Historically, the area has been colonized and influenced by the French, Spanish, British, early American, and Confederate governments.[3][4][5][6] Distinct among these states, Alabama's French culture has been preserved through the Alabama Creoles,[7] and Kentucky's French culture can be observed throughout Louisville.[8] The East South Central states form the core of Old Dixie,[9] one of the nine moral regions identified by James Patterson and Peter Kim in their acclaimed 1991 geopolitical best-seller, The Day America Told The Truth.[10] Politically and culturally, the East South Central is more conservative than the other regions making up the American South; Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee's governments have been described during 2012 to 2023 as some of the most conservative.[11][12][13] Religiously, conservative Evangelical Protestantism dominates the East South Central as a central part of the Bible Belt.