How did the Southern states of America become so strongly republican and the North become traditionally a Democrat stronghold? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

How did the Southern states of America become so strongly republican and the North become traditionally a Democrat stronghold?

by TwaHero

I recently learnt to my suprise that Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president and led the Republican North against the Democrat South in the civil war. In the time between then and now how on earth did the two parties make such a geographic 180?

AgentEv2

The FAQ has a section regarding questions similar to this that you may be interested in: Changing Role of Republicans and Democrats and below that is a a section regarding the American North and South that may be of interest to you as well though I'm sure there's always room for more discussion.