Regions played an important role in US history. Their different economic, social, political and security interest’s have divided the country in it’s early beginning. Slavery and the existence of free land lead to sectional politics, which resulted in North-South and East-West polarities in politics and culture. Factors like constitutional federalism, the rhetoric of the Civil War and the influence of Romanticism have made regions important. King argues that the war had been of importance in consolidating regional loyalties and creating historical-cultural importancy. Romanticism helped to create identity because it defined group identity over shared cultural characteristics rather than political boundaries and institutions.

Edward Ashbee, author of “One Nation Indivisible: The American Regions”, defines regions traditionally as a “tract of land with relatively homogeneous characteristics and marked boundaries“, and points out that regions were an artificial construct that is formed from economic and cultural differences between areas. His article includes David Hackett Fischer’s thoughts that regions were shaped by folkways of the first European colonists. However, African-Americans, later colonists and immigrants have played a part in shaping the American cultures as well, particularly the South. Some observers talk of between six and sixteen regions, including the South, New England, the Midwest and West that emerged from history. The last article focuses on todays situation and opens with Barack Obama’s call for unity over red and blue states. The author also mentions shifts in regional attachment. Virginia’s, North Carolina’s and Florida’s attachment to the south are declining whereas places like Oklahoma and Kentucky started to resemble southern states in their tradition. Hence, it is time to rethink southern boundaries. The author further elaborates on the South, arguing that it has drifted further away from the mainstream and created a southern “otherness”. This shows, that regions are not only of geographical matter but also key factors when it comes to creating identity and a sense of belonging.