The South America With A Difference - 1697 Words

Scholars have referred to the South as â€Å"America with a difference†. This difference has tried to be defined by different historians, and it has produced various strains of the American South history. Therefore, the south has drawn various historians, novelists, and poets in the quest to define the central theme of the southern history. This has largely interested many scholars as the south was known to be settled by a different Englishman, its experience of poverty since it was a nation that only knew abundance and its loss in the civil war as it was known as a nation that always had success (Gerster and Cords 11). Some writers have tried to define the difference of southern America regarding its passion for agriculture and slavery.†¦show more content†¦Southernism did not come from any migration patterns, lie in language or religion, was not created by one crop farming nor did agriculture produce the southern way of life. The South was therefore intended to rema in a nation of the whites. Racism in the south arose when the Negroes became numerous to a level of giving difficulty in race control in the interest of the government and to maintain the Caucasian civilization. There had to be a way of social order and racial adjustment; thus slavery was introduced. With time, slavery was defended as vested interest and with vehemence and vigor to provide a guarantee of the white civilization and supremacy. Slaveholders of that time differed in their opinions and sentiments. It went to an extent that for other groups that lived in the mountains public opinion never existed, and they were just forced to choose between alternatives that were created for them. Racism was also boosted by the fact that in the 19th century, America was experiencing heavy industrialization thus labor shortage mainly in the rail and mining industries (Fraser and Moore 266). The presence of the Chinese and African Americans was considered as an advantage as they took the whites jobs at a lower pay. These people were also considered to be inferior to the whites and, therefore, could be used for the benefits of the whites. As this continued, the Chinese were banned from