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The "Great Realignment," as you call it, was the result of the Democratic Party slowly turning into what it has become today, an anti-federalist, pro-abortion, anti-religion, anti-military, socialist, progressive, authoritarian, central government party. That is why the parties realigned, not because of anything to do with where politicians thought they could practice racial bigotry.
In other words, the Democrats have only moved further to the left.
They didn't increase their racism, which was huge in the 1800s.
President Obama flip flops so much he arguably has more in common with Bush than Candidate Obama.
If you go back 150 years, you will see parties change quite a bit.
The fact is, some Democrat positions 150 years may be viewed as conservative for the time period and some may be more liberal and in line with Jefferson and previous presidents.
Southern Democrats in the 1800s were anti-big bank, anti-tariff, anti-federal government sponsored internal improvements, anti-federal government support of big business...many of these positions very well could be attributed to as "of the people" and liberal for the time.
Funniest thing about this cartoon, is that most of the things the citizens in it are demanding, are exactly what the various Democrat constituent groups have been saying since Obama was elected.
Funniest thing about this cartoon, is that most of the things the citizens in it are demanding, are exactly what the various Democrat constituent groups have been saying since Obama was elected.
Um, except the cartoon is talking about the REPUBLICAN party.
That was that posters point. The Republican party in 1860 was essentially the "Liberal" party of it's day - one which promoted big government and other typical "Liberal" ideas (as the cartoon shows), while the Democrats were the "Conservative" party of it's day - one which promoted small (ie limited) government (especially at the Federal level) and other positions which are similar to GOP positions today.
The cartoon pretty much says it all about how the Republican party was viewed at the time (ie viewed as pretty much the way the Democratic party is viewed today).
No, the radical Republicans were far left liberals from the north and Democrats were conservatives from the south. Republicans supported ending slavery and giving blacks equal rights while conservative/reactionary Democrats where from the south were against it. As many here have said, most Americans are stupid people who don't even know their own history or how the two parties ended up switching places in the "Great Realignment".
Because the parties switched left-right sides the proper way to view history in America is that Conservatives were for slavery and against equal rights while liberals were against slavery and for equal rights. Most of our RWNJs here ignore those facts.
Wrong-
Slavery only become a major issue in the Civil War with the Emancipation Proclamation, which was a political move by Lincoln designed to prevent intervention of England on behalf of the Confederates. It was a brilliant political move. Lincoln had stated many times that he would tolerate the issue of slavery if it preserved the Union. While personally opposed to slavery, it was not THE MAJOR political platform issue of the republicans.
The Civil War was ingnited and fought primarily over the issue of STATE RIGHTS over federalism, not slavery.
I always find it amusing when members of the democrat party attempt to hide or revise thier heritage and past political stances of thier party. Democrats supported slavery, Jim Crow laws, and opposed the Civil Rights movement. This is a historical fact that democrats of today have a very hard time accepting. Sadly, they do not even realize that the political stance of the modern democrat will be viewed in similar fashion by history- being on the wrong side of history.
Liberalism as we know it did not even exist until the rise of socialist/marxist thought in the world. Of course, this predates the Russian Revolution, but was not a scope of political thought during the time of the Civil War. Assigning "liberal" or "conservative" designation to parties, movements or individuals in the past is academically disingenuous and is viewed from a distorted present day perspective.
Liberalism from the time of Wilson to present day is based in embracing many of the core principles of marxism and the power of the state over the individual. Only the latter componant was present at the time of the Civil War and thus assigning marxist tendencies to anyone prior to the advent of marxist throught is misleading and fallacious. I would offer that both republicans and democrats of the Civil War era would shun "liberalism", as prevailing political thought among Americans of that time did not espouse marxist/socialist ideology (of the seeds of such) in thier writing.
Last edited by hawkeye2009; 05-29-2014 at 06:23 AM..
Slavery only become a major issue in the Civil War with the Emancipation Proclamation, which was a political move by Lincoln designed to prevent intervention of England on behalf of the Confederates. It was a brilliant political move. Lincoln had stated many times that he would tolerate the issue of slavery if it preserved the Union. While personally opposed to slavery, it was not THE MAJOR political platform issue of the republicans.
The Civil War was ingnited and fought primarily over the issue of STATE RIGHTS over federalism, not slavery.
I always find it amusing when members of the democrat party attempt to hide or revise thier heritage and past political stances of thier party. Democrats supported slavery, Jim Crow laws, and opposed the Civil Rights movement. This is a historical fact that democrats of today have a very hard time accepting. Sadly, they do not even realize that the political stance of the modern democrat will be viewed in similar fashion by history- being on the wrong side of history.
Liberalism as we know it did not even exist until the rise of socialist/marxist thought in the world. Of course, this predates the Russian Revolution, but was not a scope of political thought during the time of the Civil War. Assigning "liberal" or "conservative" designation to parties, movements or individuals in the past is academically disingenuous and is viewed from a distorted present day perspective.
Liberalism from the time of Wilson to present day is based in embracing many of the core principles of marxism and the power of the state over the individual. Only the latter componant was present at the time of the Civil War and thus assigning marxist tendencies to anyone prior to the advent of marxist throught is misleading and fallacious. I would offer that both republicans and democrats of the Civil War era would shun "liberalism", as prevailing political thought among Americans of that time did not espouse marxist/socialist ideology (of the seeds of such) in thier writing.
What history text are you using in your alternate reality?
The South Carolina Decloration of Seccession explictly states that attemps to abolish slvery and not enforce the fugative slave act as primary reason for leaving the Union. Texas, Mississippi and other states did the same. Saying it wasn't the issue until the Emancipation Proclamation is flat wrong. It was THE issue of states vs. federal government.
And I'd love for some neo-Confederate to argue that states rights trump universal human rights.
What history text are you using in your alternate reality?
The South Carolina Decloration of Seccession explictly states that attemps to abolish slvery and not enforce the fugative slave act as primary reason for leaving the Union. Texas, Mississippi and other states did the same. Saying it wasn't the issue until the Emancipation Proclamation is flat wrong. It was THE issue of states vs. federal government.
And I'd love for some neo-Confederate to argue that states rights trump universal human rights.
Yeah, racist wingnuts - almost always from the south - continue to try to rewrite the past to excuse the guilt of the south and misrepresent the reason for their succession. While the reason for succession WAS technically "states rights", the main "right" they left the union for was the "right" to have SLAVERY. If there had been no slavery in the south there would have BEEN no succession. ALL the other issues the south had with the north pale to insignificance in comparison. Virtually ALL the tension that had built up between north and south over the previous decades had been about SLAVERY - that's WHY there was legislation such as the Missouri Compromise, whereby new states to the union below a specific latitude would be designated "slave" states while those above that boundary would be "free" states. In the decades leading up to the Civil War great pains were taken by both sides to try and maintain a balance in Congress between the "slave" states and the "free" states - but as time went on it became apparent that that process was starting to break down. The result is that the "slave" states decided to leave the union when Lincoln was made President.
Um, except the cartoon is talking about the REPUBLICAN party.
No, the cartoon, written by opponents of the Republican party, is talking about what they wished the Republican party was like.
In other words, they are likely lying about the Republicans, just as liberals today do when the truth doesn't serve their agenda.
Ironically, the things the cartoon describes and lambastes, are exactly what many Democrats and their constituents have been demanding for the last few years.
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