Southern Charm
Southern Charm is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on March 3, 2014. The series chronicles the personal and professional lives of several socialites who reside in Charleston, South Carolina.
The show focuses on the Southern culture, along with the political history of the area, and has featured local historical places including Lewisfield Plantation and Mikell House.
Production.
On July 14, 2014, "Southern Charm" was renewed for a second season, which premiered on March 16, 2015. Jenna King did not return. The second season featured Craig Conover, Shep Rose, Cameran Wimberly, Thomas Ravenel, and Whitney Sudler-Smith all returning, with Kathryn Calhoun Dennis and Landon Clements joining the main cast.
The third season premiered on April 4, 2016. All cast members returned from the previous season. The fourth season was announced on February 16, 2017, and premiered on April 3. Sudler-Smith left the main cast after season three, and was featured in a recurring capacity in following seasons. Conover, Rose, Wimberly, Ravenel, Dennis and Clements all returned for season four, with Austen Kroll being added to the main cast.
In February 2018, Bravo announced the fifth season and it premiered on April 5, 2018. Clements did not return, and Chelsea Meissner was promoted to the main cast for season five. In August 2018, Ravenel announced his departure from the show after five seasons due to sexual assault allegations against him, as well as claiming that the show "took advantage of him." Bravo confirmed his departure in September 2018 after Ravenel was arrested and charged with assault and battery. The sixth season premiered on May 15, 2019, with Wimberly, Rose, Conover, Dennis, Kroll, and Meissner all returning, with both Naomie Olindo and Eliza Limehouse added to the main cast.
Season seven was announced on September 24, 2020, and premiered on October 29, 2020. Filming of the seventh season was paused in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, it was confirmed that Cameran Eubanks, Naomie Olindo, and Chelsea Meissner would not be returning to the show for the seventh season. In August 2020, Eliza Limehouse confirmed that she too was departing the series ahead of season seven. Leva Bonaparte, Madison LeCroy, and John Pringle were introduced as series regulars, joining Conover, Rose, Dennis, and Kroll in the main cast.
Season 8 premiered on June 23, 2022, with Olivia Flowers, Venita Aspen, Chleb Ravenell and Taylor Ann Green joining Conover, Rose, Dennis, Kroll, Bonaparte, and Olindo as part of the main cast. Madison LeCroy and John Pringle were reduced to recurring roles, while Marcie Hobbs was introduced as a friend of the cast. Filming for the season wrapped in December 2021, and the trailer dropped on May 16, 2022.
In August 2023, it was announced that the ninth season of the show would premiere on September 14, 2023. Conover, Rose, Kroll, Bonaparte, Aspen, Flowers and Green all returned along with LeCroy who was upgraded back to a full time role. Rod Razavi, Rodrigo Reyes and Jarrett Thomas joined as new main cast members. Dennis and Olindo did not return.
In October 2024, it was announced that the tenth season would premiere on December 5, 2024. Conover, Rose, Kroll, Bonaparte, Aspen, Green, LeCroy, Reyes and Thomas all returned, alongside new main cast members Ryan Albert, Salley Carson and Molly O’Connell joining the cast. Flowers and Razavi were not asked back to return for the tenth season. In November 2024, Thomas exited the series after two seasons, saying that he would cease filming the series immediately.
Spin-offs.
On October 27, 2016, Bravo ordered a spin-off series to "Southern Charm", titled "Southern Charm Savannah". The series follows the same premise as its predecessor series but is set in Savannah, Georgia. The series is produced by Haymaker Production and Aaron Rothman, Irad Eyal, Sara Nichols, Luke Neslage and Jessica Chesler, Jason Weinberg, Bryan Kestner and Whitney Sudler-Smith serve as the series' executive producers. The series premiered on May 8, 2017.
In April 2017, Bravo announced it was ordering two spin-offs, "Southern Charm New Orleans" and "RelationShep." "RelationShep" premiered on December 4, 2017, and followed the "Southern Charm" cast member as he looked for love. "Southern Charm New Orleans" premiered on April 15, 2018 and its second season premiered on June 2, 2019.
In February 2021, main castmembers Craig Conover and Austen Kroll were involved in a joint spin-off of "Southern Charm" and "Summer House" titled "Winter House", in which Conover and Kroll join stars of "Summer House" for a trip to Stowe, Vermont. A preview of the spin-off aired after the fifth-season finale of "Summer House" in April 2021, and it premiered in October 2021. Conover and Kroll returned for the second season of "Winter House", which premiered on October 13, 2022.
In May 2022, Bravo ordered a spin-off starring main cast member Leva Bonaparte titled "Southern Hospitality" that follows Bonaparte and the staff of her Charleston nightclub, Republic Garden & Lounge. The series debuted on November 28, 2022.
References.
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List of Southern Charm episodes
"Southern Charm" is an American reality television series aired on Bravo that debuted on March 3, 2014. The series focuses on several socialites as they socialize and navigate their personal lives in Charleston, South Carolina.
Series overview.
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Episodes.
Season 1 (2014).
Craig Conover, Cameran Wimberly, Jenna King, Thomas Ravenel, Shep Rose, and Whitney Sudler-Smith are introduced as series regulars.
Season 2 (2015).
King departed as a series regular. Kathryn Calhoun Dennis and Landon Clements are introduced as series regulars.
Season 4 (2017).
Sudler-Smith departed as a series regular. Austen Kroll joins the main cast.
Season 5 (2018).
Clements departed as a series regular. Chelsea Meissner joins the main cast.
Season 6 (2019).
Ravenel departed as a series regular. Eliza Limehouse and Naomie Olindo are added to the main cast.
Season 7 (2020–21).
Wimberly, Meissner, Limehouse, and Olindo departed the series. Leva Bonaparte, Madison LeCroy, and John Pringle are added to the main cast.
Season 8 (2022).
Naomie Olindo returned as a series regular. Venita Aspen, Taylor Ann Green, Olivia Flowers, and Chleb Ravenell joined the main cast.
Season 9 (2023–24).
Dennis, Olindo, and Ravenell departed the series. Rod Razavi, Rodrigo Reyes, and Jarrett "JT" Thomas joined the main cast.
Season 10 (2024–25).
Flowers and Razavi departed the series. Ryan Albert, Salley Carson, and Molly O'Connell joined the main cast.
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Southern Charm Savannah
Southern Charm Savannah is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on May 8, 2017. Developed as the first spin-off of "Southern Charm", it aired two seasons.
The series chronicles the personal and professional lives of several socialites who reside in Savannah, Georgia.
Production.
On October 27, 2016, Bravo announced that it would be producing a spin-off series of "Southern Charm", titled "Southern Charm Savannah". The show premiered on May 8, 2017. The first season finale aired on June 26, 2017.
In 2018, it was announced that the show's second season would premiere in July. The season finale aired on September 3, 2018.
References.
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Southern Charm New Orleans
American television program
Southern Charm New Orleans is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on April 15, 2018. Developed as the second spin-off of "Southern Charm", it aired two seasons.
The series chronicles the personal and professional lives of several socialites who reside in New Orleans, Louisiana.
On April 19, 2019, Bravo announced that the second season would premiere on June 2, 2019.
References.
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Southern Hospitality (TV series)
American reality television series on Bravo
Southern Hospitality is an American reality television series which has been broadcast on Bravo since November 28, 2022. The show is the third spin-off of "Southern Charm".
