At a recent Abbeville Conference, I tackled a subject that’s been hiding in plain sight all along – the Southern accent. I’ve lived in Alabama almost my whole life, so I’m definitely familiar with the Southern accent. Now it’s true that my wife and I lived in Iowa for three years, but we actually kind of liked it up there....| Abbeville Institute
There's nothing better than a wedding, except maybe a Southern wedding. That's because at a Southern wedding, there won't just be romance in the air -- there will probably be the delicious smell of barbecue too. And while the bride will likely be dressed in white like usual, at a Southern wedding, there's no telling what shoes will be on her feet. It could be flip flops or cowboy boots or no shoes at all. At least, that's what we've learned from asking our followers on the It's a Southern Thi...| It's a Southern Thing
In the immortal words of the Declaration of Independence, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” When that consent is withdrawn—when the government becomes the destroyer, rather than the protector, of life, liberty, and property—then the people retain the right, indeed the duty, to dissolve the political bands which have connected them to the abusers.| Abbeville Institute
As editor-in-Chief of the inaugural issue of the now-defunct theme-based journal, The Journal of Thomas Jefferson’s Life and Times, I was asked to write the feature, introductory essay, which I titled “‘A silent execution of duty’: The Republican Pen of Thomas Jefferson.” It was a daunting task, as I aimed to introduce the journal by constructing an essay that would give readers some feel for the breadth and depth of Jefferson’s mind. Given the obvious spatial constraints, there w...| Abbeville Institute
A review of Southern Story and Song: Country Music in the 20th Century (Shotwell, 2024) by Joseph R. Stromberg| Abbeville Institute
When most Americans think of the “First Thanksgiving,” they think of the Pilgrims in Plymouth who sat down for a Harvest Festival meal with the Wampanoag Indians in 1621. The Pilgrims had arrived on the Mayflower in November of 1620 and nearly a year later celebrated the abundance of provisions that God had provided. The Thanksgiving tradition recalls to memory Indians like Squanto (1580–1622) and Englishmen like William Bradford (1590–1657), who was elected governor in early 1621. Ma...| Abbeville Institute
Originally published in Southern Partisan in 1979.| Abbeville Institute
In the Low Country of South Carolina and the coastal regions of Georgia, the Gullah people are everywhere because they never left. Although there were significant numbers of Gullah who migrated out of the South at the turn of the 20th Century, the multitudes who stayed replaced them quickly and remained isolated. Their customs, dress, arts, language, and music still remain, and they will probably never stop laughing at “kumbaya.”| Abbeville Institute
Cities hustle and bustle, small towns hum. Six days out of seven in the little town where I live, you can hear the low rattle of log trucks playing hopscotch over potholes in county roads that haven’t been solid since Clinton was governor. The chug-a-chug of the Georgia Pacific train marks six o’clock on both ends of the day. And the sawmill whistles at us morning and noon like a camp cook calling folks to breakfast and lunch. But on Sundays the hum becomes hymns, and the only noise you h...| Abbeville Institute
Government, Thomas Jefferson all too frequently notes, is for the sake of the wellbeing of all citizens, each considered the political equal of all others and, in consequence, deserving of the same rights. Government, thus, exists for the sake of the wellbeing of all citizens, considered as individuals. Government, he often says, is of and for the people.| Abbeville Institute
It is common in Civil War circles to hear about the so-called “Lost Cause”, variously termed a myth or a narrative. Are those two terms synonymous? Let’s look. Dictionary.com defines myth as: “a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.”| Abbeville Institute
When speaking at Abbeville’s “The 1607 Project,” someone from the audience came to me, after my talk—and the Abbeville audience was electric!—and said, “You really mean what you say.” It was a curious sentiment, for by implication, I could conclude that many speakers at that or other conferences merely go about the business of public speaking without investing personally in their words—that is, without regard for authenticity.| Abbeville Institute
Mr. Leevonne Mitchell was my teacher. I graduated from Auburn High School in 1978, and he was technically and officially my Speech teacher in 10th grade. But, man, he was SO much more than that…| Abbeville Institute
There is an old saying that rejects not only the concept of the “randomness” of history but of mankind’s involvement in that history. It identifies situations addressing external forces acting on human beings and in so doing influencing history itself. This maxim states that, “Man proposes but God disposes.” For there is overwhelming evidence of the existence of something other than the activities of men or the workings of random happenstance that validate this belief even by those ...| Abbeville Institute
Julia Winston Ivey, on September 15, 2020, quietly passed away at her house on Parkland Drive in Lynchburg, Virginia. She was a remarkable musical talent, an internationally lauded pianist in her prime years, yet her death created only a small stir in Hill City and her funeral, at her gravesite, was sparsely attended. The irony of her hushed passing is that she was very likely the largest musical talent that Lynchburg has ever seen.| Abbeville Institute
Dickey Betts died. If you need to read a biographical tribute, turn elsewhere. While there are plenty of cookie-cutter articles about Dickey Betts all over the place, the perspective found here is from a fellow musician, a fellow guitarist, and a fellow Southerner who never met Dickey Betts or ever even saw him perform. But, oh, what an influence he had on me!| Abbeville Institute
This is my first interview in 4 months. I’ve been on a hiatus in order to focus more on home-life priorities since (in case y’all haven’t noticed) modern life is pretty darn crazy…| Dissident Mama
The Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) defines reconciliation as “Making peace between enemies, especially the removal of hostility and barriers between humans and God, and between individuals, accom…| Dissident Mama
“On top of the monument a heroic-sized allegorical figure typifies the South. She holds in her extended right hand a laurel wreath with which to crown the dead; her left hand rests on a plows…| Dissident Mama
If you’re in need of a last-minute Christmas gift for that Dixian or Copperhead on your nice list, or even for (or more especially for) that Yankee on your naughty list, look no further. R…| Dissident Mama
