The region known as The South comprises—more or less—those states that seceded from the United States in 1861, precipitating the American Civil War. Upset with a growing sentiment against slavery—an institution upon which the Southern economy relied—eleven slave-holding states seceded after the election of President Abraham Lincoln, forming the Confederate States of America. What ensued was a bloody five-year conflict that left the country bruised and battered but ultimately resulted in the preservation of the nation and the abolition of slavery.
Texas and Florida also seceded from the union but are considered distinct regions today. Kentucky and West Virginia are sometimes considered Southern states, and did hold slaves at the time of the Civil War, but Kentucky never completely seceded, and West Virginia seceded from Virginia in 1863 in order to rejoin the Union. Maryland and Delaware also had slaves but did not secede, and are today considered part of the Mid-Atlantic travel region.
Very few Southerners remain loyal to any secessionist or slave-holding ideology, and most identify first and foremost as Americans. The display of Confederate (or "rebel") flags around the region, still quite common, is a mark of cultural identity, not normally a political statement.
Indeed, the South is much more a cultural region than a geographical one; states west of Texas are not considered part of "The South", no matter how far south they are.
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South (United States of America) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
