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The Southern states are a major region in the southeast of the United States.
Regions
There are different definitions of the southern states. For the purposes of this guide, the following states are included:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- South carolina
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Florida and Texas, which are often counted among the southern states, are considered independent travel regions for this travel guide.
places
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Birmingham, Alabama
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Huntsville, Alabama
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Montgomery, Alabama
- Nashville, Tennessee
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Little rock, Arkansas
Other goals
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park. National park in the Appalachian Mountains (North Carolina and Tennessee), which covers the largest jungle area in the eastern United States.
- Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. Mountain pass in the Appalachian Mountains (Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee), which was a main route for settlers into the interior of North America.
background
In the agricultural southern states, in which cotton cultivation played an important economic role, slavery was practiced until the 1860s, while in the northern states of that time it was abolished in 1804. When Abraham Lincoln, who advocated a ban on new slave-owning states, won the presidential election in 1860, the southern states broke away from the Union (secession) and formed the Confederate States. This sparked the American Civil War. It ended with the victory of the northern states.
Then the US Congress ordered one Reconstruction of politics and society in the southern states, which lasted for 14 years. Former supporters of the Confederation (which affected almost all southerners) temporarily lost their right to vote and were not allowed to hold political office. Military governors were installed. With them came entrepreneurs and adventurers from the north, so-called Carpet excavatorwho, given the removal of thousands of previous officials from their positions, rose quickly in many places and thus made profit from the defeat of the south. Many southerners perceived this as being outside the control of the north. For many southerners, this resulted in a long - in some cases to this day - persistent feeling of an independent identity and mistrust of everything that came from the north.
Another name for the southern states is Dixieland or Dixie. It is not entirely clear where this comes from. Possibly from the French inscription dix on the ten dollar bills of the Citizens ’Bank of Louisiana or the Mason-Dixon line that separated the northern from the southern states.
The southern states largely coincide with the American one Bible Belt, a region whose population is considered to be particularly religious and is characterized in particular by evangelical Protestants who represent socio-politically conservative positions.
language
American English is spoken predominantly. There is a specific southern accent that - especially when it is very pronounced - is considered to be comparatively difficult to understand. Only in Louisiana was French spoken traditionally, which today still applies to around 7% of the population.
getting there
Airports in the southern states that are served directly from Central Europe are Hartsfield – Jackson in Atlanta, Georgia (ATL; from Dusseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Stuttgart), Charlotte Douglas (CLT) in North Carolina (from Frankfurt am Main and Munich), New Orleans (MSY) in Louisiana from Frankfurt am Main on Thursdays and Sundays non-stop and Washington Dulles (IAD) in Virginia (from Geneva, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Zurich). There are a number of other international airports in the destination area, but they can only be reached from German-speaking countries with a stopover.
mobility
Suggested route Southeast USA: Atlanta => Birmingham => Tuscaloosa => Jackson => Vicksburg => Natchez => Baton Rouge => Lafayette => New Orleans => Biloxi => mobile => Tallahassee => Edward Ball Springs State Park => St Augustine => Orlando => Tampa => Naples => Everglades National Park => Miami => Key West
Tourist Attractions
The states offer the highest concentration of top attractions Virginia and Louisiana:
- Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. Park commemorating the Northern Virginia Army surrender to the American Civil War.
- Arlington National Cemetery. The second largest cemetery in the country.
- Booker T. Washington National Monument. The birthplace of the former slave and civil rights activist Booker T. Washington (1856-1915).
- Cedar Creek and Bell Grove National Historic Park. Site of an important former plantation.
- Colonial National Historical Park. Group of memorials from the British colonial era spread over several locations.
- Colonial Williamsburg. Considered the largest open-air museum in the country.
- George Washington Birthplace National Monument. The birthplace of the first President of the United States. The birth house is part of the tobacco farm founded by Washington's grandfather, on which - as was common at the time - the work was done by slaves.
- Shenandoah National Park. National park in the Appalachian Mountains with waterfalls, one Natural Bridge and a stalactite cave.
- Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. The place where the Potomac Rivers and Shenandoah Rivers meet has been the site of a wide variety of historical events. Among other things, you can find several historical museums here.
- Biltmore Castle. The castle of millionaire George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862-1914), built in the Italian Renaissance style in 1888-1895, is the largest home on the continent.
- Mt. Mitchell. The highest mountain peak in the Appalachian Mountains and the southern states (2,037 m).
- Fort Sumter National Monument. Large fort built on an artificial island from the time of the American Civil War.
- Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park. The birthplace of US President Abraham Lincoln, who was born here in a log cabin in 1809 as the son of a farmer.
- Mammoth Cave National Park. National park, which includes the most extensive known cave system on earth.
- Fort Frederica National Monument. The remains of a British colonial fort.
- Fort Pulaski National Monument. Large 19th century coastal defense fort.
- Ocmulgee National Monument. Archaeological site with finds from 10,000 BC AD - 1600 AD and preserved mounds of the "Mississippi culture".
- Russell Cave National Monument. Great limestone cave.
- Natchez National Historical Park. Historical park on the site of the former French settlement center.
Louisiana
- Cane River Creole National Historical Park. The location of two major former cotton plantations.
- Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. Mississippi Delta Historical Park.
- Louisiana African American Heritage Trail. Series of sites where visitors can retrace the history of the African American slaves and free.
- New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. New Orleans historical park reminiscent of the birth of jazz.
- Poverty Point National Monument. Archaeological site where the earthworks of a culture from the pre-Columbian era can be visited.
- Hot Springs National Park. National park with several hot springs that are said to have healing properties.
Meaher State Park in Spanish fort
Old Dauphin Way in mobile
USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in mobile
activities
kitchen
In the southern kitchen there is a meat and three a restaurant in which the customer chooses a meat from a daily selection of three to six dishes (such as roast chicken, country ham, beef, steak, meatloaf or pork chop) and three side dishes from a list that contains up to a dozen options can (usually vegetables, potatoes, corn, green or lima beans, but also other dishes such as corncream, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti). Corn bread and sweet tea are often served with it. The dish's roots can be traced back to Nashville, Tennessee.
"Katie's Meat and Three" in Nashville, Tennessee
