Most white Southerners in the mid-1800s traced their ancestry to the?

Answer 1

The planters loved to claim that they were descended from the Cavaliers of the English Civil War. It is true that some of the defeated Royalists of 1648 felt it was going to get too hot for them in England, and they emigrated to America, where they gravitated South to the plantations. But the Confederacy was full of exaggerated boasting, in line with a newly-rich ascendancy wanting to put on airs of noble descent.

It is not certain how many of the planters came from true Cavalier stock. Certainly a lot of Southerners were 'Scotch-Irish' (Ulster Protestants), and the planters may have identified these with the poor white trash, and so tried to distance themselves from them.

Answer 2

British Isles, particularly to England and Scotland. They were mostly of English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh descent. This diverse ancestry shaped the culture and traditions of the white Southern population during this time period.