The series follows "Southern Charm"'s Leva Bonaparte and the staff at her restaurants and bars: Republic Lounge & Garden and Bourbon and Bubbles Restaurant & Bar.
Overview.
"Southern Hospitality" focuses on the careers and personal lives of the staff at Leva Bonaparte's restaurants and bars. The series is primarily centered around Republic Lounge & Garden, but occasionally features Bonaparte's other property Bourbon and Bubbles Restaurant & Bar.
Season 1.
The first season aired from November 28, 2022, to January 23, 2023. The original cast consisted of: Bradley Carter, Emmy Sharrett, Grace Lilly, Joe Bradley, Lucía Peña, Maddi Reese, Mia Alario, Mikel Simmons, TJ Dinch, Will Kulp, and Leva Bonaparte as series regulars.
Season 2.
On November 4, 2023, it was announced that the second season would premiere December 7, 2023. All cast members from the previous season returned. Oisin O'Neill joined the cast as a series regular. The second season aired from December 7, 2023 - February 22, 2024. The reunion was taped as an episode of "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen". The reunion aired on February 22, 2024. An extended and uncensored version was made available on Peacock on February 23, 2024.
Season 3.
In May 2024, the series was renewed for a third season. The third season aired from January 2, 2025, to March 6, 2025. Molly Moore, Michols Peña, Lake Rucker and Austin Stephan joined the cast as new series regulars. Lucía Peña, Simmons and O'Neill did not return for the third season. The reunion was taped early 2025 as an episode of "Watch What Happens Live". Will Kulp decided to not film the reunion on the day of the taping. However, he was in the building and watched from another room. The reunion aired on March 6, 2025, after the season finale. An uncensored version was made available for streaming on Peacock the next day.
Reception.
Writing for "Common Sense Media", reviewer Melissa Camacho said, "While the overall series will remind you of unscripted shows like "Vanderpump Rules", "Southern Hospitality" remains true to its roots by attempting to contextualize all of this within Southern culture and community, a few of which border on stereotypes about women, clothes, and attitudes. Folks who aren't drawn to this type of entertainment won't find much here. Meanwhile, if you're a fan of the franchise, you'll find the series to be a bit of a departure from its predecessors."
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The Charmings
American fantasy television sitcom
The Charmings is an American fantasy sitcom that follows Snow White and Prince Charming, awakened from a thousand-year spell, as they adjust from their familiar life in the enchanted forest to the modern ways of 20th-century Los Angeles suburbs. The series originally aired from March 20, 1987, to February 11, 1988, on ABC.
Synopsis.
The opening voice-over sets up the premise:
The premise of the series' plot was that fairy tale characters Snow White and Prince Charming were magically transported to a 20th-century suburb in Burbank, California. Each episode shows the Charmings trying to adapt to their new life while Lillian, the wicked stepmother, and her wise cracking Magic Mirror watch from upstairs. After the first season, Caitlin O'Heaney (who portrayed Snow White) was replaced by Carol Huston.
After mild success as part of ABC's Friday night lineup, the series was moved to Thursday nights for its second season, in a head-to-head battle with NBC's "A Different World", and later "The Cosby Show". Due to low ratings, the series was canceled after twenty episodes. One episode remains unaired in the US, though it was shown during the show's run in the UK and in 2021 in Canada on CTV.
International Broadcast.
In Italy, the show aired on Odeon TV under the name "" ("Snow White in Beverly Hills") from 1988 until 1989.
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Whitney Sudler-Smith
American film director
Whitney Sudler-Smith (born June 2, 1968) is an American filmmaker, television director, and a classically trained guitarist. He is the creator and executive producer of Bravo's "Southern Charm", a reality docu-series about life in Charleston, South Carolina. He was an executive producer on the "Savannah" and "New Orleans" spin-off shows.
Early years.
Sudler-Smith was born June 2, 1968 in Washington, D.C., however he grew up in Virginia. His mother is Patricia Altschul (then Pat Dey-Smith), a socialite. He graduated from Georgetown Day School and George Washington University. He studied at Oxford University and the Alliance Française in Paris. His late father, Lon Hayes Smith, was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, which is a peninsula.
Career.
In 1996, Sudler-Smith directed two small films "Going for Baroque" and "Afternoon Delight". In 1998, he released an Indie film "Bubba and Ike", a "redneck buddy comedy" starring Jesse Borrego and Elisa Gabrielli which was first screened at the Austin Film Festival. In 2002, Sudler-Smith wrote and directed "Torture TV", another Indie film starring Danny Huston and Trevor Goddard. Sudler-Smith is also a screenwriter. In 2010, he directed the documentary "Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston" about Roy Halston, a fashion designer. The film was met with mostly negative reviews and has a rating of 33% on review aggregating site Rottentomatoes.com.
Sudler-Smith is the creator and executive producer of "Southern Charm", a reality show on Bravo which chronicles the social life of Charleston, SC. He was the executive producer of two spin-off series, "Southern Charm Savannah" and "Southern Charm New Orleans". While neither show was officially cancelled, they have not aired since 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Sudler-Smith's mother, Patricia Altschul, is the widow of Arthur Goodhart Altschul Sr., the prominent New York art collector and philanthropist who was a longtime general partner of Goldman Sachs. When Sudler-Smith announced plans during the show's first season to open a restaurant in Charleston, his mother told him, “I think that’s a little out of your realm.”
The show is sometimes filmed in Mikell House, a 9,480-square-foot mansion built in 1851 which Patricia Altschul bought in downtown Charleston. Sudler-Smith is in pre-production on the scripted comedy "Family Office".
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Southern Girls (play)
Southern Girls is a 1991 Drama/Memory play by Sheri Bailey and Dura Temple about the lives of 6 southern women (3 black and 3 white) from childhood to middle age outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Though strong in friendship during childhood, the girls begin to lead separate lives due to the racial conflict that surrounds them. Black sisters Ruth and Naomi face challenges in their world as white friends Dolly, Charlotte (half sister to Wanda-Sue), and June-Adele navigate theirs, with Wanda-Sue (half black and half white) caught in between.
The play draws on the white and black experience of the 6 southern women as their lives change over time. The play features four phases divided into two acts from 1952 to the present.
Performances.
"Southern Girls" premiered at The Galloway Theatre by The University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) in November 1991 and at the Powerhouse Theatre in Santa Monica where it was reviewed and featured in the Los Angeles Times in 1995.
Actors.
Actresses in the first "Southern Girls" performance include Niambi Williams as Naomi, LaTricia W. Williams as Ruth, Mari Louderbough as Wanda-Sue, Jenny McKnight as Charlotte Cecil, Rae Ruff as Dolly Granger, and Melissa Bush as June-Adele. Actresses of the 1995 Los Angeles include Lydia Hannibal as Ruth, Nancy Cheryll Davis as Wanda-Sue, Veronica Thompson as Naomi, Betsy Zang as Charlotte, Joan Chodorow as Dolly, and Terry Davis as June-Adele. From the October 2010 Lyon College performance: Haley Hudson as June-Adele Taylor, Miracle Davis as Naomi Hurdle, Kelley Wyatt as Charlotte Cecil, Kelsey Lack as Dolly Granger Jackson, Nina McCoy as Wanda-Sue Johnson, and Vivian Onyekwelu as Ruth Hurdle.
