Class Year
2014
Document Type
Student Research Paper
Date of Creation
Spring 2014
Department 1
History
Abstract
This paper seeks to contextualize the 1956 election by providing a summary of the African American political alignment during the preceding half-century. Winning a greater portion of the black vote was a central tenant of the 1956 Eisenhower Campaign strategy. In the 1956 election a substantial shift occurred among the historically democratic black electorate. The vote shifted because of disillusionment with the Democrats and Eisenhower’s civil rights record. The swing however, was less pronounced for Republican congressional candidates. This paper draws upon extensive primary material, including countless newspapers, magazines, the NAACP Papers, and published primary sources to form the core of its argument. Comprehensive secondary research ground this paper in the inadequate literature on the topic.
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Fitch, Lincoln M., "Throwing the Switch: Eisenhower, Stevenson and the African-American Vote in the 1956 Election" (2014). Student Publications. 219.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/219
Included in
African American Studies Commons, American Politics Commons, Political History Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, United States History Commons
Comments
History Senior Thesis