"The Rise of Southern Republicans" A Summary & Analysis

In the passage from "The Rise of Southern Republicans" authors Earl and Merle Black examine in great detail the history concerning the emergence of the Republican party in the South. In the 1850s before the Civil War,  the Republican party in the 1850s  had a presence in every region of the country except for the South. The essential reason for this was the Republican's staunch stance against the expansion of slavery, a position deeply opposed by the slave-owning south. After the Civil War, the Republican Party became viewed as a  hated "enemy" by Southerners, and as a result few Republicans were elected to Congress from Southern states or held positions in Southern legislatures. The Democratic Party dominated what was called "the Solid South" by appealing to racist sentiments held by Southerners against newly freed blacks. The political tradition remained in place for the rest of the 19th century and well into the mid-20th century. By the 1960s, two factors began to shift political loyalties in the South. Lyndon Johnson, a southern Democrat and proponent of civil rights, ascended to the presidency in 1963, and Barry Goldwater, a conservative Republican from Arizona, won the Republican Presidential nomination in 1964. Johnson's passage of civil rights legislation angered conservative southerners. Goldwater's conservative stances on social issues isolated traditional African American support for the Republican party. Feeling abandoned by the Democrats, conservative southerners threw their support to Republican's who promised to slow down the pace of social change. Since the 1980s, the South has given its electoral vote to the Republican candidate in every presidential election.

The passage is very intriguing in its relating of the history of party loyalties in the South. When you think of the image of the Republican Party today, the White Southern stereotype is what usually comes to mind. Seldom do many people remember that the Solid South used to overwhelming vote Democratic. This proves that geography of a region does not matter as much as the ideologies that are abundant in that region. Because both party's catered to the beliefs held by many Southerners, they were able to secure their loyalties in the elections. This perhaps raises an interesting question for the future: if such a dramatic political shift can occur in one region, can it possibly happen in another? The Northeastern states tend to vote for liberal Democrats, with the exceptions of New Hampshire and Vermont. If a ideological crisis among liberalism were to occur, could a political shift occur in New England? Though conservatives remain in the minority, there is still a large amount of support for conservative policies. These questions may come to revelation in the near or distant future, depending on the issues that conflict  the United States at that time.