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Southern belle
Colloquialism for a debutante in the Southern planter class
"Southern belle" (from fr 'beautiful') is a colloquialism for a debutante or other fashionable young woman in the planter class of the Antebellum South, particularly as a romantic counterpart to the Southern gentleman.
Characteristics.
The image of a Southern belle is often characterized by fashion elements such as a hoop skirt, a corset, pantalettes, a wide-brimmed straw hat, and gloves. As signs of tanning were considered working-class and unfashionable during this era, parasols and fans are also often represented.
Southern belles were expected to marry respectable young men, and become ladies of society dedicated to the family and community. The Southern belle archetype is characterized by Southern hospitality, a cultivation of beauty, and a flirtatious yet chaste demeanor.
For example, Sallie Ward, who was born into the planter class of Kentucky in the Antebellum South, was called a Southern belle.
Dick Pope Sr., promoter of Florida tourism, played an important role in popularizing the archetypal image. Hostesses at his famed Cypress Gardens were portrayed as Southern belles in promotional materials for the theme park.
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Party Down South
American reality television series
Party Down South (also known as "The Dirty South" and "Dirty South") is an American reality television series that premiered January 16, 2014, on CMT. The series was created by "Jersey Shore" executive producer SallyAnn Salsano and 495 Productions, and has thus far been set in five different locations: Murrells Inlet, South Carolina; Athens, Georgia; Savannah, Georgia; Biloxi, Mississippi; and St. Petersburg, Florida. The latter two locations have served as the setting for "Party Down South" and the spinoff series Party Down South 2.
"Party Down South" depicts eight adults who are put together in a house for the summer. In October 2014, "Party Down South" was announced as CMT's highest-rated show, averaging over 930,000 viewers, which led to the making of two seasons of the spinoff show "Party Down South 2".
On January 7, 2016, CMT announced that the fifth season, featuring the original "Party Down South" cast, will be the final season. The final season premiered on January 28, 2016, and concluded on April 14, 2016.
Production.
On March 5, 2013, it was announced during CMT's annual presentation attended by Viacom's top executives in New York City that CMT would be airing several new shows, including "The Dirty South", that would premiere in late 2013. On July 27, 2013, WBTW announced that "The Dirty South" would be filmed in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Some locals are against the idea, as the name "Dirty South" does not represent the area and could hurt the area's reputation, but others are in favor of the show or say they will have an open mind. The series title was later changed to its current name, "Party Down South".
Season one of "Party Down South" was filmed in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. In July 2013, the owner of Drunken Jack's, Al Hitchcock, was approached by 495 Productions about filming in his restaurant. Hitchcock stated that he was not opposed to the idea and thinks it would be good for the area. He consequently allowed crews inside his restaurant and placed a bid to serve as the catering company for the more than 100 crew and cast members while they were in town.
In August 2014, Wright did not show up for the second-season reunion "Party Down South: The After Party" and all cast members stated she was no longer in contact with them. She cited religion and her pregnancy as why she would not be returning.
Note: All ages are at the time of Season 1 filming, for the exception of Hannah "Hott Dogg" Guidry, who was 28 at the time she joined the cast in Season 3.
Episodes.
Season 2 (2014).
The second season was originally set to be filmed in Pensacola, Florida, before the local community rejected the production over concerns of image portrayal of Pensacola Beach and wanting to "get away from the whole Redneck Riviera crap." The producers eventually settled on filming in Athens, Georgia, instead.
Season 3 (2015).
Season 3 premiered on February 26, 2015. Filming took place in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Season 4 (2015).
The fourth season premiered on August 20, 2015, and concluded on October 29, 2015. Filming took place in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Season 5 (2016).
The fifth and final season premiered on January 28, 2016. Filming took place in Savannah, Georgia.
Note: All ages are at the time of Season 1 filming, for the exception of Kelsie Davenport, who was 21 at the time of Season 2.
"Party Down South 2".
Episodes.
Season 1 (2014–15).
Season 1 premiered on November 20, 2014. Filming took place in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Season 2 (2015).
The second season, which was filmed in St. Petersburg, Florida, premiered on May 14, 2015. Cast member Magan Ladner did not be return for the second season, due to the birth of her daughter. New roommate Kelsie Davenport moved in.
Controversy and incidents.
Since WBTW announced that show would be filmed in Murrells Inlet, crews from the production company had begun working on a large home called King's Krest, a 100-year-old house located on the Marshwalk. This location is intended to house the cast for about a month during the filming of the show, but word of the show has worried many locals about what the caricatured "reality" show could do to the peaceful fishing town's reputation. Local resident Warren Stedman stated "There was all this secrecy, they kept telling us it was a documentary, well no it's not. It's a reality show about a bunch of drunk 20-year-olds or whatever, coming in and pretending they're Southerners."
Many residents are upset that local officials did nothing to deter the production of a show that could have serious effects on the quiet vacation destination. Jerry Oakley, the vice chairman of the Georgetown County Council, stated "Any citizen who does not agree with the decision of the Zoning Administrator can immediately appeal it to the Board of Zoning Appeals, and that would be my suggestion to anyone who has issue with that decision." Oakley went on to point out that the county does not have the authority to stop someone from filming simply because they dislike the nature of the content.
On July 31, 2013, "The Sun News" reported that many locals are unhappy about Murrells Inlet being in the upcoming spotlight, especially if the show turns out to be similar to TLC's "Myrtle Manor". People from Georgetown County express concern that the cast does not reflect the Southern character and hospitality for which the area is known. One resident is quoted saying "I think it is absolutely ridiculous, [and] it is humiliating. The kind of people that they are casting are not from here. We definitely have more manners than that."
Former Georgia congressman, "The Dukes of Hazzard" star Ben Jones has been openly critical of "Party Down South" since its debut and has even gone so far as to write a condemning open letter to Country Music Television and its parent company Viacom Media Networks regarding the show and its portrayal of southerners.
Legal problems.
On February 23, 2014, cast member Lyle Boudreaux was arrested in Maurice, Louisiana, for burglary of a vehicle. TMZ later uploaded the security camera footage that recorded Boudreaux in the act.
In April 2014, cast member Mattie Breaux had a bench warrant issued for her arrest. This was the result of her failing to appear for a pre-trial hearing from a 2012 drunk-driving arrest. She said she was participating in filming for Season 2 in Athens, Georgia, at the time of the hearing.
In July 2014, cast member Ryan "Daddy" Richards was investigated by authorities in Athens, Georgia, after a woman initially told police that she had been sexually assaulted by "Daddy" after being slipped a date rape drug while partying with the cast during the filming of season 2. However, after reviewing approximately 20 hours of footage, police ultimately determined that the accusations had been proven false.
On November 15, 2014, cast member Josh Murray was arrested for DUI and driving with a suspended license in Rankin County, Mississippi, after failing a field sobriety test.
On February 8, 2015, Lyle Boudreaux was arrested again, this time in Lafayette, Louisiana, on charges of drunk driving, marijuana possession and bringing drugs into a jail following his arrest.
On October 25, 2018, Taylor Wright was arrested for punching her mother-in-law during an argument.
