The States of America: The South: Volume Two

Florida, Georgia, & Kentucky

The Histories of Florida, Georgia, & Kentucky In One Collected Volume

Florida, Georgia, and Kentucky—three states that embody the contradictions and complexities of the American South. In this compelling volume, Daniel Hardy traces the distinct yet interconnected histories of these pivotal southern states, revealing how each has navigated the tensions between tradition and transformation, between southern identity and American ambition.

From Kentucky's role as America's first western frontier to Georgia's position as the heartland of both the Confederacy and the civil rights movement, from Florida's transformation from Spanish colonial outpost to migration magnet, these states have repeatedly reinvented themselves while grappling with the enduring legacies of slavery, segregation, and Civil War. Hardy illuminates how each state served as a crossroads where competing visions of the South collided—Kentucky's impossible neutrality during the Civil War, Georgia's journey from Sherman's devastation to Atlanta's rise as the capital of the New South, and Florida's evolution into a state so transformed by newcomers that its southern character has become almost unrecognizable.

Drawing on rich historical detail and sharp analysis, Hardy demonstrates that the South has never been a monolith but rather a region of profound diversity and constant change. These three states, neither purely Deep South nor border state, reveal the true complexity of southern history. Their stories of economic revolution, demographic upheaval, and cultural conflict illuminate not just the southern experience but the broader American story of who we have been and who we are becoming.

The States Of America: The South: Volume Two offers an essential portrait of three states that continue to shape the nation's destiny.