Southern United States

The Southern United States or the South constitute a distinctive region covering a large portion of the United States. Due to the region's unique cultural and historic heritage, the South has developed its own customs, literature, musical styles (such as country music and jazz), and cuisine. The South has also been prominently involved in numerous issues faced by the United States as a whole, including slavery, the American Civil War, and Presidential politics (with the majority of the recent Presidents of the United States having come from the region).

History

While Southern history stretches back to prehistoric times, the unique culture of the South primarily has its origins with the settlement of the region by British colonists in the early 17th century. Many of the immigrants who moved to the South were of European Celtic origins; according to an 1860 census, "three-quarters of white Southerners had surnames that were Scottish, Irish or Welsh in origin." http://www.americasvoices.org/archives2003/AdamsJ/AdamsJ_061403.htm These people mixed culturally with the Native Americans who were already in the region (such as the Creek Indians and Cherokees) and with the Africans who were brought in as slaves to support the region's agriculture.

Related Topics:
Prehistoric - British colonists - 17th century - European Celtic - 1860 - Census - White - Scottish - Irish - Welsh - Native Americans - Creek Indians - Cherokee - Africa - Slaves - Agriculture

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Early in its history, the South's economy became focused nearly exclusively on agriculture, with tobacco being the first big cash crop, followed by cotton from the 1790s onward. Because of the large amount of labor required to cultivate cotton, the South saw a surge in the enslavement of Africans and their descendants. Slavery did not only exist in the South - during the 18th century New York City ranked second out of the original American colonies for total number of slaves (Charleston, South Carolina being first http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/protest_reform/slave_island_03.shtml). However, the explosion of cotton cultivation http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/lec.slavery.html made this so-called "peculiar institution" of slavery an integral part of the South's early 19th century economy. Due to the South's powerful agricultural success, the region became integral to the political history of the United States, with the South supplying many of the United States' early military and political leaders (including nine of its first twelve presidents).

Related Topics:
Tobacco - Cash crop - Cotton - 1790s - Enslavement - Africa - 18th century - New York City - American colonies - Charleston, South Carolina - 19th century - History of the United States - Presidents

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However, by the middle of the 19th century sectional differences surrounding the issues of slavery, taxation, tariffs, and states' rights led to the secession of most of the Southern states after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. The Southern states that seceded formed the Confederate States of America with Richmond as its capital. During the four year Civil War which followed, the South found itself as the primary battleground, with almost all of the main battles taking place on Southern soil. Because of this fact, many white Southerners (Southern blacks were drafted into the Confederate army in March 1865. However, Confederate General Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865 before any black troops were able to participate in the fighting) fought in the Confederate army for what they saw as a defense of their homeland from an invading army.

Related Topics:
Slavery - Taxation - Tariffs - States' rights - Secession - Abraham Lincoln - 1860 - Confederate States of America - Richmond - Civil War

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The Confederates were eventually defeated by the Union. While casualties for the Union were higher than for the Confederates, as a proportion of their respective populations the South suffered much more than the North did. Overall, the Confederates had 95,000 killed in action and 165,000 who died of other causes, for a total of 260,000 total Confederate dead and/or missinghttp://users.erols.com/mwhite28/wars19c.htm#ACW, out of a total Southern population at the time of around 9 million (of which 3.5 million were slaves).http://www.vectorsite.net/twcw02.html

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After the Civil War, the South found itself devastated, both in terms of its population, infrastructure, and economy. The South also found itself under Reconstruction, with Union military troops in direct political control of the South. Many white Southerners who'd actively supported the Confederacy found themselves without many of the basic rights of citizenship (such as the ability to vote) while, with the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (which outlawed slavery), the 14th Amendment (which granted full U.S. citizenship to African Americans) and the 15th amendment (which extended the right to vote to black males), African Americans in the South began to enjoy more rights than they had ever had in the region.

Related Topics:
Infrastructure - Reconstruction - 13th Amendment - Constitution of the United States - 14th Amendment - African American - 15th amendment - Black

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By the 1890s, though, a political backlash against these rights had developed in the South. Organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, a clandestine organization sworn to perpetuate white supremacy, used lynchings, cross burnings and other forms of violence and intimidation to keep African Americans from exercising their political rights, while the Jim Crow laws were created to legally do the same thing. It would not be until the late 1960s that these changes would be undone by the American Civil Rights Movement. (For more on racial issues in the South, see the Race relations section below.)

Related Topics:
1890s - Ku Klux Klan - White supremacy - Lynchings - Cross burnings - Jim Crow law - 1960s - American Civil Rights Movement - Race relations

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It is worth noting, though, that not only African Americans suffered in the South after the Civil War. With the region devastated by its loss and the destruction of its civil infrastructure, much of the South was generally unable to recover economically until World War II (1939 - 1945). The South was noted by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the "number one priority" in terms of need of assistance during the Great Depression (1929-1939), the lack of capital investment also contributed to its economic hardship.

Related Topics:
World War II - 1939 - 1945 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Great Depression - 1929

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