Southern United States

The Southern United States, sometimes called the South and Dixie, is a region of the United States of America. Sources differ when listing the states to be included in this part of the United States. This ambiguity is a result of the fact that the region reflects cultural and historical aspects of the area, not geographical ones. This region is known for having its own way of speaking, its own customs, its own food and recipes, and its own music.

The region is not defined by the compass direction of south on a U.S. map. Several states across the bottom—or southern portion—of the United States are not included in definitions of the South. For example, it does not include Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico. Only sometimes are Texas and Oklahoma included.

The South usually includes the East Coast states south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The Mason-Dixon Line defines the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland as well as parts of the borders of Delaware and West Virginia. The region then goes down the Atlantic coast and includes a few states to the west.

The region is bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the south by the Gulf of Mexico. Descriptions of the northern and western borders of the region differ, depending on the source. Maryland and Delaware are sometimes excluded from the region, as are West Virginia and Arkansas. Washington, D.C., and Missouri are sometimes included.

One definition of the South focuses on those states that were part of the Confederacy during the Civil War, sometimes called the Old South. In that definition, the region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. But even this definition is not clear, because some sources add Kentucky and Missouri to the list. The designation of New South usually refers to the Old South plus Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, sixteen states are included in the region of the Southern United States. The sixteen states are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The District of Columbia is also included in the Census Bureau’s Southern region.

The U.S. Census Bureau designates three smaller divisions within the South. The South Atlantic division includes Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. The second division is called East South Central, and it includes Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. West South Central is the third division, and it includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Historical Perspective

Evidence of Native American peoples in the Southern region exists from 9500 BCE. The culture evolved from hunter-gatherers to a large, complex culture called the Mississippian culture.

English settlers entered the region in the 1600s. Spanish and French colonists settled in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. Each culture passed its heritage to its offspring, with the result that different languages and customs still influence parts of the region.

The region is home to Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the land that became the United States. The settlement did not thrive until the settlers began growing and exporting tobacco. Agriculture played an ongoing role in the growth and economy of the Southern region.

As colonists settled in Georgia and Carolina, which later split into North and South Carolina, they farmed on large plantations. Tobacco and rice were important crops. African people were brought to the South to work as slave labor on the plantations. After the Revolutionary War, cotton became an important crop for most of the region, and the area became known as the Cotton Belt.

Not everyone lived or worked on plantations. Some people lived in the hills or on poor farms that produced crops such as peas and beans.

During the Civil War, many states in the Southern region seceded, or withdrew, from the United States. This rebellious region, the Confederate States of America, lost the war in 1865, and many Southern states were greatly damaged as a result of this conflict. Because President Abraham Lincoln had freed the slaves, these defeated states had to find a new way of life. Textile mills and other industries were started. The tobacco industry was mechanized and became centered in North Carolina.

By 1931, most of the cotton crops had failed because of boll weevil infestations. The U.S. government set up programs to help develop the South. After World War II, farming became more mechanized, and different kinds of crops were grown, including fruits and nuts.

The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s spurred better treatment of African Americans in the South. By the early twenty-first century, more than half of the nation’s African Americans lived in this region.

Geography and Climate

The Southern region of the United States is geographically diverse. Mountains, plateaus, bayous, deltas, swamps, bluegrass, and coastal plains are all included in the region.

The region has a long coastline. Six of the sixteen states included in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Southern region border the Atlantic Ocean—Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The west side of the Florida peninsula borders the Gulf of Mexico, as does Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Maryland’s coastline is on the Chesapeake Bay. Portions of Delaware and Virginia are also on the Chesapeake. Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia are landlocked, or surrounded by land on all sides.

Running north to south within the region are the Appalachian Mountains, as well as the Mississippi River. The Mississippi is the second longest river in the United States, and its rich delta soil is good for crops.

The Southern region has several different climate zones, including temperate, tropical, and arid. Most of the region is classified as a humid subtropical zone, which means that it is generally hot and humid in the summer, with cool and mild winters. Snow and ice can fall throughout most of the Southern region, which, along with frosts, can hurt the crops. Hurricanes are also a threat along the coastline.

The region is home to a wide variety of plants and animals. The long growing season is good for crops such as tobacco and cotton. Some of the other regional plants include magnolia, bald cypress, and mangrove trees, as well as oaks and pines. Spanish moss hangs from tree branches in many Southern states.

The ocean, bays, rivers, and swamps in the region are home to many water birds as well as to aquatic life such as fish, shrimp, and crabs. Mangrove trees, with their roots growing in the water, provide shelter for land and water creatures. Alligators can be found in parts of the region, such as in the Everglades, a swamp in Florida.

Economy

Agriculture was the backbone of the South’s economy for many years. In Florida, citrus is still an important crop, as is tobacco in states such as North Carolina. However, over the years, the region has become more industrialized. Manufacturing and shipping are important. In the Appalachian area, especially in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee, coal mining is a large industry. On the Gulf of Mexico, companies drill for oil and natural gas. Fishing is important on the waterfronts, where shrimp, crabs, oysters, and clams are harvested.

The region boasts the world’s largest research park, located in the Research Triangle, North Carolina. A research park is an area where scientific research is performed. Tourism is an important industry in the nation’s capital of Washington, D.C. It is also important in Florida, where there are many theme parks as well as sunny beaches. Visitors are also attracted to the historical areas of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown in Virginia, as well as to many beaches along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastline.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s statistics show that in 2013, the South had the lowest median household income, $48,128. It also had the highest poverty rate in the United States in both 2000 and 2010. The poverty level increased from 21.8 percent in 2000 to 30.8 percent in 2010. The only portions of the Southern region to show a decline in poverty levels between 2000 and 2010 were Louisiana, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Demographics

Population in the South is growing. The U.S. Census Bureau showed that the Southern region had the largest population of all the regions. In 2015, the population was estimated to be 121,182,847, or 37.7 percent of the population of the nation. This number represented about a 2 percent increase over the total reported in the 2000 population.

According to the 2010 census, 55 percent of African Americans in the United States lived in the South. This number represented a 53.6 percent increase over the total reported in the 2000 census.

The Hispanic population in the South increased 57 percent between the 2000 census and the 2010 census. Hispanics make up 16 percent of the total population in the South.

In 2010, the South had the largest population of people aged sixty-five and older as well as eighty-five and older of all the regions. There was a 19.7 percent increase in the population of those who were sixty-five and older between the 2000 and 2010 censuses. In the same period, the percentage of people aged eighty-five and older increased 27.4 percent.

The South had the second largest population of Native Americans in the United States in 2010. The Native American population in the region increased 36 percent from the 2000 census to the 2010 census.

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