The United States has always had a "northern party" and a "southern party." In the 19th century, the Federalists, then the Whigs, then finally the Republicans were the "northern party" and the Democrats were the "southern party."
That continued until the 1960's when the Democrats decided to no longer be the party of segregation. Following upon Barry Goldwater's vote against civil rights legislation and Richard Nixon's "southern strategy," the south shifted to the Republicans, and did it pretty fast. More slowly, the north switched to Democratic. Compare the electoral map of 1896 and 1996 and they are almost identical, except that the parties are reversed.
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