Class and party : voting behavior in the late antebellum south

Abstract

This study of southern presidential voting patterns from 1828 to 1860 and secession balloting in early 1861 provides the political historian with a new window to political behavior in the region. It accounts for varying levels of voter turnout from election to election, the subsequent movement of previous inactive voters and new voters into the active electorate, and uncovers important popular vote shifts in southern presidential balloting in spite of apparent core voter stability. The "party of nonvoters" and new voters contributed the bulk of support to the anti-Democratic forces in the South in 1836 and 1840, making the second party system a viable entity in the region. In addition, Democrat or opposition recruitment of peripheral and new voters often enabled the parties to obtain popular vote victories in southern presidential balloting prior to 1852. Previous political affiliations also played significant roles in determining voter support from election to election. Once voters developed allegiances to Andrew Jackson or his political opponents, their partisan affiliations rarely changed. Prior to the secession elections, partisan alignments were relatively more important than any ethnic, religious, or economic factor in determining core voter selections in presidential elections. Ultimately voter choices in the South were framed by their former political allegiances. But, in the secession balloting, when these allegiances sharply conflicted with the particular economic circumstances of slavery, some voting citizens pried themselves away from their political frameworks and cast ballots that reflected their perceived economic interests.