In the United States the continued influence of the old elite meant that southern politics fell under the domination of a Democratic Party that gloried the Confederacy, the Lost Cause, the Ku Klux Klan, and resistance to Reconstruction. White supremacy was made into the fundamental cause of the South, and racism became the tool to enforce white unity behind the Democratic Party whenever a political challenge arose. Another tactic used over and over again to maintain the Solid South was to warn against outside threats and outside agitators. The mentality of a defensive, isolated, but gallant South helped Democratic leaders to deflect attention from the problems of their society and the effects of their rule. These powerful social currents, aided by women’s groups such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy, shaped and inhibited the region’s culture. Conformity to white supremacy, segregation, and Democratic Party rule was a social imperative for generations of southerners who were indoctrinated in the belief that they had suffered grave injustice with the defeat of their glorious Lost Cause. Had the diverse political leaders of so-called Radical Reconstruction continued to exercise some power or influence, the South would have been a very different society [187]. . Paul D. Escott
About This Quote

The phrase "the continued influence of the old elite" refers to the political influence held by those who were wealthy and influential. The phrase "the old elite" is a reference to those who were living during the pre-Civil War era. The old elite were those who had the ability to influence the South’s politics and culture. These people had power and therefore were able to pass their beliefs and values onto others. By influencing, we mean that they created a belief in the people that it was okay for them to continue to hold these values and ideas.

Source: Uncommonly Savage: Civil War And Remembrance In Spain And The United States

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