¶ … Second Reconstructions
One of the most dramatic consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction was that the South was effectively driven from national power for roughly six decades. Southerners no longer claimed the presidency, wielded much power on the Supreme Court, or made their influence strongly felt in Congress But beginning in the 1930s, the South was able to flex more and more political muscle, and by the 1970s some began to think that American politics and political culture were becoming 'southernized'.u How did this happen and what difference did it make to the development of the South and the United States?
Under segregation most blacks in the U.S. still lived in the South and were employed as sharecroppers, laborers and domestic servants, but the system of segregation and discrimination was also found everywhere in other sections of the country. Certainly virtually nothing was done for civil rights during the Progressive Era or the New Deal. No Democratic president seriously challenged the Southern wing of the party before Harry Truman, and because of his limited support for civil rights and desegregation of the military, the Dixiecrats split with the Democratic Party in 1948. It was a harbinger of the future, and explained why John F. Kennedy was so slow and hesitant to side with the civil rights movement before 1963. In any event, most of the time in Congress a coalition of Southern Democrats and Republicans was able to block any meaningful action on civil rights before 1964. Even when the Supreme Court issued its unanimous ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 decision that outlawed segregated schools, the South resisted the attempts to integrate these dual school systems for twenty years. Indeed, all the members of Congress from that section signed a Southern Manifesto that vowed to resist all attempts at desegregation. In short, there had simply been no real chance for a Second Reconstruction in America before the mass protests for civil rights that occurred in the 1950s and 1960s, and even their limited successes produced a major conservative backlash, led first and foremost by Alabama governor George Wallace. His split with the Democratic Party in the 1960s was a sign that many conservative Southern whites were moving into the Republican Party for the first time in history.
Thanks to the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King, and the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, blacks and other minority groups made more progress in the U.S. In a decade than ever before in history. In 1964, after a decade of massive resistance by whites in the South, only 2% of blacks in the South and Border States attended integrated schools, but 25% did by 1967 (Gold 114). Segregated buses, restrooms, train cars, theaters, waiting rooms and restaurants all disappeared after 1964, while it also became illegal to fire women for being pregnant or having small children. These are the most important legacies of the Civil Rights Act. Politically, of course, it was disastrous for the Democratic Party, which was not able to elect a non-Southern president again until 2008. Indeed, Barack Obama was the first North Democrat to carry any state in the South since 1968. Lyndon Johnson was perfectly correct when he told his press secretary Bill Moyers that "I think we just delivered the South to the Republicans for a long time to come," but nevertheless it was the right thing to do (Gold 115).
In contrast to King's many references to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Alabama governor George Wallace reminded his audience that these were written by white Southern slaveholders -- Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Wallace would later run for president in 1964, 1968 and 1972 on a platform opposing civil rights and generally appealing to whites disaffected by protests, demonstrations, the antiwar movement, and other cultural, racial and religious issues. Ever since 1964, the Republicans have used a Southern Strategy to appeal to these disaffected white voters, which has allowed them to control the
American Studies One theme that could unify the wide variety of readings in this course would be the paradox of Equality vs. Hierarchy in American history and society, which is closely related to Inclusion and Exclusion. Black observers, activists and critics of American society like Martin Luther King, Langston Hughes, Cornell West and James Baldwin understood these themes particularly well. From the colonial period to the present, this country has always
Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution" by James McPherson There has traditionally been a significant amount of interest in Abraham Lincoln's life and presidency, for the simple fact that his presence as president coincided with some fairly dramatic events in United States history. Many of these events and Lincoln's influence on them are discussed in James McPherson's non-fictional narrative, Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution. The author makes
gospels in the Bible, each purporting to tell the true story of Jesus' time on earth. In these four books, the famous "Sermon on the Mount" is only recorded in full one time (in Matthew), though a much abridged version is recorded in Luke and supposedly told when Christ has descended from that same mountain. (Maybe he was giving a synopsis of his longer lecture) Understandably, no single short
3.4 Finally, I am interested in whether or not there is a trickle-down effect from leftist or rightist politics style at the provincial and federal levels. 1.3 Objectives 1.3.1 There are two major objectives for this research. The first is to compare the level of motivation among secondary school teachers under the Vancouver British Columbia School District in Canada by their socio-demographic and organizational factors. My hypothesis in advance of investigating this is
Those officials who did look at the question of Japanese intentions decided that Japan would never attack, because to do so would be irrational. Yet what might seem irrational to one country may seem perfectly logical to another country that has different goals, values, and traditions. (Kessler 98) The failures apparent in the onset of World War II and during the course of the war led indirectly to the creation
While some of the wealthy were philanthropic and socially conscious, most of the business magnates believed their financial success proved them to be the most capable and entitled to the spoils of the success. This created a system of social and economic inequity which created a reaction to the Gilded Age well before the Age itself closed. Impact of and Reaction to the Gilded Age of Big Business The Progressive era
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