More Souths?

Abstract

Scholars have long recognized that the American South, however different from the rest of the United States, has never been a monolith. At a minimum we must distinguish between the upper and lower Souths, and even within those two subregions much diversity exists: Tidewater, Piedmont, Appalachia, Sea Islands, Gulf Coast, Delta, black belt, lowcountry, upcountry, hillcountry-and the list goes on. Geographical differences within each southern state, moreover, have profoundly influenced each state's social, economic, political, and cultural development. It is still possible, of course, to speak of the South, be it one defined by slavery and racial oppression, war and defeat, environment and weather, or by some other distinguishing characteristics. Nonetheless, we must also acknowledge that to generalize about the South is to participate in something of a charade; we can only speak of the South if we also admit that the region is marked by such diversity as almost to belie any notion of regional cohesion other than as contrivance.