W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1972 The Dixiecrat Movement of 1948: A Study in Political Conflict Michael Terrence Lavin College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Political Science Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Lavin, Michael Terrence, "The Dixiecrat Movement of 1948: A Study in Political Conflict" (1972). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539624778. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-e3mx-tj71 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DIXIECRAT MOVEMENT OF 1948 A STUDY IN POLITICAL CONFLICT A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Government The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Michael Terrence Lavin 1972 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Author Approved, May, 1972 Warner Moss 0 - Roger Sjnith V S t Jac^Edwards ii TABLE OP CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................... iv / LIST OF T A B L E S ..................................... v LIST OP FIGURES ............. Vii ABSTRACT .......... ' . viii INTRODUCTION . ..... 2 CHAPTER I. THE CHARACTERISTICS OP THE BLACK BELT REGIONS OF THE AMERICAN SOUTH ..... 9 CHAPTER II. THE CHARACTERISTICS OP THE DIXIECRAT MOVEMENT OP 19^8 ........... 27 CHAPTER III. WHY THE DIXIECRATS? ......... 48 CHAPTER IV. SOME EFFECTS OF THE DIXIECRAT MOVEMENT OF 19^8 . 90 CHAPTER V. THE PLACE OF THE DIXIECRAT MOVEMENT OF 19^8 IN THE HISTORY AND THEORY OF AMERICAN THIRD PARTY MOVEMENTS . 100 APPENDICES ..................... H O BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................. 120 ill ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer wishes to express his appreciation to Professor Warner Moss for his guidance, patience and help­ ful criticism throughout the writing of this study. The writer is also thankful for the attention and assistance provided by Professor Roger Smith and Professor Jack Edwards during the course of this study. A special expression of appreciation is also extended to my wife for her patience and assistance in the preparation and typing of this manuscript. iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Dixiecrat Voter Support and the Racial Characteristics of Black Belt Regions ♦ ♦ . 28 2. Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on the Bank Act of 1933 ............... *... 58 3. Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on an Amendment to the Bank Act of 1933 to Guarantee Bank Deposits . ................. 59 4 C Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on a Proposed Bill to Initiate the Taxation of Privately Owned Electric Power C o m p a n i e s ...............• • 6l 5. Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on a Proposed Amendment to the Civil Works Administration Act Providing for Presidential Appointment of State D i r e c t o r s ............... 62 6. Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on the Corporate Bankruptcy Act of 1934 • • • • 63 7. Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on the Motion to Enforce Cloture of Debate on the Anti-Lynching Bill of 1938 ...... 64 8. Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on the Bill Providing for Federal Regula- tion of Privately Owned Utilities 65 9. Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on Bill to Continue Funding C, C, C. • • . • . 66 10c Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on Motion to Enforce Cloture of Debate on Anti-Poll Tax Bill of 1942 .......... 67 11. Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on the Farm Relief Act of 1933 68 v 12. Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on an Amendment to the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation Act to Provide Direct Purchase of Agricultural Commodities at Fixed Prices ....... 69 13. Roll Call Vote of Southern Senators on a Motion to Continue Farm Loans Under the Agricultural Adjustment Act . 69 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Black Belt Support of the Dixiecrat Movement of 19^8 ............. ........ 30 2. The Southern Black Belt Regions ....... 112 vii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to speculate on what caused the conservative Southern Democrats to bolt the National Democratic Party and form the Dixiecrat Movement of 19^3, and to demonstrate whether or not the proposed thesis is in fact correct. The proposed thesis is that the Dixiecrat Movement of 19^8 was the result of the internal struggle which had disrupted the National Democratic Party from 1932 to 19^8, In order to demonstrate the stated proposition, the characteristics of the Dixiecrat Movement and the charac­ teristics of its Deep Southern bailiwick are presented and related to the characteristics of the conservative Southern faction in the Democratic intra-party feud. The leaders, issues, interests, policies, strategy and tactics are analyzed and compared in order to show the coincidence between the objectives of the Dixiecrats and the objectives of the conservative Southern Democrats who had opposed the New Deal politics and policies of the National Democratic Party and to establish the relationship between the Dixie­ crats and the feuding conservative Southerners. It was found that significant comparative material exists and it is concluded that the proposed thesis is valid. It is further concluded that the Dixiecrat Movement of 19^8 was not an isolated political phenomenon because it has influenced political events in the South since 19^8. viii THE DIXIECRAT MOVEMENT OP 194-8 A STUDY IN POLITICAL CONFLICT INTRODUCTION Prior to 1850 political parties were little known except in the United States and Great Britain, but by 1950, political parties had become intricate parts of the politi­ cal systems in nearly every country in the western world. Some students of the subject parallel the evolution of political parties with the development of the political institutions of a particular country, while others assert that the development of political parties was the result of social and economic conditions. Maurice Duverger is representative of the group of scholars who parallel the development of political parties with the development of political institutions. He states that with the development of nineteenth century democracy and the subsequent extensions of suffrage, already existing legislative groups formed liaisons with electoral committees in order to reach the newly enfranchised voters and thereby gain supporters for the elections necessitated by a democratic system. The continuation, extension, and strengthening of these ties developed into lasting 2 political parties,1 As democratic politics continued to develop and become more sophisticated, in both Europe and the United States, Institutional theorists conclude that political parties became similarly more effective and important, On the other hand, scholars such as Frank Sorauf state that the formation of political parties was the product of social and economic pressures evident in Europe and the United States during the nineteenth century, Sorauf con­ tends that economic and social pressures directly influ­ enced the formation of political factions and interest groups that subsequently evolved into political parties.^ Although social and economic pressures probably affected the formation of democratic institutions and political parties, the causal relationship between such pressures and the development of political parties should not be considered primary. Social and economic faction­ alism existed before the nineteenth century under varied 3*Maurice Duverger, Political Parties (New York, 1965) xxiv, xxv, xxvi, xxvii, xxix and 212 j Gerald Pomper, Nominating the President: The Politics of Convention Choice (New'York, 1966) 19-20? S. S. Schattschneider,Party Government (New York, 1942), 6 9° ^Prank J. Sorauf, Political Parties in the American System (Boston, 1964) 20-21? Moisie Ostrogorski, Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties (Chicago^ 1964) xxviii? and Avery Leiserson, Parties and Politics; An Inst 1 tut! ona 1 and Be ha v i ora 1 Appr oach (N ew" Y or k, 1 9 i>BT 36, political systems, but political parties did not e v o l v e . 3 Indeed, social and economic forces can be readily shown to have affected the revolutionary changes which resulted in the rise of democratic governments in Europe and the United States, but without the institutionalization of democracy, political parties or similar organizations would ha vs been limited to functioning as pressure groups or special interest groups. Despite the differing interpretations regarding the evolution of political parties, most scholars agree that political parties pursue electoral success in order to acquire political power.^ In functioning democratic systems, the possession of political power hinges on elec­ toral success and the subsequent control of government which electoral success yields. In the United States, the two party system developed along with democratic Institutions. The disestablishment of the aristocratic caucus system in 1824 and the extension of white male sufferage in 1828 affected the need to acquire greater voter support in order to win elections, 3The term political parties is intended to mean an organized body of leaders and supporters which supports candidates for the purpose of competing