travel from one city to another by
plane, but in most cases it is significantly more expensive than by car.
There would also be the option of traveling by train, but rail travel is
limited, quite expensive, and considerably slower than air travel.
One cannot rely heavily on public transport in most Southern cities,
as, with some exceptions, motor traffic is preferred in this region. As
a result getting around beyond the city center is often difficult
without a car. In any case it is always better to inquire before
arriving.
In Southern cuisine, a meat and three is a restaurant where the customer selects one meat from a daily choice of three to six dishes (such as roast chicken, country ham, beef, steak, meatloaf, or pork chop) and three sides from a list, which can contain up to a dozen choices (usually vegetables, potatoes, corn, green or lima beans, but also other dishes like creamed corn, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti). This is often served with cornbread and sweet tea. The dish's roots can be traced back to Nashville, Tennessee.
One of the main peculiarities of the cultural South is the dialect
spoken by the population. Indigenous people from the East Coast of
Maryland to northern Florida and as far west as Texas speak with an
easily discernible accent that is different from that of the rest of the
United States. The accent is described as "drawing" with a sharp note.
Visitors may notice that there are local variations in Southern
accents and dialects. In general, the local accent or dialect changes as
soon as one changes geographical area (e.g. mountain people speak a
different dialect than that of coastal inhabitants. Furthermore,
generally speaking, accents tend to be more marked in rural areas. While
Americans refer to only one “Southern” dialect, in fact there are a
variety.Visitors (especially non-English speakers by birth) may have
trouble understanding thicker accents or local terminology.
The
pronoun "y'all" (a contraction of "you all") is a well-known feature of
the Southern dialect. While it is often ridiculed in popular culture, it
is quite useful in colloquial speech: it represents the second person
plural (equivalent to " vosotros" in Spanish, "vous" in French, or "ihr"
in German). It is often used in casual conversation, but is avoided in
formal speech. Although the term is often heard, it is best to be
careful when using it when visiting the area, as it might seem like a
form of condescension towards the local population.
It's
generally considered rude to joke about the dialect unless you're from
the area. The local population suspects that those from other regions
regard them as dull, and the drawl is sometimes held to be a symbol of
this. In general, natives are very proud of their accent, and appreciate
it when spoken of in a positive sense.