Tenn Not A Part Of The South?

#1
Vol4LifeLCA

Vol4LifeLCA

These Colors Don't Run
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Jan 4, 2005
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#1
Just got a call from a friend of mine that goes to UGA. She said they were talking in one of her classes about what states should be classified in the South. She said Florida came up and even South Carolina. Then what blew my mind was that people tried to say Tennessee wasn't apart of the South. She said they never really gave reasons but I just thought it was funny that people could think TN wasn't apart of the South. Just wanted to see what yall thought. :huh:

 
#3
#3
Yeah I understand that but some people give the argument that Florida shouldn't be apart of the South because of all the Yankees that have moved down there.
 
#4
#4
I have heard that about Virginia too. In my mind, Virginia is divided into the North and South. DC and all the northeastern parts are the North, and the South to Southwestern are the South. They even talk like Northerners in Northern Virginia. Go figure.
 
#5
#5
A lot of Tennesseans were Northern sympathizers in the Civil War.
Maybe that's their justification.
 
#6
#6
I've also looked at voting trends throughout the years. Tennessee had more of a tendency to vote with the northern states than any other state in the south.
 
#7
#7
Thats almost a slap in the face! Im by no means John Rebel, but i for dayyum sure arent a Yank. As OWB said Va towards the northern area's makes you double check your map.

I spent 10 yr's in the VaNG and we spent alot of time up that way.

They didnt understand us and we couldnt understand them.

But some of the area's that could almost be considered un-southern have some of the most preserved, beautiful, plantation home's and farms from the civil war era ive seen. If you have a civil war interest, battle grounds, home's etc . Its a must visit....

As for TN' not being southern :nono:
 
#8
#8
Originally posted by LadyinOrange@May 24, 2005 12:13 AM
A lot of Tennesseans were Northern sympathizers in the Civil War.
Maybe that's their justification.
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I think that's exactly the historical justification. It's not a slap in the face questioning anybody's heritage. In historical context, which is what I'd bet they were talking about in that class, Tennessee is not considered by many to be part of what is considered to be the "Old South".
 
#9
#9
Here's a different take on it.

IF Alabama is considered part of the South, then you WILL NOT hear me complain about being associated with the North. Just some food for thought.

Plus, does anyone remember "The State of Franklin?" Very anti-Confederacy region of east TN and west NC. My hillbilly relatives didn't "need no slaves". They were busy supplying Holy Water (moonshine) to the rednecks working on the farms of the flat lands. :p
 
#10
#10
I think they're right. Tennessee is in the EAST (division of the SEC). Which just so happens to be the division that Georgia was "SUPPOSED" to win last year. . . . on their way to a NC run. Of course, none of the above happened. Maybe THAT'S why they're all screwed up down there.
:lol:

Ha ha. Well, who cares what they say in Gawgia. I'm more proud that I'm from "Tennessee" than that I'm from "the South." Not to start WWIII on here or anything, but remember that, to many, the term: "the South" carries with it remeberances of human inequality and bitter bloodshed that pitted brother against brother, and American against American.

Ditch the hangup with Geography and embrace what I believe to be the best place in the world to live.
 
#12
#12
Here's another tid-bit which might be relevant if the folks saying Tennessee isn't true Southern are themselves backwards enough...

The Emancipation Proclamation wasn't actually meant to free the slaves. Lincoln was a racist who, in the Lincoln-Douglass debates said Blacks were physically inferior and should never be granted equal citizenship. The "Emancipation" Proclamation gave most of the Confederate States 100 days to rejoin the Union- and if they did they could keep their slaves. The EP, however, didn't apply to all slave states. Only Confederate slave states. What's more, it didn't apply to all Confederate slave states.

The slave states of Delaware, Maryland, Missouri and Kentucky never joined the Conferacy, and Lincoln & the EP left the slaves in those states- as well as the pro-slave territories- in bondage until well after the war. What's more, the EP specifically excepted the slaves in the Confederate state of TN (the home state of Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's VP).

Like Virginia, TN didn't join the CSA until the 2nd vote, after Lincoln had suspended Habeus Corpus, arrested the entire Maryland Legislature for daring to defy his order to not even discuss the succession of the early CSA states, and declared all State troops federalized whether they liked it- or it was legal- or not. Even then, 90K Tennesseans went North & 110K went South.



If you take all that into account, then obviously, from a certain can't-walk-without-dragging-knuckles concept of "Southern", most of TN has never fit.

Of course, we're talking people whose definition of "Southern" doesn't include opposable thumbs.









 
#13
#13
One other thing to consider and in today's social environment, I think it is an important issue. My definition of Southern does have some things to do with the geographical location of one's state. However, I have met a lot of people I would never consider to be true Southerners in some very southernly located states. Being Southern has alot more to do with a man being a gentleman and a woman being a lady. It is a way of life that enjoys the outdoors, warm balmy evenings on a lake or river enjoying a cold beer with friends. It is having a respect for the old south and its traditions while realizing that the horrors of slavery have no place in a civilized society. It is the ability to appreciate the unique environment present in many southern towns where your neighbors are your friends and life is short enough without being in a hurry. It also helps to know that though Tennessee is by far the superior team in all the SEC, I would rather be pulling for another SEC team than any other team not in our beloved conference.
That's all I have to say about that.

obxvol
 
#15
#15
State of Franklin was the first attempt to organize part of the North Carolina Territory into a State, well before the Civil War (and Tennessee statehood). While eastern TN and western NC never sympathized much with the confederacy, they never secceeded from the respective states as West Virginia did.

The teacher/prof was probably using Old South traditions, antebellum mansions, plantations, and class societies to define 'southern'. By that definition, only south central TN and southwest TN are 'southern'.

But still it's WAY more southern that Florida. Draw a line across the peninsula from the panhandle coast, and everything south of that is either New New Jersey or North Cuba.
 
#16
#16
"Southern" is a state of mind, a layed back attitude, with respect for others, especially your elders, you always say sir and maam , you hold a door for a lady(even if you are running late), you make your kids sit still in church (if they won't you carry them out to the parking lot for a 'heart to heart' and then you bring them back and make them sit still), Sunday evenings you sit out on the porch and swing or rock and enjoy the beauty of God's creations, you have strong political opinions but you don't stand up on the soap box every chance you have to try and convert others to your way of thinking, your word and a hand shake is more binding than any lawyer written contract, you want your tea sweet and you don't mean hand me the sugar after it is served, even if you don't have a garden you have a 5 gallon bucket with a mater plant in it on the back porch, you can give directions to anyone as long as they know where the old Johnson place was, .... there are many other nuances to being southern and if you don't know what they are you probably ain't southern.
 
#17
#17
Originally posted by kiddiedoc@May 27, 2005 12:25 PM
One of the most well-stated posts I've ever read. :clap:
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Hey doc, that young man that you just complimented just happens to be my oldest son.

Pretty awesome, ain't he?!!!
 
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