nal scale. The Largest change of the Southern voters occurred in 1960 when "the southern white Protestant presidential vote went Republican"(Wayne p62). This would of allowed for the democrats to lose the south if the black electorate had not voted Democrat. The black Southern voters at the time of the 1960's were just again able to participate with their rights to vote. This was because shortly after the Civil War and reconstruction the Southern whites reduced and eventually removed the short lived black political power. They added laws that made it mandatory to take tests for voter eligibility, as well as discouraging black voting at all. This discrimination greatly reduced if not completely halted black voting in the south until the 1950's and 1960's. It was not until 1965 that the Voting Rights Act was passed that prohibited literacy tests for federal elections did blacks obtain their constitutional right to vote (Wayne p.70). Many blacks did in fact support the Republican party for quite a long time because they were known as the party of reconstruction and freeing of the slaves. Black voting turned towards the Democrats in the 1930's and 40's on the advice of "One N.A.A.C.P. leader... Turn your pictures of Lincoln to the wall, the debt is paid in full"(Mulcahy p 37). This black voting for the Democrats created a problem in of its self, that the Blacks were continuing to vote for the local white conservative Democrats, that upheld the traditional Southern white views. This lead to the continued power of the oppressive whites, even though the party platform was one of reform. It was not until the early 70's that when the Republicans won the election for the governor of Virginia was the two party system fully revived in the south (U.S. news p. 210). This two party system allowed Democrats to run on a more liberal platform, which gave the blacks the representation that they wanted. Voting in the South since the 1960's has followed the...
