Abstract

The South Looks at Itself

The South as it is known, is a region roughly limited by the old Mason and Dixon line and Ohio River on the North, by the open sea on the East and South, and by the high plains of Texas on the West. Most nations fall back on some support during their youth. The South had much greater need than most nations to make recourse to the majesty of myth formation into the Old South. The romantic novels of Walter Scott, which provided abundant examples of a belated chivalry and a compelling analogy with Scottish nationalism, offered an opportunity to throw blood lines even farther back and claim a more ancient heritage for a new Southland. The specific occasion for the crisis which the South now faces happens to be the African Americans.