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Georgiafrog personally I would say north Alabama and north Georgia are the southern tip of the Mid-South, being the foothills of the Appalachians. From my home in southern Kentucky it's a two hour drive to the Bama state line down 65, and its the same accent, same red clay there. While here we have more Southern red oak, willow oak and shortleaf yellow pines, by the time you get down there yall got more water oak and loblolly than we do. I will say most people consider the entire states of MS, AL,&GA the deep south, and most of those states are, but several factors link the northern parts strongly to the Mid-South. TVA powers this computer. I don't mean offense just observing nature. That type of natural diversity makes me love GA, and AL
Georgiafrog personally I would say north Alabama and north Georgia are the southern tip of the Mid-South, being the foothills of the Appalachians. From my home in southern Kentucky it's a two hour drive to the Bama state line down 65, and its the same accent, same red clay there. While here we have more Southern red oak, willow oak and shortleaf yellow pines, by the time you get down there yall got more water oak and loblolly than we do. I will say most people consider the entire states of MS, AL,&GA the deep south, and most of those states are, but several factors link the northern parts strongly to the Mid-South. TVA powers this computer. I don't mean offense just observing nature. That type of natural diversity makes me love GA, and AL
I would include western NC and eastern TN in with north GA and AL...it's all kind of one little subregion.
Last post here. You ain't never had no cornbread and green tomatoes till you've had my cornbread and green tomatoes. Welcome to CD, OP. Love Y'all. Mean it. Goodnight!
That's not a bad observation, with a couple of notable exceptions.
1) To say that Rome, Georgia is not part of the Deep South is laughable. I admit that it does have a bit of a different feel than my home county of Fayette, but it is more like Columbus than it is Chattanooga, and certainly doesn't have the Knoxville/Nashville feel. Rome is very much a Georgia town. I suppose Savannah and Asheville have much in common? Come on.
2) So now North Georgia and Northern Alabama aren't really the Deep South? And Florida? Really? up to what point? I suppose you should draw us a map of the Deep South. Please include indications of how Fayette County, Georgia is more like any county in Florida than it is Floyd county, Georgia. What are you talking about? TIL that the deep south is a circle containing Tallahassee, Macon, and Montgomery. That is all.
The Deep South is more or less a cultural definition of a part of the South, predicated upon historical events (slavery) and their effect on the culture. Thus, it isn't hard to see that the "Deep South" region is characterized by agriculture and a high black population. Northern Georgia does not fit the "Deep South" model, for it historically had a much lower black population due to the fact that its economy was not based on large plantations, but rather small yeomen farmers and share-cropping. Hence, it had far fewer black slaves.
The Deep South is also correlated with the area where such agriculture took place, namely the coastal plain areas, as well as the lower Piedmont. Horticulturally, the area is dominated by pine trees, either loblolly or longthrash. The soil is sandy throughout most of the Deep South, namely on the coastal plain, though red clay does dominate throughout the lower Piedmont. The topography of the "Deep South" is primarily flat plains (coastal plain) or gentle, subtle rolling hills (lower Piedmont).
Northern Georgia, Northern Alabama, and the Upstate of South Carolina are not "Deep South" because:
1) Historically had numbers of slaves comparable to that of "Upper South" states.
2) Agriculture wasn't based on large plantations, but rather small family farms.
3) Topographically, the area is very hilly or mountainous, and horticulturally, the area is dominated by broadleaf deciduous trees with far fewer pines.
This doesn't even take into account differences in the culture, which places the above areas more closely to Chattanooga or Nashville than to Columbus, Georgia, Macon, or Augusta. You see these differences in the natives to both areas, whereby there's much more twang and less drawl in the northern parts of these states than in the southern parts.
I suppose if you want to claim all of Georgia as "Deep South", in terms of geography, as some metaphor for the southern parts of the South, then okay. However, it doesn't really fit the true definition of the term. Central and Southern Georgia are Deep South. North Georgia is not.
By the way, there are some differences between Kentucky and northwest Georgia, but not any less than there is between northwest Georgia and south Georgia. Northwest Georgia and much of east Tennessee are practically identical in culture.
Rome is a beautiful area nonetheless. I like your answer Sound of Reason, but I would have to disagree only about Paducah. The city is the mouth of the Tennessee River, and Clarks River. There are armadillo there and vast bottomland forests and cypress swamps. Everyone I've met from there have been typical Southerners, but you are right that like in some Ohio river towns the culture does collide there. I attribute a lot of this to the fact that it's the closest major city to LBL, which draws folks from all over on Vacation, just like all over the south.
There are many characteristics that are southern around Paducah, but the southern accent in the population does tend to wain in that area of Kentucky. Only twenty or thirty miles eastward or southward, and the southern accent is far thicker. Paducah is at a crossroads where the southern accent shifts to south midland.
My mother's family were all born in Kentucky (the Louisville area). I have visited often and maintain close contact with family ties there. I myself am familiar with the deep south through my visits and temporary living situations.
Kentucky has Southern parts to it, sure, but there are most definitely differences I see.
One of the biggest differences between Kentucky and the deep South is a complete lack of a rural African American population. When I go to Kentucky to visit my grandmother (She lives in south-central Kentucky, but is also from Louisville) I will drive through counties and counties and will not see any African Americans. AM in my opinion are so characteristic of the deep south's demographics and culture.
Also, when looking at the cities in Kentucky, such as Louisville, they just aren't similar to lets say Birmingham, Al. Looking at history, Louisville industrialized in the early 1800s right along with the other cities in the mid-west. This industrialization brought thousands of non-british immigrants to the area in the 19th century. Most residents in Louisville today can trace their ancestry to these immigrants (German is the largest ancestry in Jefferson county). These immigrants also made Roman Catholicism a large part of the city's religious landscape. Roman Catholics were practically unheard of in most of the deep south until the latter half of the 20th century.
Now, when I am outside of Louisville, the white people are definitely similar to other white people in the south. In fact, though I haven't visited in detail, I have read that northern Georgia and eastern Kentucky are pretty much culturally identical.
My own family seems torn on the issue. We have some that totally consider themselves southerners and others that don't. Well, all of us have spent most of our lives in Florida by now, so the southern is definitely a bit washed out of us. lol.
The upper south states always have been a bit different from the deep south. Most of Kentucky is part of Appalachia, as is east Tennessee, west North Carolina and north Georgia. In this part of the south large plantations were not common, the number of slaves was lower and of course there was less money. Over the years this created the unique appalachian culture of the upper south. Are we as southern as the deep south???? I say yes but that is opinion. Some in Mississippi would disagree. In the end no one owns the definition of what or who is or is not southern. Here in Tennessee no one doubts the southerness of this state. I would dare to say the folks up in Kentucky feel the same.
The only place I've ever heard this as a subject for debate is in this forum. I've always considered Kentucky southern.
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Welcome to CD, OP. Love Y'all. Mean it. Goodnight!