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Culture of the Southern United States

The culture of the Southern United States, Southern culture, or Southern heritage, is a subculture of the United States. From its many cultural influences, the South developed its own unique customs, dialects, arts, literature, cuisine, dance, and music. The combination of its unique history and the fact that many Southerners maintain—and even nurture—an identity separate from the rest of the country has led to it being one of the most studied and written-about regions of the United States.
During the 1600s to mid-1800s, the central role of agriculture and slavery during the colonial period and antebellum era economies made society stratified according to land ownership. This landed gentry made culture in the early Southern United States differ from areas north of the Mason–Dixon line and west of the Appalachians. The upland areas of the South were characterized by yeoman farmers who worked on their small landed property with few or no slaves, while the lower-lying elevations and Deep South was a society of more plantations worked by African slave labor. Events such as the First Great Awakening (1730s–1750s) would strengthen Protestantism in the South and United States as a whole. Communities would often develop strong attachment to their churches as the primary community institution.
History.
Starting in the early 1600s and lasting to the mid-1800s, slavery played an outsized role in shaping the culture, politics, and economy of the South. This included its agricultural practices, the outbreak of the American Civil War, and the imposition of racial segregation. Southern yeoman farmers, subsistence farmers who owned few or no slaves, comprised a large portion of the population during the colonial period and antebellum era, which settled largely in the back country and uplands. Their way of life and culture would differ sharply from that of the planter class. The climate of the region is conducive to growing tobacco, cotton, and other crops, and the red clay in many areas was used for the distinctive red-brick architecture of many commercial buildings.
The presence and practices of Native Americans, along with the region's landscape, also played a role in shaping Southern culture. Events such as the First Great Awakening (1730s–1750s) would help establish the growth of Protestantism in the South and United States as a whole. Throughout much of the Southern United States history, the region was heavily rural. Not until during and after World War II did the region start to see larger scale urbanization of its cities and metropolitan areas. This would lead to social and economic transformation of the South in the years since the 1940s.
People.
Anglo-Americans.
In the time of their arrival, the predominant cultural influence on the Southern states was that of the English colonists who established the original English colonies in the region. In the 17th century, most were of South West England and South East England origins, from regions such as Kent, Sussex and the West Country who settled mostly on the coastal regions of the South but pushed as far inland as the Appalachian mountains by the 18th century. In the 18th century, large groups of Scots lowlanders, Northern English and Ulster-Scots (later called the Scots-Irish) settled in Appalachia and the Piedmont. Following them were larger numbers of English indentured servants from across the English Midlands and Southern England; they would be the largest group to settle in the Southern Colonies during the colonial period. They were often called "crackers", a derogatory epithet applied to rural, non-elite whites of south Georgia and north Florida. Before the American Revolution, the term was applied by the English, as a derogatory epithet for the non-elite settlers of the southern backcountry. This usage can be found in a passage from a letter to the Earl of Dartmouth, "I should explain ... what is meant by Crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascals on the frontiers of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, who often change their places of abode."
Most European Southerners today are of partial or majority English and Scots-Irish ancestry. In previous censuses, over a third of Southern responders identified as being of English or partly English ancestry with 19,618,370 self-identifying as "English" on the 1980 census, followed by 12,709,872 identifying as Irish, 11,054,127 as Afro-American, and 10,742,903 as German. It should also be noted that those who did identify themselves of German ancestry were almost exclusively found in the northern border areas of the region which are adjacent to the American Mid-West. Those from the Tidewater area of Virginia and the Tidewater region of North Carolina identified themselves almost exclusively as of English origins, while those from the Piedmont areas were a mixture of English, Scotch-Irish, Scottish and Irish origins. South Georgia has a large Irish presence, the ancestors of whom were largely at one time Roman Catholic; however, many were converted to various Protestant sects due to the lack of a missionary presence of the Catholic Church in the 18th and 19th centuries. The predominance of Irish surnames in South Georgia has been noted by American historians for some time. Meanwhile, a community of Scottish highlanders settled around what is now Fayetteville in North Carolina. Gaelic was spoken in this region into the nineteenth century.
People of many nationalities established communities in the American South. Some examples are the German American population of the Edwards Plateau of Texas, whose ancestors arrived in the region in the 1840s. German cultural influence continues to be felt in cities like New Braunfels, Texas near Austin and San Antonio. Much of the population of East Texas, Louisiana, coastal Mississippi and Alabama, and Florida traces its primary ancestry to French and/or Spanish colonists of the 18th century. Also important is the French community of New Orleans dating back to the 1880s.
African Americans.
Another primary population group in the South is made up of the African American descendants of enslaved Africans brought into the South. African Americans comprise the United States' largest ethnic group and simultaneously second largest racial minority, accounting for 14 percent of the total population according to the 2010 census. They accounted for nearly 45% of the Southern population during the Antebellum period through the early 20th century. Despite Jim Crow era outflow to the North and Midwest (see Great Migration), the majority of the black population has remained concentrated in the southern states from Virginia to Texas. Since the end of formal segregation, blacks have been returning to the South in large numbers (see New Great Migration).
Hispanic Americans.
A sizable fraction of the Southern population is also made of Hispanic Americans, especially immigrants from Central American countries which border on the US's southernmost states. The Hispanic population of the South has expanded considerably in recent years, both due to natural population growth and immigration. It is concentrated mainly in the Southern states of Texas and Florida, due to their proximity to Latin America.
Religion.
Part of the South is known as the "Bible Belt", because of the prevalence there of evangelical Protestantism. South Florida has a large Jewish element that migrated from New York. Immigrants from Southeast Asia and South Asia have brought Buddhism and Hinduism to the region as well. In the colonial period and early 19th century the First Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening transformed Southern religion. The evangelical religion was spread by religious revivals led by local lay Baptist ministers or itinerant Methodist ministers. They fashioned the nation's "Bible Belt."
After the Revolution, the Anglican Church of England was disestablished (meaning it no longer received local tax money) and was reorganized as the nationalised Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA. The Revolution turned more people toward Methodist and Baptist preachers in the South. The Cane Ridge Revival and subsequent "camp-meetings" on the Kentucky and Tennessee frontiers were the impetus behind the Restoration Movement. Traveling preachers used music and song to convert new members. Shape-note singing became a fundamental part of camp meetings in frontier regions. In the early decades of the 18th century, the Baptists in the South reduced their challenge to class and race. Rather than pressing for freedom for slaves, they encouraged planters to improve treatment of them, and ultimately used the Bible to justify slavery.
In 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention separated from other regions. Baptist and Methodist churches proliferated across the Tidewater region, usually attracting common planters, artisans and workers. The wealthiest planters continued to be affiliated with the Episcopal Church. By the beginning of the Civil War, the Baptist and Methodist churches had attracted the most members in the South, and their churches were most numerous in the region.
Historically Catholic colonists were primarily those from Spain and France who settled in coastal areas of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Today, there are significant Catholic populations along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico (especially the port cities of New Orleans, Biloxi, Pensacola and Mobile), which preserve the continuing Catholic traditions of Carnival at the beginning of Lent in Mardi Gras parades and related customs. Elsewhere in the region, Catholics are typically a minority and of mainly Irish, German and French or modern Hispanic ancestry. As of 2013, Catholics comprised 42% of the population in the New Orleans Metropolitan area based on numbers presented by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Atlanta, in comparison to some other Southern cities, had a relatively small Catholic population prior to the 1990s. Catholics comprised 1.7% of the population in 1960, and 3.1% of the population in 1980. The population has been growing rapidly since then. The number of Catholics grew from 292,300 members in 1998 to 900,000 members in 2010, an increase of 207 percent. The population was expected to top 1 million by 2011. The increase is fueled by Catholics moving to Atlanta from other parts of the U.S. and the world, and from newcomers to the church. About 16 percent of all metropolitan Atlanta residents are Catholic, comparable to many Midwestern metropolitan areas.
