Sentence:  There is evidence to suggest , in fact , that many authors of the humorous sketches were prompted to write them - or to make them as indelicate as they are - by way of protesting against the artificial refinements which had come to dominate the polite letters of the <WSD>South</WSD> . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  the region of the United States lying to the south of the Mason-Dixon line