Dixie
219982
225622257
2008-07-14T16:32:33Z
190.188.234.168
{{otheruses}}
[[Image:DixBankNote.jpg|thumb|290px|right|Ten Dollar Note from ''Banque Des Citoyens'' of [[Louisiana]], [[1860]]]]
'''''Dixie''''' is a nickname for the [[Southern United States]].
== Origin of ''Dixie'' ==
According to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', the origins of this nickname remain obscure. According to ''A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles'' ([[1951]]), by Mitford M. Mathews, three theories most commonly attempt to explain the term:
# The word "''''Dixie''''" refers to a privately issued currency from [[bank]]s in [[Louisiana]][http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/u?/LWP,1382]. These banks issued ten-dollar [http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/u?/GFM,1005| notes], labeled "Dix" ([[French language|French]] for "ten") on the reverse side. These notes are now highly sought-after for their [[numismatic]] value. The notes were known as "Dixies" by English-speaking southerners, and the area around [[New Orleans]] and the [[Cajun French|Cajun]]-speaking parts of Louisiana came to be known as "Dixieland". Eventually, usage of the term broadened to refer to most of the Southern States.
# The word preserves the name of a kind slave owner on [[Manhattan Island]], a Mr. Dixy. ([[Slavery]] was legal in [[New York]] until [[1827]].) His rule was so kindly that "Dixy's Land" became famed far and wide as an [[elysium]] abounding in material comforts.
# "Dixie" derives from [[Jeremiah Dixon]] of the [[Mason-Dixon line]] defining the boundary between [[Maryland]] and [[Pennsylvania]] (the northern boundary of Dixie).
<!-- the edits mentioning ely, cardiff are not self explanatory, and not quotes of Mitford Mathews. if you wish to develop this idea please discuss it on the Dixie:Talk page -->
==Dixie as a region==
As a definite geographic location within the United States, "Dixie" is usually defined as the 11 [[Southern United States|Southern states]] that seceded to form the [[Confederate States of America]]. They are (in order of secession): [[South Carolina]], [[Mississippi]], [[Florida]], [[Alabama]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Louisiana]], [[Texas]], [[Virginia]], [[Arkansas]], [[North Carolina]], and [[Tennessee]]. This definition is strongly correlated with history and, in the minds of many [[Southerner]]s, remains the traditional and emotional South.
[[Image:ethnotelephonic dixie.jpg|left|thumb|400px|An [[ethnotelephony|ethno-telephonic]] map of dixie using an modernization of Dr. Reed's methodologies.]]In other ways however, the "location" and boundaries of Dixie have become, over time, more limited, vernacular, and/or mercurial. In popular mindset today, it is most often associated with those parts of the Southern United States where [[Old South]] traditions and legacies of the Confederacy live most strongly, and are most widely celebrated and remembered.
In this particular contemporary realm, there are no hard and fast lines. Roughly however, it might be an area which begins in southern Virginia, maybe a county or two north of Richmond (and perhaps the [[Southern West Virginia|southern]] parts of [[West Virginia]]), then extends south into [[North Central Florida]]. On the northern boundary it sweeps west to take in Tennessee and southern parts of [[Kentucky]], then continues through most of Arkansas, possibly taking in a small part of southern Missouri. On the southern end it would run through [[Gulf of Mexico|the Gulf]] states until the northern and southern boundary lines connect to include [[East Texas]].
Many businesses in the South contain "Dixie" in their name as an identifier, e.g. "Dixie Produce." One of the more famous is supermarket chain [[Winn-Dixie (supermarket)|Winn-Dixie]]. Related to this fact, renowned [[cultural sociology|cultural sociologist]] and "Southernologist" Dr. [[John Shelton Reed]] has attempted to "locate" Dixie by a criterion measuring the ratio of business listings containing the term as compared to those utilizing "American." First published in a [[1976]] article in ''[[Social Forces]]'', this particular study was later updated in [[1988]]. In contrasting the two, the delineating lines measuring over 6% of Dixie to American remained fairly constant in covering the Old Confederate States, with the exception being in Texas where, in both surveys, it was fairly well limited to eastern parts of the state.