Raleigh, North Carolina also has a rapidly growing number of Catholics, with Catholicism having the largest number of affiliates out of any other religious group (11.3%) and the second largest number in Wake County (22%).
Maryland, which was settled by the British, is historically Catholic as well and many historians believe it was named after the Queen Henrietta Maria by Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron of Baltimore. Maryland was the only Roman Catholic British colony in the Americas, and was considered a refuge for England's Roman Catholic minority which was being persecuted by the Church of England. When William of Orange rose to power in England, Catholicism was outlawed in Maryland, causing a decrease in the number of practicing Catholics. In the 1840s, the Catholic population rebounded with the mass immigration of Irish due to the Great Famine of Ireland. Maryland also became home to many Polish and Italian immigrants.
In general, the inland regions of the Deep South and Upper South, such as Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama were less attractive to immigrants and have stronger concentrations of Baptists, Methodists, Churches of Christ and other Protestant or non-Catholic fellowships. Eastern and northern Texas are heavily Protestant, while the southern and western parts of the state are predominantly Catholic.
The city of Charleston, South Carolina, has had a significant Jewish population since the colonial period. The first were Sephardic Jews who had been living in London or on the island of Barbados. They were connected to Jewish communities in New England as well. The community figured prominently in the history of South Carolina. Richmond also had a large Sephardic Jewish community before the Revolution and still has a notable Jewish community today. They built the first synagogue in Virginia about 1791. New Orleans also historically (and in the present day) has a significant Jewish community.
The South Florida area is home to the nation's second largest concentration of Jewish Americans outside New York, most of them early 20th century migrants and descendants from the Northeast. They were descendants of Ashkenazi Jews from Germany, Russia, Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe. Twentieth-century migration and business development have brought significant Jewish and Muslim communities to most major business and university cities, such as Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and more recently, Charlotte.
Southern dialect.
Southern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern states of the United States, from West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, and from the mid-Atlantic coast to throughout most of Texas and Oklahoma.
Southern dialects make up the largest accent group in the United States. Southern American English can be divided into different sub-dialects, with speech differing between regions. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) shares similarities with Southern dialect due to African Americans' strong historical ties to the region.
It has been said that Southerners are most easily distinguished from other Americans by their speech, both in terms of accent and idiom. However, there is no single "Southern Accent." Rather, Southern American English is a collection of dialects of the English spoken throughout the South. Southern American English can be divided into different sub-dialects, with speech differing between, for example, that of Appalachian region and the coastal "low country" around Charleston, South Carolina. Folklorists in the 1920s and later argued that because of the region's isolation, Appalachian language patterns more closely mirrored Elizabethan English than other accents in the United States.
While traces of African linguistic features remain in AAVE, there are a few distinctively African dialect groups in the South, the Gullah the most famous among them.
Gullah is still spoken by some African Americans in the Low Country of South Carolina, Georgia, southeastern North Carolina, and Northeast Florida, particularly the older generation. Also called Geechee in Georgia, the language and a strongly African culture developed because of the people's relative isolation in large communities, and continued importation of slaves from the same parts of Africa. As the enslaved people on large plantations were relatively undisturbed by whites, Gullah developed as a creole language, based on African forms. Similarly the people kept many African forms in religious rituals, foodways and similar transportable culture, all influenced by the new environment in the colonies. Other, less known African American dialect groups are the rural blacks of the Mississippi Basin, and Africatown near Mobile, Alabama, where the last known ship to arrive in the Americas with slaves was abandoned in 1860.
There are several other unique linguistic enclaves in the American South. Among them is that of Tangier Island, Virginia, as well as the Outer Banks North Carolina, which some scholars claim preserves a unique English dialect from the colonial period. The New Orleans or "Yat" dialect is similar to Northeastern port city accents because of an influx of German and Irish immigrants similar to those of the Northeast. Many are familiar with the French-based Cajun French that is spoken in the southern half of Louisiana.
Other distinct languages include Cajun French (Louisiana) and Isleño Spanish (Louisiana, see also Canarian Spanish).
The US South also contains many indigenous languages from the Native American Muskogean, Caddoan, Siouan–Catawban, Iroquoian, Algonquian, Yuchi, Chitimacha, Natchez, Tunica, Adai, Timucua, and Atakapa families. The historical record seems to suggest a picture of great linguistic diversity (similar to California) although most languages mentioned were not documented. Several southeastern languages have become extinct and all are endangered. The influence of native languages has led to distinct Indian varieties of English.
Regional variations.
There continues to be debate about what constitutes the basic elements of Southern culture. This debate is influenced partly because the South is such a large region. As a result, there are a number of cultural variations among states in the region.
Among the variations found in Southern culture are:
Alabama.
Southern Alabama north of Mobile was settled predominately by large plantation owners and slaves moved west from their original settlements on the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. These settlers originally had slave plantations in Barbados and sought to expand their plantation based economy. This region is mainly known for its large African American population and historic cultivation of wheat, cotton, and rice. It is the epitome of what is considered the Deep South. Today, this region is the poorest in the state and one of the poorest regions in the country. It still remains mostly rural and has seen minimal development.
Unlike the rest of southern Alabama, which was settled by British plantation owners, Mobile and the Gulf Coast was settled by Spanish and French settlers much earlier than the rest of the state. Mobile likely has more in common with New Orleans than it does with the rest of the state. Today, Mobile still retains some of its French traditions, such as having a large Catholic presence and annual celebrations of Mardi Gras, which first began in the United States in the city.
Northern Alabama was settled by Northern English and Scots Irish settlers who came to the United States. These Appalachian settlers were mostly small farmers—who did not own any slaves and had little voting power due to the rich planters in the South, who controlled the government. Today this region is still mostly rural, but is developing urban areas, such as cities like Birmingham and Huntsville attracting outsiders for work.
Kentucky.
With its northern border at the boundary of the Upper South and the Midwest, Kentucky demonstrates multiple cultural influences. A study in the 1990s revealed that 79% of Kentuckians agreed they were living within the south. The study also showed that 84% of Texans and 82% of Virginians believe they live within the south. It also showed between 80 and 90% of residents in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia and the Carolinas described themselves as southerners. This is likely because regional identification often varies dramatically within Kentucky. For example, many consider Northern Kentucky to be the most Midwestern region, as it shares culture with Cincinnati. Studies show that a significant minority of people in Northern Kentucky identify with the South. Conversely, southern Ohio and southern Indiana are highly Southern in comparison to most of the Midwest, as is the "Little Egypt" region of southern Illinois.
