Alfred H. Stone Collection
Volume: 78

41. Walter G. Oakman, “The Condition of the South,” North American Review (July 1901): 40-43.

Allegation that Southern states voted against their self-interest in the presidential election of 1888 when they delivered their electoral votes as a block to the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland, who lost. The author blames this irony on the South’s blind allegiance to the Democratic Party as a result of Reconstruction. “The attitude of the South then indicated that no argument, no appeal to reason, would have weight against her traditional political prejudices or her loyalty to the mere name of Democracy. With that name to conjure with, the politicians can be assured of Southern support for any policy or any platform, no matter how vicious or how destructive!”