Solid South (Southern bloc) | |
---|---|
Founded | 1876 |
Dissolved | 1964 |
Preceded by | Redeemers |
Ideology | Segregationism White supremacy States' rights |
National affiliation | Democratic Party |
The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. During this period, the Democratic Party controlled southern state legislatures and most local, state and federal officeholders in the South were Democrats. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Southern Democrats disenfranchised nearly all blacks in all the former Confederate states. This resulted in a one-party system, in which a candidate's victory in Democratic primary elections was tantamount to election to the office itself. White primaries were another means that the Democrats used to consolidate their political power, excluding blacks from voting.[1]
The "Solid South" included Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.[2] States considered part of the South by the Census Bureau but not part of the Solid South were Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, because these states remained electorally competitive during the Jim Crow era.[3]
The Solid South can also refer to the "Southern Strategy" that has been employed by Republicans since the 1960s to increase their electoral power in the South. Republicans have been in dominant, almost total, control of political offices in the South since the 2010s.[4] The main exception to this trend has been the state of Virginia.[5]
The long goodbye
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).The New Dominion
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search