<P> Dixie (otherwise known as Dixieland) is a nickname for the Southern United States, especially those states that composed the Confederate States of America . The term originally referred simply to the states south of the Mason - Dixon Line, but now is more of a cultural reference, referring to parts of the United States that "feel" southern . In addition, the term is inextricably bound to the (mixed) feelings that many Americans associate with the Confederate battle flag . </P> <P> As a definite geographic location within the United States, "Dixie" is usually defined as the eleven Southern states that seceded in late 1860 and early 1861 to form the new Confederate States of America . They are (in order of secession): South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee . Maryland never seceded from the Union, but many of their citizens favored the Confederacy . Whilst many of Maryland's representatives were arrested to prevent secession, both the states of Missouri and Kentucky produced Ordinances of Secession and were admitted into the Confederacy . Note that West Virginia was part of Virginia until 1863; counties that chose not to secede from the Union became part of West Virginia . </P> <P> Although Maryland is not included in Dixie today, Maryland is on the Dixie side of the Mason - Dixon line; if the origin of the term Dixie is accepted as referring to the region south (and west) of that line, Maryland was in Dixie in 1760 . It can also be argued that Maryland was, in 1860, part of Dixie, especially culturally . In this sense, it would remain so into the 1970s, when an influx of people from the Northeast made the state and its culture significantly less Southern (especially Baltimore and the suburbs of Washington DC). </P> <P> However, the location and boundaries of "Dixie" have, over time, become increasingly subjective and mercurial . Today, it is most often associated with those parts of the Southern United States where traditions and legacies of the Confederate era and the antebellum South live most strongly . The concept of "Dixie" as the location of a certain set of cultural assumptions, mind - sets and traditions (along with those of other regions in North America) was explored in the 1981 book The Nine Nations of North America . </P>

Southern state is known as heart of dixie