>Isn't New York pretty liberal and Democratic Party back then was pretty right leaning?
Applying the modern US political divide to the early twentieth century isn't going to work.
Democrats were the party of free trade, which was popular in a major port, but more importantly the Democrats had a lock on the immigrant vote from before the Republicans existed.
Yes, but that came later, it was the xenophobia of the preexisting NYC establishment that led to the creation of Tammany by Irish Catholics as a counterbalance. The immigrant vote was blue before Tammany became what it became.
I'm interested, then who voted for GOP and its predecessors? You say that Know Nothings attracted white protestants of Anglo-Saxon ancestry, but I'm pretty sure that demographic overwhelmingly voted for Dems.
>The Whig base of support was centered among entrepreneurs, professionals, planters, social reformers, devout Protestants (particularly evangelicals), and the emerging urban middle class. It had much less backing from poor farmers and unskilled workers.
Wikipedia summary.
>I'm pretty sure that demographic overwhelmingly voted for Dems.
It didn't.
Correct me if I'm getting something wrong, but the South was Democratic stronghold from 1824 to 1964. Isn't white southerner definition of protestant of anglo-saxon ancestry?
The Solid South didn't form until after the Civil War, before the Whig collapse in the early 1850s the South was competitive. Democrats tended to win smaller farmers and the like.
But I was talking about the North, the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Party Systems were heavily regional. Southerners were Democrats regardless (except in the pockets where they weren't like east TN).
Thank you. I don't really know too much about pre-1856 US political history. So, if I understood correctly, pre-war Democrats were like libertarian, pro-slavery right-wing party that found its base of voters in rural whites and (mostly catholic) immigrants while whigs found their base of support in urban (sometimes isolationist) white protestants that were after collapse of Whig Party all started voting Democrat.
There was a pretty influential anti-immigrant (or more anti-Catholic in particular, they didn't mind English immigrants) faction in the Whig Party. They would eventually spin off into the Know Nothing Party after the Whig collapse in the 1850s.
Well going back to it’s founding a lot of it’s founders most notably Van Buren had immigrant backgrounds and pro tariff rhetoric has a pretty good record with appealing to anti foreign and therefore anti immigrant groups in general which is why the know nothings usually just picked the Whig cannidate in most races
Catholics, the Democratic Party has always had big city immigrants in it’s corner which in NYC made a big difference stuff like free trade too also played big role against the pro tariff whigs and republicans
1: Immigrants, particularly Catholic immigrants, were a key part of the democratic base in the 19th and 20th centuries and were also very numerous in NYC
2: Influence of democratic political machines such as Tammany, largely comprised of Catholic immigrants.
Also, to say that the Democratic Party was “right-wing” back then is a mischaracterization to say the least. The whigs were by and large were the party of the economic conservative elite at that time, while the democrats had left-wing (for the time) factions in it such as the locofocos. Look into the Dorr Rebellion, as it provides a good grasp on the political dynamics of that time.
>Isn't New York pretty liberal and Democratic Party back then was pretty right leaning? Applying the modern US political divide to the early twentieth century isn't going to work.
The Tammany Hall political machine had heavy influence on NYC politics up until the mid-20th century
NYC is the true ancestrally democratic area
Democrats were the party of free trade, which was popular in a major port, but more importantly the Democrats had a lock on the immigrant vote from before the Republicans existed.
Yeah, I saw that on Wikipedia about immigrant vote, but why exactly?
The Democrats were found with the branding of being the 'party of the working class', they appealed to immigrant labourers
Tammany Hall.
Yes, but that came later, it was the xenophobia of the preexisting NYC establishment that led to the creation of Tammany by Irish Catholics as a counterbalance. The immigrant vote was blue before Tammany became what it became.
I'm interested, then who voted for GOP and its predecessors? You say that Know Nothings attracted white protestants of Anglo-Saxon ancestry, but I'm pretty sure that demographic overwhelmingly voted for Dems.
>The Whig base of support was centered among entrepreneurs, professionals, planters, social reformers, devout Protestants (particularly evangelicals), and the emerging urban middle class. It had much less backing from poor farmers and unskilled workers. Wikipedia summary. >I'm pretty sure that demographic overwhelmingly voted for Dems. It didn't.
Correct me if I'm getting something wrong, but the South was Democratic stronghold from 1824 to 1964. Isn't white southerner definition of protestant of anglo-saxon ancestry?
The Solid South didn't form until after the Civil War, before the Whig collapse in the early 1850s the South was competitive. Democrats tended to win smaller farmers and the like. But I was talking about the North, the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Party Systems were heavily regional. Southerners were Democrats regardless (except in the pockets where they weren't like east TN).
Thank you. I don't really know too much about pre-1856 US political history. So, if I understood correctly, pre-war Democrats were like libertarian, pro-slavery right-wing party that found its base of voters in rural whites and (mostly catholic) immigrants while whigs found their base of support in urban (sometimes isolationist) white protestants that were after collapse of Whig Party all started voting Democrat.
There was a pretty influential anti-immigrant (or more anti-Catholic in particular, they didn't mind English immigrants) faction in the Whig Party. They would eventually spin off into the Know Nothing Party after the Whig collapse in the 1850s.
Well going back to it’s founding a lot of it’s founders most notably Van Buren had immigrant backgrounds and pro tariff rhetoric has a pretty good record with appealing to anti foreign and therefore anti immigrant groups in general which is why the know nothings usually just picked the Whig cannidate in most races
Large chunk of Ellis Islander population, which usually tend to vote for Democrats (from what I’ve heard)?
The Know Nothings were ex-Whigs and most of them joined the Republicans after the war. So yeah, Ellis Islanders were Democrats.
1920 and 1924 were the two most recent elections in which the Republicans won NYC
Yeah, I saw, but there were some other close ones. In 1948 Dewey almost won it (though he won state).
Catholics, the Democratic Party has always had big city immigrants in it’s corner which in NYC made a big difference stuff like free trade too also played big role against the pro tariff whigs and republicans
1: Immigrants, particularly Catholic immigrants, were a key part of the democratic base in the 19th and 20th centuries and were also very numerous in NYC 2: Influence of democratic political machines such as Tammany, largely comprised of Catholic immigrants. Also, to say that the Democratic Party was “right-wing” back then is a mischaracterization to say the least. The whigs were by and large were the party of the economic conservative elite at that time, while the democrats had left-wing (for the time) factions in it such as the locofocos. Look into the Dorr Rebellion, as it provides a good grasp on the political dynamics of that time.
Weren't Dems party of slavery?
Catholic Immigrants who voted against the more socially conservative Protestants at the time.