Do you think the American Civil War left a political rift between Americans that exists even to this day?

Question

The New England states are primarily liberal while the Southern and Middle states are primarily conservative as the presidential election maps can attest to. Do you think this is a result of the Civil War at all?

Answer 1

yes and that is a great observation on your part.

Answer 2

Yes, all the Northerners distrust the Southerns and vice versa. If slavery were such an evil institution why did the nation permit it for so long, and why did it end to terribly for the entire South, wrecking the entire economy where it could never come back as before? Do you realize that Southerns have held the White House for the majority of the time since 1952 starting with Ike, who was a Texan? Some were adopted like the Bushes, but the South has come back with a vengeance in the nation's politics. Slavery should have been ended peacefully, not almost destroyed the entire nation.

Answer 3

After the war, the South was left with nothing - their slaves were freed, and the plantation owners did not have agricultural equipment, so the South rebuilt by building large factories - which all required MORE government intervention (humane environment, wages, pollution control). It has made them bitter, and many have that factory mentality, 1, 2, 3 march...After the war, the South said they would never ever vote for a Republican and many to this day, remain very conservative Democrats.

Answer 4

Yes and no. The middle states may be more conservative for different reasons as well. The more rural a state, the more likely conservative-with some exceptions. The Civil War was a terrible war that tore the country apart-but I wonder if people realize that. I hear a lot of pro-war talk that leads me to believe they have no idea about the horrors of war-all war. It's never to be taken lightly.
But we tend to glamorize it greatly.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Answer 5

I dont think it goes that far back. People up north are brought up with completly differant values than those from the South. I know in Texas there are quiet a few more people that depend on thier cattle or livestock than those from New England. I think the liberal/conservative is how you were brought up. Me, conservative (sorta) from Texas. Im conservative because thats the way I was raised. Its kind of like religion, if your mom and dad are christians your probably going to be one as well.

Answer 6

That's probably an oversimplification. My relatives all bled for the Army of Northern Virginia, but this southern boy is a liberal democrat.

My own feeling is that the problem in the nation today is much more of urban vs. rural. If you look at the blue/red election maps by county, one sees that urban areas are predominantly blue and rural counties are predominantly red.

Answer 7

I don't think it has anything to do with the Civil War. The middle states are not primarily conservative. The South is conservative because of the history of extreme evangelicalism and lack of education.

The Civil War was possible because the people down there were so illiterate. Only about 10% of the population in the South owned slaves. Most of the dirt poor men who fought for the Confederacy signed up because they were told they were fighting for state's rights. They thought so because the rich slaveowners told them so, they couldn't read. This hasn't changed over the years. The powerful and rich still tell the dumb hicks what to think and they vote accordingly. There was a rumor during the last election in Virginia that Kerry was going to take away all Bibles.

If it wasn't for FDR's programs during the depression, federal electrification of the South and LBJ's war on poverty, most of the South would still be in abject poverty and illiteracy.

Answer 8

If this is true, then explain California.

Not to mention that according to your idea, the mostly conservative south votes Republican and the more liberal north votes Democrat. Hmmmm, what party was Abraham Lincoln, Northern President again? Hmmmmmm..........

Answer 9

I've lived in the Mid West, New England, and good 'ol Dixie. Some people down here are still fighting the war

Answer 10

I have taken exception to realst1 - have you ever read any articles written about the South or does your hate propaganda come from those northern books you read. Try reading Article 9 of the Confederates Constitution before you spout some bogus nonsense about the south. That is the kind of hate that spurs disdain for your ilk.

Answer 11

I have lived in both the Northern and Southern parts of the U.S., and it is the Southern sectors that has the problem. Northern people don't even have any idea of the hatred of the Southerners towards people above the Mason Dixon line. It's ridiculous, but real.