Which states are part of the "Deep South?"

[TDAS04]

The five that voted for Barry Goldwater is the correct answer.

[Del Tachi]

Something like this is a contemporary sense:

The red region on this map in a historical sense:

[Torie]

It is really cruel and unusual punishment for Arkansas to be excluded in that way. I did not suffer a culture shock when I crossed the state line from Louisiana into Arkansas. It still felt like I was on another planet.

[Del Tachi]

It is really cruel and unusual punishment for Arkansas to be excluded in that way. I did not suffer a culture shock when I crossed the state line from Louisiana into Arkansas. It still felt like I was on another planet.

Well, of course someone unfamiliar with the South would gloss over its important subregional cleavages and divides

The American South is roughly equal in size to Western Europe.  It is much larger than a singular place or culture. 

[Adam Griffin]

Yeah, basically the above maps. There are slivers and segments of other states that could be included in the region but on a statewide level, there are only 5:

[Sol]

Something like this is a contemporary sense:

The red region on this map in a historical sense:

Out of curiosity, what is that second map?

[Del Tachi]

My thoughts re: Arkansas

Arkansas is definitely not part of the Deep South.  It’s a Whiter, more mountainous state with very little plantation influence.  It’s votes/acts more like TN/KY than AL/MS.   

[Del Tachi]

Out of curiosity, what is that second map?

It's a map I made showing the three, broadly-defined American cultural regions.  We have a Puritan-derived, communitarian Yankee ethos, a chivalrous and tradition-bound Dixie culture and a dominant, Germanic Midland culture.  The yellow regions represent the four distinct cultural enclaves that defy this broader typology:  the Hispanic Southwest, Cajun/Creole Louisiana, Latin-Caribbean South Florida and New York City.

This map resulted from a thought exercise of shrinking Colin Woodward's 11 American Nations down to 3.

[Skill and Chance]

Dark Green = Deep South
Medium Green = South
Light Green = Has significant culturally Southern regions



VA was a close call but I went with medium green because a majority of the population does still live outside DC commuting range.  

[_.]

Here's how I see it:

Image Link

North Carolina and Oklahoma were close calls to put in the "Upper South" region or not.

[Agonized-Statism]

The five states proposed for New Afrika by its 1968 foundational conference and that voted for Goldwater in 1964 are the ones that come to mind for me, personally.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

It is really cruel and unusual punishment for Arkansas to be excluded in that way. I did not suffer a culture shock when I crossed the state line from Louisiana into Arkansas. It still felt like I was on another planet.

Arkansas voted for Truman in 1948, LBJ in 1964 but voted for Wallace in 1968. It is debatable if it is Deep South or Upper South.

[Indy Texas]

It is really cruel and unusual punishment for Arkansas to be excluded in that way. I did not suffer a culture shock when I crossed the state line from Louisiana into Arkansas. It still felt like I was on another planet.

Arkansas voted for Truman in 1948, LBJ in 1964 but voted for Wallace in 1968. It is debatable if it is Deep South or Upper South.

Arkansas has arguably become less Southern over time as its population and economic center of gravity has shifted away from Little Rock and the eastern agricultural counties to the far northwest corner of the state due to the Waltonization of the state.

The Arkansas of 50+ years ago had much in common with Mississippi and Tennessee. The Arkansas of today is closer, economically and culturally, to Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas.

[bagelman]

The 5 Goldwater states only. There are bits of pieces of other states that are "deep south" (northwest FL, Memphis TN, maybe the AR Delta, a bit of East Texas) but those states are not Deep South as a whole.

[Adam Griffin]

My thoughts regarding LA: while on paper some of its demography and history would suggest a good fit for the Deep South, it is (in essence) far too Catholic and Frenchie to be legitimately included as part of a region that was/is almost universally white protestant, black protestant & native English-speaking. Strip away "social conservatism" or what have you and it is a completely different world (much more so than, say, AR or even NC).

[Non Swing Voter]

When I think of the truly Deep South in modern terms I think of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 

GA/SC/NC and certainly VA have changed too much to really be considered Deep South anymore from a cultural perspective, though large rural areas within each are.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

The 1st 7 states to join the Confederacy.

[beesley]

I went for AL, AR, GA, LA, MS, SC

[Schiff for Senate]

I went for AL, AR, GA, LA, MS, SC

This is exactly what I chose. I considered adding FL because it's to the south of all those states, but it's always been less race-consious or 'southern' as the other states (with the possible exception of Northern Florida). It's much less white than the other Deep South states, excluding GA. (By the way, I would say the current Deep South no longer includes Georgia, where most of the state retains remnants of a 'Deep South' culture, but where half the population is concentrated in the Atlanta metropolitan area alone. No other Deep South State is as urban as GA, so in a historic and geographic sense, yes, it's technically a 'Deep South' state, but for all practical purposes, it's not much more 'Deep South' than FL.)

[OSR stands with Israel]

When I think of the truly Deep South in modern terms I think of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 

GA/SC/NC and certainly VA have changed too much to really be considered Deep South anymore from a cultural perspective, though large rural areas within each are.

Atlanta is a Deep South city through and through, and just cause GA votes dem now doesnt mean it isnt deep south anymore.

[chalmetteowl]

It's the area you get when you draw lines connecting Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa. New Orleans is the unofficial capital of the Deep South, but Birmingham has an argument as that's where SEC headquarters are located