Noted anomalies were the inclusion, and later even slight extension, into parts of the lower Midwest, particularly southern [[Indiana]] and southwestern [[Ohio]]. Neither of these areas can be properly considered a part of the South, so one explanation could be the extent of the so-called "[[Dixie Highway]]" into those particular locales and business names reflecting such.
In using a yardstick of 15%, all but a tiny slice of northeast Texas drops out of the picture. Also losing considerable ground were Virginia and most of Florida save the panhandle. Notable losses also occurred in North Carolina and Kentucky. Most remarkable of all however, was, as Reed stated, the fact that Dixie "dissolves as a coherent region" when the even more demanding standard of 25% was applied. In 1988 as compared to 1976, with the exception of small and isolated parts of adjoining states, only in Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina were large areas still recorded on the data map.
==I Wish I Was in Dixie==
:''Main article: "[[Dixie (song)]]"
[[Image:Dixe's Land Sheet Music.jpg|thumb|350px|"I Wish I Was in Dixie's Land" Sheet music]]
"I Wish I Was in Dixie" is a popular song about the South. It was written by composer [[Daniel Emmett]], a [[Northern United States|Northerner]], and published in 1859. A [[blackface]] [[minstrel show|minstrel-show]] troupe debuted the song that same year in [[New York City]]. As with other minstrel show numbers, the song was performed in blackface and in exaggerated [[Black English Vernacular]]. The song proved extremely popular and became widely known simply as "Dixie". The song has also been published as "Dixie's Land".
The song became the unofficial anthem of the [[Confederate States of America]] during the [[American Civil War]]. This and the tune's minstrel-show origins have created a strong association of "Dixie" with the [[Old South]]. As a result, some today view the song as offensive and racist while others see it as a legitimate part of Southern heritage.
{{listen|filename=Dixie (1916).ogg|title="Dixie"|description=1916 Dixie rendition|description=1916 rendition of Dixie by the Metropolitan Mixed Chorus with [[Ada Jones]] and [[Billy Murray (singer)|Billy Murray]]|format=[[Ogg]]}}
* lyrics[http://www.countrygoldusa.com/dixie.asp]
The first 12 notes of Dixie are the opener on [[The Dukes Of Hazzard]]. Also, they are the horn of [[The General Lee]].
==See also==
*[[Dixieland|Dixieland Jazz]]
*[[Deep South]]
*[[Black Belt Region]]
*[[Bible Belt]]
*[[Mason-Dixon line]]
*[[Dixie Dregs]]
*[[Dixie Chicks]]
===Songs===
<!-- if its worth listing, its worth alphabetizing -->
*"[[Christmas in Dixie]]" - [[Alabama (band)|Alabama]]
*"[[Dear Old Dixie]]" - [[Flatt & Scruggs]]
*"[[Dixie Lullaby]]" - [[Pat Green]]
*"[[Dixie on my Mind]]" - [[Hank Williams Jr.]]
*"[[Dixieland Delight]]" - [[Alabama (band)|Alabama]]
*"[[Friday Night in Dixie]]" - [[Rhett Atkins]]
*"[[I Wanna Go Back To Dixie]]" - [[Tom Lehrer]]
*"[[So Long Dixie]]" - [[Blood, Sweat and Tears]]
*"[[The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down]]" - [[The Band]]
*"[[That's How They Do It In Dixie]]" - [[Hank Williams Jr.]]
*"[[You Can Thank Dixie For That]]" - [[Jake Owen]]
*"[[Trombone Dixie]]" - [[The Beach Boys]]
== References ==
* {{cite book|author=John Shelton Reed (with J. Kohl and C. Hanchette)|title=''The Shrinking South and the Dissolution of Dixie''|year=[[1990]]|publisher=Social Forces|pages=69 ([[September 1990]]): 221-233|id=}}
==External links==
* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Dixe's_Land_Sheet_Music.jpg "Dixie's Land" Sheet music] from the [[United States Library of Congress]]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_COOasBBDA&NR=1 clip of "The Carter Family" singing about Dixie]
[[Category:American culture]]
[[Category:Southern United States]]
[[de:Dixieland]]
[[fa:دیکسی]]
[[fr:Dixie (région)]]
[[nl:Dixie]]
[[ja:ディキシー]]
[[no:Dixie]]
[[sv:Dixie]]
[[zh:迪克西]]