The “Sweet Tea” Mason-Dixon Line

If you’ve spent any time in the southern US, you know about “sweet tea.” Pre-sweetened — sometimes mouth-puckeringly so — sweet tea is a staple throughout the south. But what do we mean when we say “the south”?

Historically, the line of separation between the north and the south has been the Mason-Dixon line. This line, set by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon on October 9, 1767, settled a border dispute and defined Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. During the civil war, the line stood as a separation between free and slave states.

Today, Virginia seems to have an internal conflict — a split personality, if you will — in which the northern area of the state does not generally offer sweet tea; in the southern part of the state, sweet tea is far more common. Perhaps the line of of change in sweet tea availability — a Sweet Tea Mason-Dixon line — may be the most realistic line of demarcation separating the North from the South today.

[Via Neatorama]