Old South

:This article is about Old South and the geographical, historical and cultural implications of the phrase. The article on the orange juice can be found at Old South (orange juice).

Related Topics:
Orange juice - Old South (orange juice)

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Old South is a subregion of the American South, differentiated from the "Deep South" as being the Southern States represented in the original thirteen American colonies, as well as a way of describing the former lifestyle in the Southern United States.

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The Southern Colonies were Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Delaware, South Carolina, and Georgia. Despite Maryland's early assoication as a Southern colony and later as a state, based on customs, economy, and slave ownership, its role as a union state during the Civil War and proximity to Northern states has resulted in a modern disassociation with the area known as the "Old South," a disassociation even more pronounced in the similar case of Delaware.

Related Topics:
Virginia - Maryland - North Carolina - Delaware - South Carolina - Georgia - Civil War

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The "Old South" is usually defined in opposition to the Deep South including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi and also further differentiated from the inland border states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas and the peripheral southern states of Florida and Texas.

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As the phrase the "Old South" refers to the regional lifestyle, the term originally came into use after the American Civil War to describe the antebellum period. Many southern whites used it with nostalgia to represent the memories of a time of prosperity, social order, and "gracious living". Most blacks saw it as being a reference to the past times of slavery and the plantation economy in which they were chattel property. A desire to return to the order of the "Old South" was a justification for ongoing racial segregation and the continuance of the Jim Crow system.

Related Topics:
American Civil War - Whites - Nostalgia - Blacks - Slavery - Plantation - Racial segregation - Jim Crow

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Once those with personal memories of the antebellum South were largely deceased, the term continued to be used. It was used even as a marketing term, where products were advertised as having "genuine Old South goodness" and the like. However, fraternal and political organizations often used the term to show that they were supporters of white supremacy and segregation, but in a less blantant way.

Related Topics:
Marketing - Advertised - Fraternal - Political - White supremacy

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Certain groups now wish to rescue the term from racist connotations by stating that they desire to celebrate only the things about the Old South which were good, such as its chivalry, and not every aspect of Southern culture, particularly not the racist aspects. An important and sizeable group of this sort is the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who insist that their group is about

Related Topics:
Racist - Chivalry - Sons of Confederate Veterans

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"Heritage Not Hate" and make a point of honoring the memories of those blacks who served with the Confederate armed forces and their descendants.

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See also: New South.

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