when did Southerners think of themselves as Southerners?

Question

What made them different? What are some characteristics if they still exist today?

Answer 1

Southerners began to think of themselves as Southerners around 1840s.
There were many and varied differences between Southerners and non-Southerners, but most of those differences can be attributed to the agrarian lifestyle & economy of the South.
There are still traces and tracks of agrarian values in the South today...but the mobility of the US population dilutes a lot of regional differences now. The places to find remnants of "Southern Lifestyle" are mostly in rural communities.

Answer 2

In the early days of the nation people thought of themselves as citizens of a state not a region. The division into north and south centered around slavery as the northern states became more industrial and worker and farmers became anti slavery and the south felt their livelihood and way of life threatened. The people in the south have a distrust of federal government and northerners stemming from that time, which was made worse by the civil war. It is true that much of the south is agrarian but so is Iowa and South Dakota, and their politics and culture have little in common with the south,

Answer 3

from the beginning of differences of opinions and lifestyles..........slavery declared the difference early on after settling the southern us..........tradition, religion, agriculture, dialect varies from state to state considered a southern state, various other things..........focus on family is strong, most southerners do not stray far from home regardless.......patriachy........