<P> In 1948, Democrats alienated white Southerners in two ways . The Democratic National Convention adopted a strong civil rights plank, leading to a walkout by Southerners . Two weeks later, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981 integrating the armed forces . In 1948, the Deep South walked out, formed a new regional party and nominated J. Strom Thurmond who carried the Deep South, but the outer South stayed with Truman and the "Dixiecrats" returned to the party . </P> <P> By 1964, the Democratic lock on the South remained strong, but cracks began to appear . One long - term cause was that the region was becoming more like the rest of the nation and could not long stand apart in terms of racial segregation . Modernization brought factories, businesses and larger cities as well as millions of migrants from the North, as far more people graduated from high school and college . Meanwhile, the cotton and tobacco basis of the traditional South faded away as former farmers moved to town or commuted to factory jobs . Segregation, requiring separate dining and lodging arrangements for employees, was a serious obstacle to business development . </P> <P> The highly visible immediate cause of the political transition involved civil rights . The civil rights movement caused enormous controversy in the white South with many attacking it as a violation of states' rights . When segregation was outlawed by court order and by the Civil Rights acts of 1964 and 1965, a die - hard element resisted integration, led by Democratic governors Orval Faubus of Arkansas, Lester Maddox of Georgia, Ross Barnett of Mississippi and, especially George Wallace of Alabama . These populist governors appealed to a less - educated, blue - collar electorate that on economic grounds favored the Democratic Party and supported segregation . </P> <P> After passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, most Southerners accepted the integration of most institutions (except public schools). With the old barrier to becoming a Republican removed, Southerners joined the new middle class and the Northern transplants in moving toward the Republican Party . Integration thus liberated Southern politics from the old racial issues . In 1963, the federal courts declared unconstitutional the practice of excluding African - American voters from the Democratic primaries, which had been the only elections that mattered in most of the South . Meanwhile, the newly enfranchised black voters supported Democratic candidates at the 85--90% level, a shift which further convinced many white segregationists that the Republicans were no longer the black party . </P>

What was the republicans' position on slavery during the 1860 election