is a cultural and literally geographic subregion in the Southern United States such as Alabama, Florida, Mississippi,
Georgia, Louisiana and
Texas. The term was first used to describe these states most dependent on plantations and chattel slavery during the early period of United States
history. The region suffered economic hardship after the American Civil War and was a major site of racial tension during and after the Reconstruction era. State governments enshrined white supremacy as a guiding principle and worked to deny political rights and economic opportunities to
black citizens, partly through Jim
Crow laws. The Civil rights movement ushered in a new era, sometimes referred to as the New South. Before 1945, the Deep South was often referred to as the Cotton States, since cotton was the primary cash crop for economic production.