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The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/RYLEESKEEM on 2023-08-07 22:39:34+00:00.

Original Title: How do those that believe that the US party switch was a lie contend with confederate heritage and defense of private imprisonment being so engrained within right wing politics, but rejected by democrats and those further left?

I grew up being told that the southern response wasn’t about maintaining slavery, Lincoln wasn’t trying to free slaves and only did it for popularity because they were losing/he wanted to exploit the labor of freedmen, the party switch is a lie, etc. As much as I do not believe these things now, I don’t trust that the people who told me these things really believe it either.

They way they speak about the confederacy and the union, you would think that John Brown and Fredrick Douglas co-wrote wrote God Save the South. But if the switch never happened, it seems as though those with confederate heritage would populate and reinforce left wing/social democratic politics. If the parties never switched their core ideologies, shouldn’t republicans still be far left private prison abolishinists, promoting social justice and socialist policies relative to the democratic establishment?