Some sources treat Southern Indiana as essentially the upper tip of Upland South culture, while others maintain that Southern culture, while significant, is not dominant in the region. Louisville is viewed as culturally and economically Midwestern in some analyses, because of how it rapidly industrialized during the late 19th century (although not to the same extent as most northern cities), as opposed to the slow industrialization that occurred in the South. Other observers consider Louisville to be southern culturally, due to dialect and various other aspects of culture. It is often described as both "the Gateway to the South" and "the northernmost Southern city and southernmost Northern city." Unlike the remainder of the state, Louisville, Covington, and Newport received large numbers of German immigrants due to manufacturing interests on the Ohio river, thus making the culture there somewhat distinct from the rest of the state. Had Kentucky been a free-state, prior to the Civil War, it would have likely drawn more German immigration, as there was usually a relatively small number of slaves in the areas where Germans did settle. As of the 1980s, the only counties in the United States where over half of the population cited "English" as their only ancestry group were all in the hills of eastern Kentucky (and made up virtually every county in this region). In the 1980 census, 1,267,079 Kentuckians out of a total population of 2,554,359 cited that they were of English ancestry, making them 49 percent of the state at that time.
While varying degrees of southern cultural influence can be found in Kentucky inside the Cincinnati area and Louisville, smaller cities such as Owensboro, Lexington, Bowling Green, Hopkinsville and Paducah, together with most of the state's rural areas, have continued to be more distinctly Southern in character. Outside of those two specific areas, southern culture, dialect, mannerisms, etc. are prominent in Kentucky. Southern cuisine is also quite common across the state. Western Kentucky is famous for a regional style of southern barbecue, and other forms of southern food such as catfish, country ham, and green beans. Today most of the state, outside of Northern Kentucky, shares a cultural identity with Tennessee and the rest of the Upland South in ancestry, dialect, and various other aspects of culture.
In most contexts, especially culturally, the state is grouped as part of the south.
North Carolina.
The Charlotte and Raleigh–Durham areas have attracted many new residents due to economic growth. This includes the banking/finance industries in Charlotte, along with the universities and high-tech industries in Raleigh-Durham. Wilmington has also become a center of Midwestern and Northern migration for its temperate coastal climate and growing business community. Meanwhile, Asheville and its surrounding area has tended to attract more progressively minded transplants, due to its longstanding reputation as a center of liberal thought and open-minded attitudes, and retirees settle here due to its scenic mountain setting.
In addition to an influx of Northerners, the job markets in North Carolina's three largest metropolitan regions—Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point Piedmont Triad—have also attracted large and growing Latino and Asian American immigration and migration. A report released by the Brookings Institution in May 2006 entitled "Diversity Spreads Out", noted that the Charlotte metro area ranked second nationally with a 49.8% growth rate in its Hispanic population between 2000 and 2004. The Raleigh-Durham metro area followed in third place with a 46.7% rate of growth.
Oklahoma.
Settlement of the Oklahoma Territory began as a direct result of the Civil War. Southerners escaping Reconstruction, largely populated the southern and eastern regions of the state. The term "Little Dixie" was first used in reference to southeastern Oklahoma during the 20th century. Italian laborers began arriving in eastern Oklahoma in the 1870s.
Texas.
In the 1980 United States census, the largest ancestry group reported in Texas was English, with 3,083,323 Texans who identify as being of English ancestry forming roughly 27% of the population at the time. Their ancestry primarily goes back to the original thirteen colonies and for this reason many of them today simply claim "American" ancestry. Because of its size and unique history, particularly having once been Mexican territory, and later a nation in its own right (i.e. the Republic of Texas), Texas' modern-day relationship to the rest of the South is often a subject of debate and discussion. It has been described as "a Southern state, certainly, yet not completely in or of the South." The size and cultural distinctiveness of Texas prohibit easy categorization of the entire state into any recognized region. Geographic, economic and cultural diversity among regions of the state preclude treating Texas as a region in its own right. Notable extremes range from East Texas, which is often considered an extension of the Deep South, to Far West Texas, which is generally acknowledged to be part of the interior Southwest.
The upper Texas Panhandle and the South Plains areas of West Texas are part of the Great Plains. The former has much in common both culturally and geographically with Midwestern states like Kansas and Nebraska. The South Plains, though originally settled primarily by Anglo Southerners, has become a blend of both Southern and Southwestern culture due to rapidly increasing Hispanic population.
The larger cities of Texas, such as Austin, Dallas, and Houston—with their burgeoning knowledge-based economies—have attracted migrants from other regions of the United States, particularly the Midwest and West Coast. Combined with the influence of increasing numbers from an African American New Great Migration, and also from Latin America and Asia, the historic "Southern culture" has been transformed.
However—partly due to its membership in the Confederacy and history as part of the Solid South—and the fact much of the state lies within the Bible Belt—it is usually considered more of a Southern than Western state. Also, linguistic maps of Texas place most of it within the spheres of upper, mid- and Gulf- Southern dialects, helping to further identify the state as being Southern (use of Southern colloquialisms such as "y'all" and "ain't" are still very much widespread in Texas).
Virginia.
Based on a study from the late 1990s, 82% of Virginians believe they live in the South and most identify more with the South than with any other region. They uphold many traditions and beliefs of the South and take pride in their heritage. However, areas such as Northern Virginia, Richmond, and the Hampton Roads region have attracted many internal migrants coming for job opportunities with the federal government, military, and related businesses during and since World War II. Northern Virginia also connects to the emergence and expansion of the Northeast Megalopolis. More expansion resulted from the dot-com bubble around the start of the 21st century. Economically linked to Washington, D.C. and having a large migrant presence, residents of urban areas in Virginia tend to consider its culture more Mid-Atlantic than Southern.
Virginian culture was spread across the Chesapeake region during colonial times by settlers and strongly influenced the culture of the Lowland South through the transport of slaves. Virginia's coastal areas were heavily plantation based, relying on tobacco production for its economic base. Prior to the Civil War, Virginia was the largest slave state population wise and profited greatly from breeding and selling slaves to the Deep South. These slaves were thoroughly integrated into colonial Virginian culture and brought their traditions from Virginia to the Deep South where they blended with Gullah and Creole traditions. Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, Virginia went through the dark period of Jim Crow laws and faced the era of Massive Resistance to school desegregation. However, cities like Richmond and Norfolk have always been much more progressive and urban in culture than many rural areas of the state. They were known early on for having large Free Black, Quaker, and Jewish populations, much industry, and significant immigration from Eastern Europe up until the Civil War, in which Richmond was made the Confederate capital despite voting against secession. Today, Richmond and Norfolk are often considered the border between the Mid-Atlantic and Upper South, having distinct Southern characteristics and also ties to the Northeast Megalopolis. These remain the only two large cities in the country in which old fashioned Chesapeake Bay style culture is found with the distinctive Tidewater accent and many historic plantations still prevalent throughout the region.
Modern Virginia has seen an ongoing tendency for Northeasterners who move to the state to identifying separately from the rest of the South politically and culturally. However, they choose to remain in Virginia for better economic opportunities than those available further North, as well as the low tax rates.
West Virginia.
West Virginia was formed during the American Civil War in 1863 from 50 western counties of Virginia and is currently composed of 55 counties. Many of the counties in the new state had supported Virginia and the Confederacy during the war but were included for territorial reasons, which resulted in a "Redeemer" government in 1876.
