Southern United States


The Southern United States is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the Western United States, with the Midwestern and Northeastern United States to its north and the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico to its south.
Historically, the South was defined as all states south of the 18th-century Mason–Dixon line, the Ohio River, and the 36°30′ parallel. Within the South are different subregions such as the Southeast, South Central, Upper South, and Deep South. Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia have become more culturally, economically, and politically aligned in certain aspects with the Northeastern United States and are sometimes identified as part of the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic. The U.S. Census Bureau continues to define all four places as formally being in the South. To account for cultural variations across the region, some scholars have proposed definitions of the South that do not coincide neatly with state boundaries. The South does not precisely correspond to the entire geographic south of the United States, but primarily includes the south-central and southeastern states. For example, California, which is geographically in the southwestern part of the country, is not considered part of the South; however, the geographically southeastern state of Georgia is.
The politics and economy of the region were historically dominated by a small rural elite. The historical and cultural development of the South has been profoundly influenced by the institution of slave labor, especially in the Deep South and coastal plain areas, from the early 1600s to mid-1800s. This includes the presence of a large proportion of African Americans within the population, support for the doctrine of states' rights, and legacy of racism magnified by the Civil War and Reconstruction era. Following effects included thousands of lynchings, a segregated system of separate schools and public facilities established from Jim Crow laws that remained until the 1960s, and the widespread use of poll taxes and other methods to deny black and poor people the ability to vote or hold office until the 1960s. Scholars have characterized pockets of the Southern United States as being authoritarian enclaves from Reconstruction until the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The South, being home to some of the most racially diverse areas in the United States, is known for having developed its own distinct culture, with different customs, fashion, architecture, musical styles, and cuisines, which have distinguished it in many ways from other areas of the United States. Sociological research indicates that Southern collective identity stems from political, historical, demographic, and cultural distinctiveness from the rest of the United States; however, this has declined since around the late 20th century, with many Southern areas becoming a melting pot of cultures and people. When looked at broadly, studies have shown that Southerners tend to be more conservative than most non-Southerners, with liberalism being mostly predominant in places with a Black majority or urban areas in the South. The region contains almost all of the Bible Belt, an area of high Protestant church attendance, especially evangelical churches such as the Southern Baptist Convention. In the 21st century, it is the fastest-growing region in the United States, with Houston being the region's largest city.

Geography

The South is a diverse meteorological region with numerous climatic zones, including temperate, sub-tropical, tropical, and arid—though the South generally has a reputation as hot and humid, with long summers and short, mild winters. Most of the South—except for the areas of higher elevations and areas near the western, southern, and some northern fringes—falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. Crops grow readily in the South due to its climate consistently providing growing seasons of at least six months before the first frost. Some common environments include bayous and swamplands, the southern pine forests, the warm temperate montane forest of the Appalachians, the savannas of the southern Great Plains, and the subtropical jungle and maritime forests along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Unique flora include various species of magnolia, rhododendron, cane, palm, and oak, among others. Fauna of the region is also diverse, encompassing a plethora of amphibian species, reptiles such as the green anole, the venomous cottonmouth snake, and the American alligator, mammals like the American black bear, the swamp rabbit, and the nine-banded armadillo, and birds such as the roseate spoonbill and the extinct but symbolic carolina parakeet.
The question of how to define the boundaries and subregions of the South has long been the focus of research and debate. As defined by the United States Census Bureau, the Southern region of the United States includes sixteen states and the District of Columbia. As of 2010, an estimated 114,555,744 people, or thirty-seven percent of all U.S. residents, lived in the South, the nation's most populous region. The Census Bureau defines three smaller divisions:
A survey conducted by social geographers in 2010 selected thirteen states as the cultural South: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The Council of State Governments, an organization for communication and coordination between states, includes the same thirteen states as well as Texas and Missouri in its South regional office.
Other terms related to the South include:
  • The Old South: Can mean either southern states that were among the Thirteen Colonies or all southern slave states before 1860.
  • The New South: All southern states following the American Civil War, post–Reconstruction era.
  • Southeastern United States: Usually includes the Carolinas, the Virginias, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.
  • Southern Appalachia: Mainly refers to areas situated in the southern Appalachian Mountains, namely Eastern Kentucky, East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, Western Maryland, West Virginia, Southwest Virginia, North Georgia and Northwestern South Carolina.
  • Upper South: Usually includes Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and on rare occasions Missouri, Maryland and Delaware. When combined with the southern Appalachian Mountains, it is sometimes referred to as "Greater Appalachia" following Ulster Protestant migrations to the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries.
  • Deep South: Various definitions, usually includes Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.
  • Border States: Included Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware. These were Southern slave states on or near the border of the Confederacy that did not secede from the U.S. Some of their residents joined the Union armed forces and some joined the Confederate armed forces. In addition, West Virginia separated from the Confederate state of Virginia and was admitted to the Union as a slave state, but with its state constitution providing for gradual abolition. Although Kentucky and Missouri had not seceded, they had separate Confederate state governments, with the Confederate government of Missouri and the Confederate government of Kentucky. The Confederacy controlled more than half of Kentucky and the southern portion of Missouri early in the war but were in exile after 1862 and were represented in the Confederate Congress and by stars on the Confederate battle flag.
  • Dixie: Nickname applied to Southern U.S. region, various definitions include certain areas more than others, but most commonly associated with the eleven former Confederate States.
  • Solid South: Electoral voting bloc largely controlled by the Democratic Party from 1877 to 1964, largely resulting from disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction era in the late 19th century. Disfranchisement effectively denied most of the black and sometimes poor white population from voting or holding public office during this time period.
  • Gulf Coast: Includes Gulf coasts of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama.
  • Tidewater: Low-lying Atlantic coastal plain regions of Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina.
  • Mid-South: Various definitions, includes states within the Census Bureau of the East and West South Central United States. In another informal definition, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi are included, with adjoining areas of other states.
Historically, the South was defined as all states south of the 18th-century Mason–Dixon line, the Ohio River, and the 36°30′ parallel. Newer definitions of the South today are harder to define, due to cultural and sub-regional differences throughout the region; however, definitions usually refer to states that are in the southeastern and south-central geographic regions of the United States.
Although not included in the Census definition, two U.S. territories located southeast of Florida are sometimes included as part of the Southern United States. The Federal Aviation Administration includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as part of the South, as does the Agricultural Research Service and the U.S. National Park Service.