The Solid South Era 1860-1946

[jiacinto]

I guess that we can all say that the South began its decade long move away from the Democratic Party starting in the 1948 election, then progressively doing so through the 1960s, and then accelerating in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

But were there any Republicans at all in the South in the earlier eras? Were there any Republicans at all? I do know that E TN always elected Republicans even during that era.

Were there any Republicans around in other states?

[bluestateguy]

1. The South

Pockets of Republicanism existed in the NC panhandle, Winston County, Alabama and Texas Hill Country, as well as East Tennessee. These regions had few slaves, opposed secession and in the case of Texas Hill Country, it was populated by German immigrants. Hence, they had no ancestral loyalty to the Democratic Party.

[jiacinto]

17. Well

Was it enough to elect a Republican Congressman from those areas?

[maine_raptor]

2. Whew....it's a hell of a history

The answer to that question require about 2 semesters in Reconstruction History!!!!!!!!!! :party:

Best I can do right now:

Look up a book by C. Vann Woodward Reunion and Reaction

Also Irwin Unger's The Greenback Era: A Social and Political History of American Finance 1865-1879


Both books have quite a bit on the Republican Party in the South during the period you mention.

I'll try to fine out some othe material that might help you.

[TheBigGuy]

14. C Vann Woodward, a great source on Southern history

I recall reading some of his stuff in college...

[Yupster]

3. Lots of Republicans came down south

right after the war.

Most were abolitionists before the war. Hundreds of schools for freedmen were opened by them.

Sadly most had been chased back north by the time Reconstruction ended in 1877. By then the federal troops had been withdrawn, and the region was safe again for everyone -- as long as they were white and Democratic.

BTW -- the Texas Hill Country is an interesting story during the Civil War. Some of the towns like Fredricksburg were fiercely pro-union, and have been electing Republicans ever since.

But just a few towns away, the equally German town of New Braunsfels (where Schlitterbahn is today) was just as Confederate and even sported a rare Confederate arsenal. New Braunfels elects Republicans today also.

[maine_raptor]

4. Yes but,

the "Stolen Election of 1876" had a LOT to do with withdrawing of Federal Troops and the "chasing back north" of the Republicans.

However quite a few did stay. In the meanwhile, just prior to the 1876 election, many of the white Republicans in the North (notably the Old Northwest) became disenchanted with the Republican Party due to competition for jobs with the newly freed blacks. This lead to a rise, in some areas of the North, in the popularity of the Democratic Party and set the stage for the Popularist Movement of the late 1800's.

[dfong63]

5. civil rights act

after LBJ signed the civil rights act of 1964 (?), he reportedly remarked (not an exact quote), "I think we just signed away the south to the republicans for a long time."

[Ouabache]

22. Johnson's quote was closer to:

"We have just lost the South for a generation."

[jiacinto]

7. Where is the TX Hill Country

nt

[sreadtx1979]

8. It's near Austin

The Texas Hill Country is in the Austin area.

[Classical_Liberal]

6. alot of the newly freed blacks that were elected were republican

.

[David Zephyr]

11. Thanks for Making This Point.

I just came to this thread and wanted to make the same observation.

[TheBigGuy]

13. "Customs House Republicans"

The blacks still voted Republican after the end of reconstruction and before the advent of Jim Crow and the forced disenfranchised.

Some recieved appointments to Federal posts such as being in charge of customs houses. This was true of some white folks too.

These white Republicans where called by their Southern Democratic brethren "Customs House Republicans" meaning they where in the GOP just so they could get a Federal job appointment.

[Dob Bole]

9. Sadly, a lot of Republicans came down South

they were known as "carpetbaggers" -profiteers who took over businesses during Reconstruction. This "Republican invasion" was the primary reason for the existence of the "Solid South."

By 1948, most Civil War veterans had died and the Carpetbaggers had children, etc. and were integrated into their surroundings. The South began to vote Republican in landslide elections- for Nixon in 1972 and for Reagan in 1984. The last time there was a Solid Democratic South for a presidential election was in 1976 during the election of Jimmy Carter.

You could argue that the "New Deal Coalition" died after that.

[David Zephyr]

10. Are You Forgetting African Americans in This Thread?

"But were there any Republicans at all in the South in the earlier eras?" This question appears to only care about white voters.

African-Americans in the South, were solidly in the Republican camp, and correctly so. With the FDR Administration, Blacks began to find a home within the Democratic Party. Of course, this was reciprocated by Whites migrating to the Republican Party.

The key to winning back the South is not pandering to the worst element in reactionary whites, but to simply register more African-American voters and to contribute monies to that cause.

Jesse Jackson laid out the math about how easy this can be done.

In any event, all politics is local, and even in Mississippi city council governments are slowly giving way to greater and greater Black majorities which can only bode good for the Region and the Nation.

Two of the best books I can recommend to anyone on this entire subject would be:

Wilbur Cash's "The Mind of the South"
John Franklin Hope's "Reconstruction"

[TheBigGuy]

12. Mountain Republicanism & GOP/Populist Fusion.

Mountain Republicanism also extended to Kentucky and North Carolina, perhaps also Virginia and northern Alabama...in Kentucky this phenomenon also existied in the "Shawnee Hills" along the Green River, in the west-central part of the state.

In Kentucky It was a legacy of the a political divide between the "back-country" and more prosperous farming areas like the Pennyrile and Bluegrass. There was also an urban "buisiness Republicanism" in industrial citys like Louisville & Covington.

There where also a poltical fusion movement between Populists and the GOP in North Carolina during the 1890s, I think. This was sort of contrary to the usual pattern of Populists fusion..which went to the Democrats.

[jiacinto]

16. Okay

So there were Republicans up in the mountains. I did look back at old historical records and the Republicans were able to win office occassionally in KY. As for TN I know that E TN was always Republican.

What was Mountain Republicanism like? And was it strong enough to elect Republicans to Congress from these states?

[Yupster]

19. The term hillbilly

comes from the "Billy Yanks" or unionist supporters who were the least educated in the south, rarely literate, had virtually no slaves, and did not support the Confederacy.

Those Billy Yanks of the hills, the "hillbillies" were scaliwags to most southerners, traitors and Yankee-lovers. They fought a Civil War within the Civil War and also provided many troops for the Union Army. They also broke off West Virginia from Virginia because the mountain part of the state didn't want to secede.

[jiacinto]

20. Interesting

But were there enough of them to elect Republicans?

[Starpass]

15. Another part of that story interests me

I remember that the first I saw "up North" the religious "tv" crap was in 1967. I have no idea how long before that it was on but I definitely remember seeing old Pat Robertson at that time. I don't know what it was that made these slime (except mutual greed) back republicans instead of the traditional backing of Dems by most religious organizations. But, this is one of the major turning points that hatched in the south (and spread from there) that hooked the southern white crowd into supporting repukes and literally hating Dems as "evil". I've always wondered where and when the unholy alliance began----when did the southern pentacostals decide god was a republican??????????

[jiacinto]

18. kick

nt

[jiacinto]

21. kick

nt