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The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/GitmoGrrl1 on 2024-01-24 12:49:02+00:00.

It's my understanding that when the colonies were new and rough, those who had large land holdings in the southern regions would often live in the cities in the north because of the terrible humidity and mosquitoes carrying diseases in the south. And in 1776, there was slavery in all thirteen colonies. The "frontier" was Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama - the west.

My question is: when did Americans begin to think of the United States as two distinct regions, north and south? More importantly, why? Was it because the population of the south had increased or because the northern states had gotten rid of slavery while the south depended on slave labor?