Since when did the Republican Party become the "state-rights" party?

Question

It was southern conservative Democrats (aka Dixiecrats and former dixiecrats) who came up with the slogan in support of slavery and then segregation.

When did the Republican Party start using that slogan?

When was the first time the South voted Republican for president and why?

Five points for the first best answer.

coragryph,

You need to be more specific for the 5 points.

Answer 1

The Dixiecrats left the Democrat Party and joined the Republican Party. Also, until recently, both parties believed the federal government should be limited and checked by the states, but I believe the 'states rights' angle entered Republican speak in the '60s and '70s when the Democrats-turned-Dixiecrats joined ranks with the GOP.

Answer 2

As with many issues pertaining to the constitution, the republican party has been traditional. States Rights is a part of the Bill of Rights and is the 10 Amendment to the US Constitution. Way before the "Dixiecrat's" you mention, Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States and a key author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, was also "one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States." He was an ardent supporter of states rights and co-authored the "Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions" that give a an early written record of his/Republican support to the idea of states' rights.
Sen Strom Thurmond, who created the Dixiecrat Party, did so in protest to desegregation issues with the Truman administration and caused a split with the Democrats. Not the best part of American history.
More recently though, prominent Republicans, two of which who are most responsible for the rise of modern conservative political beliefs and values, Sen Barry Goldwater from Arizona and President (and former Governor of California) Ronald Reagan were both strong supporters of states rights.
From this, the states rights issue became part of the anti-Big Government push, where supporters of a smaller federal government looked to move power back closer to the people in the states as our founding fathers intended it to be.
Hope this helps.

PJJ

Answer 3

Oh boy....you need to know your history...originally the republican party was the party that supported the rights of the african americans after the civil war and the north consinstently voted for republicans while the south was democratic however things changed after franklin Roosevelt became president,the democratic party embraced the plight of the african americans and became more open to their problems, this angered many southerners who until then always voted democratic and they turned to the republicans who had gradually moved away from their pro civil rights stance and become more racist. The election of J. F Kennedy only sealed what was already a rising trend, after kennedy was killed the democratic party became the to go party for many minorities while the republican party supported state rights (in other words they supported all the lynchings and race related murders as well as segregation going on in the south since these were considered : "state issues") and the situation remained like this until the rise of reagan and the "new right" which distanced itself somewhat slowly from the party's racist past ( even though reagan himself defended state rights as he proclaimed in a speech in mississipi and is often viewed as rather unfriendly if not indifferent to african american issues) thus this is how the republican party became known as the "state rights party"

Answer 4

it always amazes me when I talk to a Yankee, they think they are so smart and superior to the southern people, they watch hee haw or the Beverley hillbillies on T,V, and think that is the Way the south is so they come down here with grandiose plans to take over, boy are they ever surprised when these so called hill billies can perform circles around them, they have worked all of their lives in a factory putting a bolt in a fender or ? and think they are smart?? they condemn the south because the south didn't want to integrate, yet, who had blacks hanging from every lamp pole when Lincoln started drafting them to fight in the civil war??? it damned sure was not the south, they wanted to shove the blacks down the southerners throat, now they are the ones who are getting their butts busted with a black in every one of their homes and businesses,marrying their daughters etc,or getting them on crack, now they are the ones who are suffering, and the south votes usually for who they think will lead America in the best direction, not because he is different, and they would elect a black Muslim just so they can say they are not prejudice, yes, they are really intelligent,

Answer 5

southern conservative Democrats (aka Dixiecrats and former dixiecrats) are your conservative, rightwing, neo cons republicans of today.

Answer 6

The South started voting Republican when the Communists and Socialists took over the Democrat Party.

Answer 7

Since the late 1800s and early 1900s

And stopped being that in the 1980s, when the neo-conservatives realized they could achieve their social agenda much more effectively by controlling a powerful central (federal) govt.

Answer 8

Since they were in favor of segregating schools.

When a Republican says 'State's Rights' it's code for 'I don't want my kid going to school with black kids'.

Answer 9

Reagan started it. Or at least he popularized it.

Answer 10

Ditto on Wolf's Answer