Nation within a Nation: The American South and the Federal Government

367 Pages·2014·19.096 MB·English

by  Glenn Feldman

Nation within a Nation
University Press of Florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola
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Nation within a Nation
The American South and the Federal Government
Edited by Glenn Feldman
University Press of Florida
Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton
Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota
Copyright 2014 by Glenn Feldman
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on recycled, acid free paper
This book may be available in an electronic edition.
19 18 17 16 15 14 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nation within a nation : the American South and the federal government / edited by
Glenn Feldman.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-8130-4987-8
1. Southern States—Politics and government. 2. United States—Politics and government. 3.
Federal government—Southern States—Historiography. I. Feldman, Glenn.
F209.N38 2014
320.0975—dc23
2013047852
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University
System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University,
Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University,
New College of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of
North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://www.upf.com
To the memory of Sheldon Hackney
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Glenn Feldman
Part I. Past to Present
1. First to Secede, Last to Accede: South Carolina’s Resistance to the
Republic, 1780–Present 19
Thomas F. Schaller
Part II. Race, War, and Culture
2. Tom Watson and Resistance to Federal War Policies in Georgia during
World War I 67
Zachary C. Smith
3. “Negroes, the New Deal, and . . . Karl Marx”: Southern Antistatism in
Depression and War 102
Jason Morgan Ward
4. Dixiecrats, Dissenting Delegates, and the Dying Democratic Party:
Mississippi’s Right Turn from Roosevelt to Johnson 122
Rebecca Miller Davis
5. Right Turn? The Republican Party and African American Politics in
Post-1965 Mississippi 149
Chris Danielson
Part III. A Nation within a Nation?
6. Texas Philosophy, Nashville Agrarianism, Reagan Republicanism,
and the Neo-Confederacy: The Influence of M. E. Bradford 181
Fred Arthur Bailey
7. The Evil Empire Within: Southern Nationalism and
the Washington Problem 205
David R. Jansson
Part IV. Economic Development and Reform
8. Getting Farmers—and Tourists—“Out of the Mud”: Alabama’s
Nineteenth-Century Experience with Public Projects and Its Response
to the Federal Road Aid Acts of 1916 and 1921 229
Martin T. Olliff
9. “From Nothin’ to Somethin’”: The Tennessee Valley Authority and
Federal-Local Cooperation in the Sun Belt South, 1940–1960 261
Matthew L. Downs
10. Lighting the “Dark and Evil World”: Judge J. Smith Henley, Arkansas,
and the Federal Judiciary’s Reform of the Southern Prison 287
Gregory L. Richard
Part V. Tax Fury and the Tea Party
11. The Tea Party in the South: Populism Revisited? 303
Allan B. McBride
12. Deal or No Deal: Taxes, Government Spending, and Alabamians
Having Their Cake and Eating It Too 325
Natalie Motise Davis
List of Contributors 343
Index 345
Illustrations
Figures
1.1. Democratic fortunes in South Carolina, 1960–2012 47
12.1. Is the South different from the rest of the country? 329
12.2. Confidence in state and federal government 329
Tables
1.1. Political legacies of the Ninety Six District 54
11.1. Obama approval levels among Tea Party supporters 311
11.2. Blame Obama (or Bush) for weak economy by region, controlled
for Tea Party support 311
11.3. Trust for Obama (or congressional Republicans) on economic
issues by region, controlled for Tea Party support 311
11.4. Support for economic regulation by region, controlled for Tea
Party support 313
11.5. Support for smaller government and Row v. Wade by region,
controlled for Tea Party support 313
12.1. Federal dollars returned to states, 2010 328
12.2. Alabamians on religion and child rearing 332
12.3. Perceptions of tax fairness 332
12.4. Types of federal benefits reported 334
12.5. Number of federal benefits reported 334
12.6. Perceptions of return of federal taxes to Alabama by respondent’s
belief about tax fairness 335
12.7. Number of benefits received by perceptions of tax fairness 335
12.8. Benefits received by perceptions of tax fairness 337