Kelsey (lesson 3)
What are some other reasons that cemented South Carolina's return to the Republican Party?
---------Richard Nixon's campaign promise to restore "law and order" appealed to conservative Southerners who feared the backlash of the black power movement as well as the anti-war protests -------The South has numerous fundamental and evangelical churches that organize politically as social conservatives and became a cornerstone of the growing conservative (Republican) movement
What political party did the African Americans in SC support during this time?
-------As a result of the Elmore v. Rice court decision and the anti poll tax amendment to the US Constitution (24th Amendment), African Americans have voted in increasing numbers ------Although they supported the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln that won them their freedom and protected it during Reconstruction, they have consistently supported the Democratic Party since the mid-1960s b/c of the Democratic Party's support for civil rights ------African Americans make up about 28% of the population according to the 2010 so they have limited impact on presidential elections in a state with a winner-take-all policy granting electoral votes to the candidate that gains the majority
In what ways did Strom Thurmond oppose civil rights for African Americans?
------Thurmond helped write the "Southern Manifesto" outlining arguments against the Supreme Court's brown v. board of education decision. He made senate history for the longest individual filibuster, 24 hours and 18 minutes, against the Civil Rights act of 1957. -----Famous for giving the longest individual filibuster
What factors led South Carolina to make the political shift from a Democratic to becoming a Republican state?
African Americans slowly began to shift their support to the Democratic Party, and the party came to count on their votes. at the same time, southern states remained traditionally Democratic-the "Solid South." this put the national party in a delicate situation. as the Civil Rights Movement forced the nation to take a stand on racial issues, the Democrats no longer held back, and became the leading party for civil rights. ---------Because of Truman's support for desegregation and civil rights, many delegates from SC walked out of the Democratic National Convention in 1948 ---------ADD ~ soon after WW11, Democratic President Truman ordered the desegregation of the military and supported federal protection against lynching
Why was South Carolina historically a Democratic state?
Blaming the Republicans for both the war and Reconstruction, SC, like other southern states, voted solidly Democratic and became part of what was know as the "solid South."
Who was Essie Mae Washington-Williams and why was she described as a "friend" to the Thurmond family for many years?
Essie Mae was Thurmond's and the family maid, Carrie Butler's daughter
Who were the Dixiecrats? How did their influence continue even though the party dissolved?
the States' Rights Democratic Party, or the Dixiecrats. the dixiecrats held their own convention in Birmingham, Alabama. although there were dixiecrats in all 13 southern states, most were from South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama. the 6,000 or so dixiecrats who attended the convention nominated South Carolina Strom Thurmond as their candidate for president and Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright for vice president --------Walked out of the National Convention and formed their own party ------Goal ~ to reclaim the "Southern way of life" . -------Dixiecrats were Southern Democrats
Why did Strom Thurmond switch political parties in 1964, and how did his decision affect South Carolina politics?
the government passed a much stronger Civil Rights Act. later that year, Thurmond supported Senator Barry Goldwater's Republican bid to win the presidency. Goldwater was an extremely conservative Republican from Arizona who opposed the law. Thurmond switched parties upon announcing his support for Goldwater. his switch from Democrat to Republican helped lead to the Republican Party's growth in SC. ------ADD ~ Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson responded to the Civil Rights Movement with support for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. (Southern Democrats began to switch to the Republican Party)
What political offices did Strom Thurmond hold? (pgs. 308-309)
two years after the dixiecrat experiment, Thurmond ran for the US Senate but lost-the only time in his career he would do s. however, in 1954, when the state's other democratic senator died two months before the election, the party decided to appoint someone to fill the empty seat. Thurmond felt this was unfair, so he encouraged voters to write his name on the ballot. -------Dixiecrats nominated Strom Thurmond as their presidential candidate in the 1948 presidential election ------Leader of the Dixiecrats and their presidential candidate
