During reconstruction and until Jim Crow, the Republicans had a base in the South. And limited government and regulation isn’t a geographical belief but flipped between the two parties anyways, even before the Southern strategy, as we can see in the 20s. Northern Democratic Party was always a thing, and in fact its splitting of the vote against Southern Democrats was one of the reasons Lincoln won his first election.
During reconstruction and until Jim Crow, the Republicans had a base in the South. And limited government and regulation isn’t a geographical belief but flipped between the two parties anyways, even before the Southern strategy, as we can see in the 20s. Northern Democratic Party was always a thing, and in fact its splitting of the vote against Southern Democrats was one of the reasons Lincoln won his first election.