The Democratic South and America's Segregation?

[Raziaar]

Hmm. I am watching the history channel right now, a program called "Discharged Without Honor: Raid", about an all-black infantry battalion that is blamed for shooting up a town in 1906 Texas.

There was mentioned in the episode, something about the Democratic South. This puzzled me. I grew up learning that the republicans owned the south(which they might indeed today), and that the general racists of american history were the republicans from the south, but since hearing that thing in the show I have been doing a bit of research.

I had no idea the Democrats controlled the south in past American history, during the years of slavery and segregation. Hell. I didn't even know Lincoln was a republican(shows my Naievity about the earlier parts of american history). This kind of threw things out of whack from the way I was kind of raised in my thinking that the big racist guys are the fat white republicans from the south. Seems to be the quite opposite, from a little research on the internet, surprisingly, about the oppression of the democratic parties in the south towards blacks, etc.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761580651/Segregation_in_the_United_States.html

Here's a small snippet from this one, particular article.

However, by 1877 the Democratic Party had regained control of the Southern states, ending Reconstruction. The strides that blacks had made—holding political offices, having the right to vote, and participating as equal members of society—were reversed. With the Democrats in power, the South gradually reimposed racially discriminatory laws. These laws achieved two main goals—disenfranchisement and segregation. In order to take away black political power gained during Reconstruction, the Democratic Party in the South began to disenfranchise blacks, or prevent them from voting. There were a variety of methods to stop blacks from voting, including poll taxes, fees which were charged at the voting booth and were too expensive for most blacks; and literacy tests, which required that voters be able to read to vote. Since it had been illegal to teach a slave how to read, most adult former slaves were illiterate. The Democrats also began to create a segregated society that separated blacks and whites in almost every sphere of life. They passed laws that created separate schools and separate public facilities.

And this: http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article?tocId=9362509&query=democrat&ct=

In the 1790s a group of Thomas Jefferson's supporters called themselves “Democratic Republicans” or “Jeffersonian Republicans” to demonstrate their belief in the principle of popular government and their opposition to monarchism. The party adopted its present name in the 1830s, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Democrats won nearly every presidential election in the years 1836–60, but the issue of slavery split the party. The Southern Democrats called for the protection of slavery in the new territories, whereas the Northern Democrats, led by Stephen A. Douglas, advocated allowing each territory to decide by popular sovereignty whether to accept slavery within its borders. As a result, in 1860 the new antislavery Republican Party won its first national victory under Abraham Lincoln. From 1861 to 1913 the only Democratic president was Grover Cleveland; in these years the party was basically conservative and agrarian-oriented, and its members were opposed to protective tariffs. It returned to power under Woodrow Wilson, instituting greater federal regulation of banking and industry, but the Republicans' frank embrace of big business drew voters amid the prosperity of the 1920s. Democrats became dominant again in 1932, electing Franklin D. Roosevelt. A coalition of urban workers, small farmers, liberals, and others sustained Democrats in office until 1953, and the party regained the presidency with the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960. In the 1970s and '80s the Democrats held the presidency only during the single term of Jimmy Carter (1976–81) but retained majority control of the House of Representatives. They regained the presidency in 1992 with the election of Bill Clinton but lost control of both the House and the Senate in 1994. In the presidential election of 2000, Clinton's vice president, Al Gore, was defeated by Republican George W. Bush. In 2004 the party's presidential nominee, John Kerry, was defeated by Bush, and the Democrats lost seats in both houses of Congress. The modern Democratic Party generally supports a strong federal government with powers to regulate business and industry in the public interest; federally financed social services and benefits for the poor, the unemployed, the aged, and other groups; and the protection of civil rights.

Not insinuating anything, but i'm just damned confused. I know modern democrats are all about civil rights, etc, but seems in the past they were the main proponents for slavery, segregation, etc.

This has nothing much to do with modern politics. Not pointing fingers, or anything of the sort. Just curious and confused about the whole situation, being brought up that throughout american history it has been the republicans who have been the anti-blacks, etc.


EDIT: Doh. Thought I put this in the politics section. Can you please move it there if its more appropiate?

 

[Dasparov]

Kung fu guy is getting my attention right now

 

[Dan]

yeah, back in the civil war things were pretty much reversed of what they are today.

 

[Steve]

Yep...back in those days, the "Radical Republicans" as they were called were responsible for all sorts of pushes in civil rights legislation.

 

[Direwolf]

Yeah, the parties aren't really as set in stone as most people seem to act. Theres been major shake-ups throughout all of American history, and everything changes periodically.