Deep South

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Regional definitions vary from source to source. The states shown in dark red are usually included, while all or portions of the striped states may or may not be considered part of the Deep South.

The Deep South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the American South, differentiated from the "Old South" as being the post colonial expansion of Southern States in the antebellum period. There are various definitions of the term:

South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana (Six of the founding members of the Confederate States of America)
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana (From the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy)
Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi (From the National Endowment for the Humanities)

The "Deep South" is usually defined in opposition to the Old South including South Carolina, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and often Georgia and also further differentiated from the inland border states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Arkansas and the peripheral southern states of Florida and Texas.

Although Florida is geographically the southernmost state, it is sometimes excluded from the Deep South due to the large amount of Northern migration to the state that has occurred since World War II. However, parts of the state, especially the Panhandle and the northern regions can be included in the characterization, with an unofficial "Southern" line possibly "drawn" around the area near extreme northern Hillsborough County, Florida, jutting northeast to above Orlando and surrounding counties; below this line, the culture tends to be more "Northern" due to said migration (the Miami–Ft. Lauderdale–West Palm Beach area in extreme southeast Florida is the least influenced by "Southern" culture).

Urban areas of North Carolina and Georgia have also received waves of Rust belt migrants seeking greater economic opportunities or a warmer climate. This migration, according to some, is causing some distinct cultural traits to be diluted.

For most of the 19th century and 20th century, the Deep South overwhelmingly supported the Democratic Party, viewing the rival Republican Party as a Northern organization responsible for the American Civil War, which devastated the economy of the Old South. However, since the 1964 presidential election, the Deep South has tended to vote for the Republican candidate, except in the 1976 election when Georgia native Jimmy Carter received the Democratic nomination. Since the 1990s there has been a continued shift toward Republican candidates in most political venues.

Literature

Adam Rothman. Slave Country: American Expansion and the Origins of the Deep South. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005 [review]

Deep South

Literature

See also