How Was the Democratic Party Formed?
When Did The Party Split Over Slavery?
The party divided over slavery in 1860 during its Presidential convention in Charleston, South Carolina. Northern Democrats selected Stephen Douglas as their nominee, and Southern Democrats embraced slavery, choosing John C. Breckinridge as their nominee. Abraham Lincoln and the newly formed Republican Party ended up winning the election.
Reconstruction and "The White Man's Party"
Most white Southerners were against Radical Reconstruction and the Republican Party’s advocacy of black civil and political rights following the Civil War. The Democratic Party branded itself as the “white man’s party” and vilified the Republican Party as being “Negro dominated” (despite the fact whites were in power).
Resolute to reclaim the South, Southern Democrats “redeemed” one state at a time – sometimes peacefully, other times by deception and bloodshed. Reconstruction ended in 1877, and the Democratic Party held every Southern state in its grasp.
The South was a one-party region for 83 years until the Civil Rights movement commenced in the 1960s. Many Northern Democrats did not denounce the South’s racist policies and had intolerant attitudes towards blacks.
To learn more, continue reading The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Democratic Party.
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