About This Site
What it is. How it works. What counts as evidence.
The Mission
This site traces the unbroken line from Fort Sumter to the present day. We document who started the Civil War, why Reconstruction failed, how the Lost Cause rewrote history, and where the voters who opposed civil rights ended up. Every claim is linked to primary sources: secession declarations, speeches, strategy memos, and the words of the people who were there. Read them yourself.
This site is not affiliated with any political party or advocacy organization. It does not argue for a policy outcome. It documents a historical record and links to the primary sources so readers can verify every claim themselves.
"The documents speak for themselves."
The Methodology
Primary Sources First
The site prioritizes documents written by the historical actors themselves: secession declarations, speeches, strategy memos, congressional records, Supreme Court opinions, government reports, and eyewitness testimony. Where possible, every claim links directly to the original document.
What "Primary Source" Means Here
A primary source is a document or artifact created at the time of the events it describes, by someone with direct knowledge or involvement. Mississippi's 1861 secession declaration is a primary source. Lee Atwater's 1981 recorded interview is a primary source. A modern op-ed arguing about what those documents mean is not — though such pieces may link to primary sources that are cited here directly.
Stable, Archival Links
Sources are linked to institutional archives where possible — the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court Reporter, university digital collections, and documented government reports. These are more stable than news articles and less likely to disappear behind paywalls. When a source link breaks, the citation still identifies the original document so it can be found elsewhere.
Academic Consensus as Context
Several historians' work forms the scholarly foundation for different chapters on this site. Their books are not primary sources — but they represent the consensus of professional historians who have spent careers with the primary documents. Where the site summarizes historical context rather than quoting primary sources directly, it follows their analysis.
What the Site Does Not Claim
This site does not argue that all Democrats were racists or that all Republicans endorsed racial terror. It documents where organized political power in opposition to civil rights resided — at different times — and shows where those voters and politicians ended up. The argument is about coalitions, not individuals.
The Scholarship
These historians and researchers have spent careers with the primary documents. Their books are the starting point for anyone who wants to go deeper than this site.
Eric Foner
Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 (1988)
The definitive history of Reconstruction — who the Radical Republicans were, what they accomplished, and how organized terrorism ended their project. DeWitt Clinton Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University.
Douglas Blackmon
Slavery by Another Name (2008) — Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction
The first comprehensive documented account of convict leasing — how Southern states used the 13th Amendment's exception clause to re-enslave Black men for 80 years after the Civil War.
Isabel Wilkerson
The Warmth of Other Suns (2010) — National Book Critics Circle Award
The definitive account of the Great Migration, built from 15 years of research and 1,200 interviews. Wilkerson traces the migration through three individuals whose journeys represent the six million.
Richard Rothstein
The Color of Law (2017)
Comprehensive documentation of how federal, state, and local governments actively constructed residential segregation through redlining, restrictive covenants, and public housing policy — not private prejudice alone.
Equal Justice Initiative
Lynching in America (2015, updated 2017)
The most comprehensive documented count of racial terror lynchings in the United States, covering more than 4,000 cases in 12 Southern states between 1877 and 1950. Bryan Stevenson's organization also documented the sites of racial terror and built the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
Karen Cox
Dixie's Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture (2003)
Documents how the United Daughters of the Confederacy systematically placed Confederate monuments at courthouses, schools, and public spaces — and rewrote Southern history textbooks — over the course of 80 years.
James Loewen
Lies My Teacher Told Me (1995); Sundown Towns (2005)
Documented thousands of sundown towns — municipalities that excluded Black residents through ordinance and violence — across the United States, including extensively in the North and Midwest.
Alexander Lamis / Rick Perlstein
The Two-Party South (Lamis, 1984); Nixonland (Perlstein, 2008)
Lamis recorded the Lee Atwater interview in 1981 and published it in 1984. Perlstein's three-volume history of the conservative movement documents the Southern Strategy in comprehensive detail from original sources.
Free to Use
All primary sources quoted on this site are in the public domain. The site's own writing and organization are free to use with attribution. Mirror it, share it, print it, teach from it.
If you use content from this site in a classroom, publication, or presentation, a link back to didthepartiesswitch.com is appreciated but not required.
Found a broken link or factual error?
Source links break and facts get updated. If you find a dead link or a claim that needs correction, please open an issue on GitHub:
Report an Error on GitHub →Want to go deeper?
The scholars listed above are the best starting points. The primary sources linked throughout this site — the actual secession declarations, strategy memos, court opinions, and government reports — are available for free at the institutions listed.