Why is the Southern United States more conservative than the Northern United States?
Read this, then decide your answer;
The politics of the Southern United States generally refers to the political landscape of the Southern United States. The institution of slavery had a profound impact on the politics of the Southern United States, causing the American Civil War and continued subjugation of African-Americans from the Reconstruction era to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Scholars have linked slavery to contemporary political attitudes, including racial resentment. From the Reconstruction era to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, pockets of the Southern United States were characterized as being "authoritarian enclaves".
The region was once referred to as the Solid South, due to its large consistent support for Democrats in all elective offices from 1877 to 1964. As a result, its Congressmen gained seniority across many terms, thus enabling them to control many Congressional committees. Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, Southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while Northeastern states became more reliably Democratic. Studies show that Southern whites in the 1960s shifted to the Republican Party, in part due to racial conservatism. Among white Southerners, large support for the Democratic Party first fell away at the presidential level, and several decades later at the state and local levels.
Like nearly everything else in the South, it has to do with slavery. Southern society was never founded on the same egalitarian concepts as the North. The South was established as slavery based system for two and a half centuries. Jefferson Davis and the southern governors all said slavery was the reason for succession and that with Lincoln as president the ‘Slaveholding States’ would no longer have the power of self-government, or self-protection, and the Federal Government had become their enemy.
The North parts of the country have very different histories right from the beginning. In New England (NE), you typically had small farmers, merchants and religious nonconformists. They set up a society based on modern infrastructures, agricultural mores (fences and laws), education and somewhat austere and very different faith traditions. In NE, you had a strong elementary level of education for almost everybody and (for a few) university education. The North was established as an immigrant driven, manufacturing and freedom oriented country, the South as a plantation system using slave labor. In the south, you had a Bible belt mentality, very little education, not much infrastructure, it was an agrarian society built on cotton and slave labor. At the time of the Civil War, there 4.8 million black slaves and 5 million whites in the south. The North ended up being more industrial and the people much wealthier, while the South stayed very rural, poor and secluded.
My Midwestern history was formed by my immigrant Viking/German/Irish family, with a long history in ship building, construction within a highly disciplined traditional family life filled with rigid values. My growing up normal was a traditional one for decency, stability and political order, e.g.: you get an education, work hard, keep your nose clean, stay away from bad people, develop and keep enlightened ideals, persist in your endeavors, get married and have kids, watch them close and love them constantly, grow old gracefully and you will and yours win. You stand for what is right and fight the evils of bigotry, fascism, communism, murder and mayhem throughout the world, respect our flag and military for defending our ideals.
I first ran into ugly Jim Crow racial segregation aberrations when I was assigned to a naval base in Norfolk, VA in the 1950s. It was the meanest, nastiest, most racist violent city and couldn't believe I was in the USA. The Civil Rights movement was just getting started and I witnessed the ugliest, violent and hateful behaviors known to man by southern whites against blacks seeking their equal rights. But they were operating within their normal, didn’t see anything immoral with segregation and second class citizenship being forced on black people. They were right; the rest of the country was communist for trying to change their culture.
I found northerners tend to be far more educated, industrialized, high tech, socially advanced, and immigrant driven worldly. More students from Northern States go to Ivy League and highly academic Colleges and get better rounded big world view educations. We Northerners tend to be more supportive of social egalitarianism: human rights, civil rights, workers’ unions, and people stuff en all. We think as long as you work hard, everyone should be given a fair chance to succeed.
Southerners tend to have traditional conservative values, lots of religion, and pride in the Confederate heritage that all Southerners share. Southerners tend to dislike liberals. They like their guns; many carry and are better armed than northerners. There is only a hand full of different cultures in the Southern States, while in the Northern States there are many diverse cultures from around the world.
The south leads the nation in income inequality, poverty, obesity, homicides, violent crimes, divorce, births out of wedlock, and is this least peaceful region of the USA. It’s funny that the one sin the North excels at slightly is Sloth which is measured according to: “Expenditures on art, entertainment, and recreation compared with employment.” Basically, it just means Northerners have more fun and have more high culture. As far as sins go, that is definitely the one to choose.
The question you asked is about a social and political phenomenon, which involves several factors that have shaped the differences between the Southern and Northern regions of the United States. To understand why the Southern United States tends to be more conservative compared to the Northern United States, it is important to analyze historical, cultural, and socioeconomic factors.
1. Historical Factors: The Southern region has a unique historical legacy associated with slavery and the Civil War. The legacy of slavery, segregation, and the Civil Rights Movement has influenced political attitudes and identities in the region. The deep-rooted historical divisions have shaped the political landscape, with a legacy of states' rights, limited federal intervention, and a more traditional and conservative approach to governance.
2. Cultural Factors: The Southern United States has a distinct cultural identity characterized by strong religious belief systems, such as evangelical Christianity and social conservatism. These cultural values often align with more conservative political ideologies, promoting socially traditional views on issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and gender roles.
3. Socioeconomic Factors: Historically, the Southern United States has had a more agrarian economy, which has influenced the region's political and social dynamics. This agrarian heritage, combined with a history of resistance to federal intervention in economic matters, has contributed to a pro-business and limited government regulation mindset that aligns with conservative principles.
It is important to note that these factors are generalizations and that political beliefs and attitudes can vary within regions. Additionally, there has been ongoing demographic and political shifts over time, which might challenge the conventional distinctions between regions. The reasons behind the political ideologies across regions are complex and continually evolving. Understanding the historical, cultural, and socioeconomic factors can help provide insights into the differences in political inclinations between the Southern and Northern United States.