Editor’s Note: This is a work in progress.

I’ve really been enjoying William A. Link’s new book Southern Crucible: The Making of An American Region which was delivered yesterday. It didn’t arrive in time to be of any use in my speech. The first volume covers the history of the South to 1877. The second volume from 1877 to the present. I bought the single edition version although I plan to get the others.

Check out these graphs about transplants:

Virginia is a Blue State.

Florida and North Carolina are Purple States.

Louisiana remains the most traditionally Southern state.

Mississippi is a Red State even though it has proportionately more blacks. The cause of this is the sheer number of transplants born in the Northeast and West Coast who now live in places like Charlottesville. It has had a greater impact on Virginia than millions of Hispanics on Florida.