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Southerners are an ethnic group native to the various Southern states in the United States of America and are primarily descended from the British colonists that settled the region beginning in the 1600's. Beginning in the eighteenth century, Scotch-Irish, Scots from the Lowlands, and English from the north of England starting immigrating en masse to the South, particularly the region of Appalachia. Another group, The Irish, did not immigrate to the South en masse in contrast to the British, but they do comprise a large minority throughout the South, particularly Georgia. The Irish had a harsh time being accepting into Southern society at first because of their Catholic faith. Eventually, the Irish were accepted as Southerners. Many Irish fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War and opposed Reconstruction. Large amounts of Germans immigrated to the South in the 1700's. Many of these Germans and their descendants identified as Dutch (Deutsch). The Germanna Colony in Virginia was settled by immigrants from Palatinate and Baden-Wuerttemberg regions. The Dutch played an important role in shaping the Southern ethnicity. Many prominent Southerners are descended from the Dutch settlers of New Netherland. George Washington, a Southerner, known for being the First US President, a US Founding Father, and the Commander of Continental Army during the American Revolution was of Dutch descent through his mother. The French played a huge role in forming the Southern ethnicity, but not enough to challenge the British influence throughout most of the South, except for in Louisiana, a French cultural stronghold. The French colonisation of the Americas began in the 17th century and had a profound influence on Southern culture. French settlers mixing with Africans, Native Americans, Germans, Italians, and various other settlers created the Louisiana Creole people. Acadian settlers that were expelled by the British found a new home in Louisiana and became the Cajuns. Africans influenced the Southern ethnicity in many ways. Many black Southerners fought alongside white Southerners in defending the South during the American Civil War. Mixing between races was fairly uncommon in the South because of slavery, but many white Southerners have African blood. The Melungeons are a tri-racial group native to the Appalachia region. The number of Melungeon descendants range in the thousands according to some historians and genealogists. Various genres of music sprang out of the South because of Africans, Rock 'n' Roll and Blues being some of the most notable. Many black Southerners have no knowledge of where their kin came from prior to arriving in the Americas. Most slaves in the United States arrived from West Africa. Native Americans contributed to the Southern culture in many ways. Many Southern states are named after Native American tribes and various Southerners have Native American blood. Some notable Southerners of Native American descent include Leader of the Cherokee Nation and Confederate general, Stand Watie, Country singer, Waylon Jennings, and Rock 'n' Roll singer and actor, Elvis Presley. Another, often overlooked group, Southern Jews, have been in the South since the South was the South. Thousands fought in the American Civil War to defend the South from the Union. Most were of Sephardic descent, but a minority were Ashkenazi. Some famous Southern Jews include, Confederate Secretary of State, Judah Philip Benjamin and, Member of the Confederate Congress and Florida Senator, David Levy Yulee. These folk have all forged the Southern ethnicity.
References
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Cunningham, Frank. General Stand Watie's Confederate Indians. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
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Jensen, Richard. (2002) "'No Irish Need Apply': A Myth of Victimization". Journal of Social History 36.2 pp. 405–429 online
Gleeson. David T. The Green and the Gray: The Irish in the Confederate States of America (U of North Carolina Press, 2013); online review
French, John. "Irish-American Identity, Memory, and Americanism During the Eras of the Civil War and First World War." (PhD Dissertation, Marquette University, 2012). Online
Ignatiev, Noel (1996). How the Irish Became White. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-91825-1
Sletcher, Michael, "North American Indians", in Will Kaufman and Heidi Macpherson, eds., Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History, New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, 2 vols.
Cohen, Naomi. Jews in Christian America: The Pursuit of Religious Equality. 1992.
American Jewish Committee. American Jewish Yearbook: The Annual Record of Jewish Civilization (annual, 1899–2012+),complete text online 1899–2007
Alden, John R. (1993). George Washington, a Biography. Norwalk: Easton Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Ashby, LeRoy (2006). With Amusement for All: a History of American Popular Culture Since 1830. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN978-0-8131-2397-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Kamphoefner, Walter D., and Wolfgang Helbich (Eds.). Germans in the Civil War; The Letters They Wrote Home. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
Bratt, James D. Dutch Calvinism in Modern America: A History of a Conservative Subculture. Eerdmans, 1984.
Kroes, Rob, and Henk-Otto Neuschafer, eds. The Dutch in North America: Their Immigration and Cultural Continuity. Amsterdam: Free University Press, 1991.
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