Many legacies of its Virginia heritage remain, such as county and local place names. The state constitution is based on the antebellum constitution of Virginia. As recently as 2007 an 1849 Virginia statute was used in a county prosecution. Historic plantation houses are found throughout the state, legacies of its antebellum origins. West Virginia was the last slave state admitted to the Union. The state legislature consists of a senate and a house of delegates. The state government belongs to the Southern Governors Association and the Southern Legislative Conference.
It is the 7th most Protestant state and the 7th most religious state in the United States. Out migration has been a steady phenomenon, beginning after the Civil War when ex-Confederates moved into southern Ohio to escape the political sanctions in their new home state. In the 20th century out migration increased as West Virginians moved north for jobs in industry.
West Virginia has a high rate of family owned farms and the state produces large numbers of poultry, corn, apples and peaches. Tobacco production peaked in 1909 at 14,400,000 pounds, and was the second most valuable crop as recently as 1983 but is no longer a popular commodity.
Many southern dishes are common in the state; biscuits and sausage gravy, chicken and dumplings, sweet tea, cornbread and beans and condiments such as cole slaw and chow chow accompany barbecued meats. The southern diet has been blamed for health problems such as obesity and diabetes and smoking is among the highest rates in the United States. Southern Appalachian dialect can be heard in much of the state though mostly south of Clarksburg.
Country music is one of the most popular genres in the state, WWVA Jamboree out of Wheeling was the second oldest venue for country music after the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Charleston is one of the highest per capita markets for country music. Some of West Virginia's notable musicians include Little Jimmy Dickens, Brad Paisley, Hazel Dickens, Red Sovine, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Molly O'Day, and the rockabilly musician Hasil Adkins.
Maryland.
Similar to other Border States, Maryland has regions that are culturally Southern, and it is situated below the Mason–Dixon line. Prior to the second half of the 20th century, Maryland was largely Southern with strong connections to northern industry as Baltimore served as a center for grain trading. However, economic growth and demographic shifts of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s overshadowed Maryland's Southern culture. The growing service economy and ensuing southward migration of New Englanders and more solidly Northeastern workers, transformed the I-95 corridor and the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area into robustly Mid-Atlantic areas. Suburbs of Washington, D.C., have also become more Mid-Atlantic in nature, and less culturally southern than before.
Portions of Maryland, specifically Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore of Maryland remain largely culturally Southern, driven by agriculture and commercial fishing. Most of the land is rural and there are but a few large population centers. Many local restaurants in these two areas still serve sweet tea and dishes including or composed entirely of greens, in addition to menus heavy with fried food. Many dialectic studies show that St. Mary's County in Southern Maryland and Dorchester County, Somerset County, Wicomico County, and Worcester County in the Eastern Shore have southern accents.
Western Maryland is considered Appalachian, and is largely rural. The region is very similar to the neighboring West Virginia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
Delaware.
In a manner similar to Maryland, Delaware exhibits characteristics of both the Northeast and South. Unlike other surrounding states which are either north or south of the Mason–Dixon line, Delaware is uniquely situated east of the line (as the line takes a vertical turn along the state's western border). Generally, the rural Southern (or "Slower Lower") regions of Delaware below the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal embody a Southern culture, while densely-populated Northern Delaware above the canal—particularly Wilmington, a part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area—has more in common with that of the Northeast.
Beyond the Census-classified South.
Missouri.
Missouri is classified as a Midwestern state by the Census Bureau and a large majority of its residents. St. Louis was known as the "Gateway to the West" when settlement was expanding. The northern edge of the Ozark Plateau was settled chiefly by mid-to-late 19th century German immigrants, who founded numerous vineyards and wineries. Due to this, Missouri was the second-largest wine-producing state before Prohibition, which destroyed the industry. Wineries have been rebuilt since the later decades of the 20th century, and Missouri wineries are competing well in national festivals. Part of the Missouri River valley, from beyond St. Louis suburbs in St. Charles County to east of Jefferson City, is known as the Missouri Rhineland because of the extensive vineyards and wineries based on German immigrant tradition and descendants.
In the antebellum years, many settlers from Upper South states, such as Virginia and Kentucky, migrated to the counties of central and western Missouri along the Missouri River, where they could cultivate tobacco and hemp. Because these southerners brought their culture and slaveholding practices with them, Missouri was admitted to the Union as a slaveholding state. During the mid-20th century, this area became known as Little Dixie. Before the Civil War, six of the counties included in this area had populations in which more than 25% were enslaved African Americans, the highest concentrations in the state outside the cotton plantations in the Mississippi Delta. Antebellum houses typical of the South, still stand in some of Little Dixie. All the crops grown there today are corn, soybeans and wheat, for which the area was better suited than for Southern crops like cotton or tobacco. Rural southern Missouri in the Ozark Plateau and the bootheel, are definitively southern in culture.
Midwest, Southwest, and West.
Many areas of New Mexico, Arizona, and California were predominantly settled by European American southerners as they moved west in the 19th and early 20th centuries. For instance, pro-Confederate governments were established in what is now Arizona and New Mexico during the Civil War and, at one point, southern California was on the cusp of breaking away from northern California and joining the Confederacy.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, several freedmen's towns were founded by emancipated African Americans from the south.
Southerners migrated to industrial cities in the Midwest for work before and after World War II. They went to states such as Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, as well as Missouri and Illinois. During the Great Depression and Dust Bowl crisis, a large influx of migrants from areas such as Oklahoma, Arkansas and the Texas Panhandle settled in California. These "Okie" and "Arkie" migrants and their descendants remain a strong influence on the culture of the Central Valley of California, especially around the cities of Bakersfield and Fresno.
More than 6.5 million African Americans left the segregated South for the industrial cities of the Midwest and West Coast during the Great Migration, beginning in World War I and extending to 1970. Many migrants from Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas moved to California during and after World War II because of jobs in the defense industry. As a result, many African Americans, as well as European Americans, have "Northern" and "Southern" branches of their families. Significant parts of African-American culture, such as music, literary forms and cuisine, have been rooted in the South, but have changed with urban northern and western influences as well.
Cuisine.
As an important feature of Southern culture, the cuisine of the South is often described as one of its most distinctive traits. Popular sayings include "Food is Love" and "If it ain't fried it ain't cooked". Southern culinary culture has readily adopted indigenous influences. Corn meal cereal known as "grits", corn fritters, cornbread, brunswick stew, and barbecue are a few of the more common examples of foods adopted directly from southeastern native-American communities. Nevertheless, a great many regional varieties have also developed. The variety of cuisines range from Tex-Mex cuisine, Cajun and Creole, traditional antebellum dishes, all types of seafood, along with Carolina, Virginia (which shares strong similarities with North Carolina) and Memphis styles of barbecue.
Traditional African American Southern food is often called soul food. While not typically as spicy as cajun food, it incorporates a variety of herbs and flour. Most Southern cities and even smaller towns now offer a wide variety of cuisines of other origins such as Chinese, Italian, Japanese, French, and Middle Eastern foods, as well as restaurants still serving primarily Southern specialties, so-called "home cooking" establishments. Some notable "home cooking" meals include fried chicken, corn on the cob, greens with pot liquor, vegetable stew, chicken and dumplings, and chicken fried steak.
Drinks.
Iced tea is commonly associated with the South. Specifically, sweet tea, or brewed iced tea sweetened with granulated sugar, has traditionally been served in the South. In fact, most southern restaurants serve sweet tea in addition to "unsweet tea", whereas most restaurants in other regions serve only (unsweetened) iced tea.
