Politics in the Southern United States

Some of the Major Influences on Southern Politics

Geography/Colonial TraditionsAn agricultural economyRacial issuesReligious traditionsSingle-party loyalty

The Physical Geography of the South

Fertile soil, waterways, coastline and climate were strong influences on the colonial development of a plantation economy and the supporting social and political structures of the South.

The initial result of this was a social hierarchy based on land ownership. Wealthy landowners held a great deal of the power in the region and were very protective of their land, power and way of life.

Today, tourism is a major economic activity due to the climate and geography of the region which has also influenced politics in the South.

Good Land=Agriculture

Because of the geography and the resulting culture of the region, the economy remained based on agriculture which limited economic development.

The population was spread out and few major cities grew in the region.

With the emphasis on farming, labor was needed which led to the rise of slavery in the southern US. This would greatly impact Southern development and politics.

Heavy capital investment in slave labor limited investment in other types of economic activity in the antebellum period.

Slow Economic Growth

Southerners have often held on tightly to tradition which has hindered economic development in the region. Historically there has been a distrust of the central government and a strong desire to hang on to the romanticized idea of the southern way of life.

The South did embrace some economic change with light manufacturing, forestry and textile development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The wealthy elite planters were replaced with lawyer-politicians holding the most power.

The Roots of the Tension

Prior to the US Civil War, wealthy planters in the South considered their slaves to be property and fiercely protected their rights to that property.

This mind-set led to deeply-held beliefs that blacks were inferior to whites so, even after emancipation, many whites believed blacks were not deserving of equal rights. There was an element of fear, in addition to the idea of superiority.

Racial Tensions

After a long-tradition of using African-American slave labor, there was tremendous resistance among many southern whites about granting equal rights to blacks in the South after emancipation.

While the federal government amended the US Constitution to provide rights to newly freed blacks after the US Civil War, very little permanent progress was made at that time.

In fact, so little change came about that a larger civil rights movement occurred in the 1950s in the United States. The issue of civil rights greatly shaped politics at this time.

Religious Traditions

The southern United States is often referred to as the “Bible belt”.

Christian religious tradition has often shaped politics in the region. In some areas this has resulted in very conservative political ideas but, at times, there has been strong support for government assistance to those in need.

The Christian tradition has created a sometimes contradictory political mindset.

Allegiance to the Democratic Party

After the US Civil War, there was a long period of time when southern voters were loyal to the Democratic party in the United States.

There was great distrust of the Republicans who took office after the Civil War and the Democrats would be the preferred party in the South until the late-1940s.

Shifting Loyalties

Beginning in the late 1940s, the Democrats began to take a more liberal approach to such things as civil rights for black Americans and this led many southerners to withdraw their support.

As Democrats continued to support civil rights and pass federal legislation designed to extend full rights to black Americans, many southerners began to align themselves with the Republican party which came to be considered the conservative party.

“The Good Old Boy System”

There has also been a southern tradition of continually electing the same politicians to office, allowing them to gain influence at the national level. These were often politicians committed to protecting the southern way of life.

An example of one such politician was South Carolina’s own Senator Strom Thurmond. He served as a Senator for 48 years, dying in office at the age of 100. He was originally a Democrat but switched to the Republican party in 1964-in protest of the Democratic stand in favor of civil rights.

Some Change Has Come to the South

While the South is still typically considered politically conservative, there is more cultural and political diversity in the region today.

Southern cities have grown and the populations have become more diverse. Cities like Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, NC have grown significantly in the past 30 years.

This growth and influx of people has led to changing attitudes and voting patterns.

There is also less allegiance to one political party than there used to be. However, this is still somewhat determined by race in the South.

Typically, conservative southerners are thought to vote Republican while more liberal whites and minorities are thought to vote Democrat. However, political attitudes in the region are not as clear cut as they once were as the demographics of the region continue to change.