The seeds of the new political developments in the South, where for so many years the Democratic party found solid support, were sewn way back. Although most of the former Confederate states have consistently declared their devotion to “states rights” and home rule, traditionally represented there by the Democratic party, Southern society and point-of-view has been rapidly changing during the last century. Professor Grantham interprets the economic and social revolution now under way in the South as the phenomenal climax of deep-rooted and historic developments in the region and the nation as a whole. Not denying the fundamental conservatism of the South, he has discovered that Southern politics is far more than one of sectionalism and segregation, that the politics of individual states vary enormously, and that the progressive movement in the South may reflect far more than we generally realize the attitudes and aspirations of Americans as a whole. He skillfully delineates the forces that have encouraged the South’s attachment to the Democratic party and indicates how increasingly differentiated economic and social pattern will shape the future.