Many of the most popular American soft drinks originated in the South (Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Cheerwine, Big Red, Dr Pepper, RC Cola, and RC Cola's Nehi brand products). In much of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, and other parts of the South, the term "soft drink" or "soda" is discarded in favor of "Coke" (see Genericized trademark).
Official support for Prohibition existed in the Southern states before and after the 18th Amendment was in force in the US. Due to widespread restrictions on alcohol production, illegally distilled liquor or moonshine has long been associated (often rather stereotypically) with working-class and poor people in much of the region, especially in southern Appalachia. Many southern states are control states that monopolize and highly regulate the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages. Many counties in the South, particularly outside of the large metropolitan areas, are dry counties that do not allow for alcohol sales in retail outlets. However, many dry counties still allow for "private clubs" often with low daily fees to serve alcohol on the premises.
New Orleans is known as "the City that Care Forgot", epitomized by the saying "laissez les bons temps rouler" (let the good times roll). The Crescent City's culture revolves around food, drink, and community celebrations. Hurricanes are a famous French Quarter drink, as are sazerac cocktails and absinthe.
The Upper South, specifically Kentucky, is known for its production of bourbon whiskey, which is a popular base for cocktails. As of 2005, Kentucky was credited with producing 95% of the world's bourbon, which has been referred to as America's only native spirit. The mint julep is traditionally depicted as a popular beverage among more affluent Southerners. Many other bourbons are produced in Kentucky including Evan Williams, Wild Turkey, and Bulleit. Southern Comfort is a flavored distilled spirit modeled after bourbon and made in Louisiana.
Another form of spirit produced in the South is Tennessee Whiskey, with Jack Daniel's, made in Lynchburg, Tennessee being the number one selling whiskey in the world. George Dickel is produced in nearby Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Literature.
Born in the Boonslick region of Missouri to parents who had recently emigrated from Tennessee, Mark Twain is often placed within the pantheon of great Southern writers. Many of his works demonstrate his extensive knowledge of the Mississippi River and the South; also included in his works as a frequent theme were the injustice of slavery and the culture of Protestant public morality.
One of the best known southern writers of the 20th century is William Faulkner, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949. Faulkner brought new techniques such as stream of consciousness and complex techniques to American writing (such as in his novel "As I Lay Dying"). Faulkner was part of the Southern Renaissance movement.
The Southern Renaissance (also known as Southern Renascence) was the reinvigoration of American Southern literature that began in the 1920s and 1930s with the appearance of writers such as Faulkner, Caroline Gordon, Elizabeth Madox Roberts, Katherine Anne Porter, Allen Tate, Tennessee Williams, and Robert Penn Warren, among others.
The Southern Renaissance was the first mainstream movement within Southern literature to address the criticisms of Southern cultural and intellectual life that had emerged both from within the Southern literary tradition and from outsiders, most notably the satirist H. L. Mencken. In the 1920s Mencken led the attack on the genteel tradition in American literature, ridiculing the provincialism of American intellectual life. In his 1920 essay "The Sahara of the Bozart" (a pun on a Southern pronunciation of 'beaux-arts') he singled out the South as the most provincial and intellectually barren region of the US, claiming that since the Civil War, intellectual and cultural life there had gone into terminal decline. This created a storm of protest from within conservative circles in the South. However, many emerging Southern writers who were already highly critical of contemporary life in the South were emboldened by Mencken's essay. On the other hand, Mencken's subsequent bitter attacks on aspects of Southern culture that they valued amazed and horrified them. In response to the attacks of Mencken and his imitators, Southern writers were provoked to a reassertion of Southern uniqueness and a deeper exploration of the theme of Southern identity.
Other well-known Southern writers include Erskine Caldwell, Edgar Allan Poe, Joel Chandler Harris, Sidney Lanier, Cleanth Brooks, Pat Conroy, Harper Lee, Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, Ralph Ellison, Thomas Wolfe, William Styron, Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers, James Dickey, Willie Morris, Tom Wolfe, Truman Capote, Walker Percy, Charles Portis, Barry Hannah, Alice Walker, Cormac McCarthy, Anne Rice, Shelby Foote, John Grisham, Charlaine Harris, James Agee, Hunter S. Thompson, Wendell Berry, Bobbie Ann Mason, Harry Crews, and the authors known as the Southern Agrarians.
Possibly the most famous Southern novel of the 20th century is "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, published in 1937. Another famous Southern novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, won the Pulitzer Prize after it was published in 1960.
Music.
The musical heritage of the South was developed by both whites and blacks, both influencing each other directly and indirectly.
The South's musical history actually starts before the Civil War, with the songs of the African slaves and traditional folk music. Blues was developed in the rural South by African Americans at the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, old-time music, gospel music, spirituals, country music, rhythm and blues, soul music, funk, rock and roll, beach music, bluegrass, jazz (including ragtime, popularized by Southerner Scott Joplin), zydeco, and Appalachian folk music were either born in the South or developed in the region.
Stax Records, Hi Records, and Goldwax Records released deep soul singles and albums. In the 1960s, Stax Records emerged as a leading competitor of Motown Records, laying the groundwork for later stylistic innovations in the process. In general, country music is based on the folk music of white Southerners, and blues and rhythm and blues is based on African American southern forms. However, whites and blacks alike have contributed to each of these genres, and there is a considerable overlap between the traditional music of blacks and whites in the South, especially in gospel music forms. A stylish variant of country music (predominantly produced in Nashville) has been a consistent, widespread fixture of American pop since the 1950s, while insurgent forms (i.e. bluegrass) have traditionally appealed to more discerning sub-cultural and rural audiences. Blues dominated the African American music charts from the advent of modern recording until the mid-1950s, when it was supplanted by the less guttural and forlorn sounds of rock and R&B. Nevertheless, unadulterated blues (along with early rock and roll) is still the subject of reverential adoration throughout much of Europe and cult popularity in isolated pockets of the United States.
Zydeco, Cajun and swamp pop, despite having never enjoyed greater regional or mainstream popularity, still thrive throughout French Louisiana and its peripheries, such as Southeastern Texas. These unique Louisianan styles of folk music are celebrated as part of the traditional heritage of the people of Louisiana. Conversely, bluegrass music has acquired a sophisticated cachet and distinct identity from mainstream country music through the fusion recordings of artists like Bela Fleck, David Grisman, and the New Grass Revival; traditional bluegrass and Appalachian mountain music experienced a strong resurgence after the release of 2001's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?".
Rock n' roll largely began in the South in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Early rock n' roll musicians from the South include Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, James Brown, Otis Redding, and Carl Perkins, among many others. Hank Williams, Charlie Feathers, and Johnny Cash, while generally regarded as "country" singers, also had a significant role in the development of rock music, giving rise to the "crossover" genre of rockabilly. Many who got their start in the regional show business in the South eventually banked on mainstream national and international success as well: Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton are two such examples of artists that have transcended genres.
The South has continued to produce rock music in later decades. In the 1970s, a wave of Southern rock and blues rock groups, led by The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and 38 Special, became popular. Macon, Georgia-based Capricorn Records helped to spearhead the Southern rock movement, and was the original home to many of the genre's most famous groups. At the other end of the spectrum, along with the aforementioned Brown and St