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]
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