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54-633: The party was formed by the League of the South in 1999 and experienced moderate success following the framing of the Asheville Declaration, which was touted by the party as a second Declaration of Independence . Despite its initial success, the Southern Party was disbanded in 2003 following internal factionalism. However, in 2023, the Southern Party was revived and has been working since such. The merits of

108-565: A hate group . The organization was formed in 1994 by Michael Hill and others, including attorney Jack Kershaw and Libertarian historian Thomas Woods . The League of the South was named in reference to the League of United Southerners, a group organized in 1858 to shape Southern public opinion and the Lega Nord (Northern League), a successful populist movement in Northern Italy from which

162-519: A historically black school in Tuscaloosa . Hill has since left his teaching position. In 2000 , the group supported Pat Buchanan and the Reform Party . In time, the group's views became more extreme; by 2004, founding members Grady McWhiney and Forrest McDonald had denounced Hill's leadership and left the organization. Since 2007, The League's main publication has been The Free Magnolia ,

216-440: A decisive split from the nationalist-isolationism that the traditionalist conservatives (isolationists) had subscribed to up until this point. Paleoconservatives press for restrictions on immigration, a rollback of multicultural programs and large-scale demographic change, the decentralization of federal policy , the restoration of controls upon free trade , a greater emphasis upon economic nationalism and non-interventionism in

270-447: A fact subsequently reflected in later writings. Mike Crane, who succeeded Kalas for a brief time, was far more the stereotypical Southern nationalist, a longstanding Southern heritage activist and nationalist with strong libertarian convictions. Many others within the SP rank-and-file mirrored these differences. Still, despite significant differences in political convictions, the major players in

324-601: A good politician must "defend the moral order rooted in the Old and New Testament and Natural Law "—and that "the deepest problems in our society are not economic or political, but moral". According to historian Paul V. Murphy, paleoconservatives developed a focus on localism and states' rights . From the mid-1980s onward, Chronicles promoted a Southern traditionalist worldview focused on national identity, regional particularity, and skepticism of abstract theory and centralized power. According to Hague, Beirich, and Sebesta (2009),

378-639: A loose confederation with no centralized governing body. This approach was publicly endorsed by all of the original founders of the Southern Party with the exception of the Baxley faction, which was not invited to the meeting. Although the North Carolina meeting marked the end of the SP's internal wars, it did not result in a substantial increase in public interest in the SP. By 2003 the Southern Party had lost credibility with many of its erstwhile supporters and had squandered what little political capital it had ever had as

432-555: A meeting and electing the spokesperson of the Tennessee chapter as the Party's president. Some of the main issues of the rebrand was states rights and support for TEXIT . League of the South This is an accepted version of this page The League of the South ( LS ) is an American white nationalist , neo-Confederate , white supremacist organization that says its goal

486-628: A political party representing the regional interests of the Southern United States and border states were first discussed in December 1998 by James Lancaster, George Kalas (both of whom have since renounced and left the Southern movement) and Michael Hill at a League of the South conference held in Monroe, Louisiana . The League authorized the formation of a Southern Party Exploratory Committee (SPEC), which

540-651: A process to convince "the Southern people" that they have a unique identity. The League focuses on recruiting and encouraging "cultural secession". In November 2006 its representatives attended the First North American Secessionist Convention of secessionists from different parts of the country. In October 2007 it co-hosted the Second North American Secessionist Convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee . In 2015,

594-477: A quarterly tabloid. The League has been described as using " Celtic " mythology "belligerently against what is perceived as a politically correct celebration of multicultural Southern diversity". The group believes that the Southern United States should be an independent country ruled by white men. In 2001, they asked the U.S. Congress to pay $ 5 billion in reparations for "property" (including enslaved human beings) taken or destroyed by Union forces during

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648-540: A rapid outflow of dues-paying members from the state party organizations. Realizing that the feud had undermined the party's viability, the Baxley faction finally agreed to a truce proposed by Crane. The factions began negotiating to reunite the SP, successfully concluding these talks in March 2000. New elections also were scheduled to elect a fresh slate of officers to lead the Southern National Committee. However,

702-414: A result of its seemingly endless internal squabbles. The widespread factionalism that derailed the Southern Party's seemingly promising prospects has sometimes been characterized by former supporters as the result of a wide-ranging ideological struggle between "centralizers" versus "decentralizers." This was reflected in the public statements of many of the key Southern Party players after the dissolution of

756-443: A return to traditional conservative ideals relating to gender, race, sexuality, culture, and society. Paleoconservatism differs from neoconservatism in opposing free trade and promoting republicanism . Paleoconservatives see neoconservatives as imperialists and themselves as defenders of the republic. Paleoconservatives tend to oppose abortion, gay marriage , and LGBTQ rights . Paleoconservatives believe that tradition

810-682: Is "a free and independent Southern republic". Headquartered in Killen, Alabama , the group defines the Southern United States as the states of the Confederacy : Alabama , Arkansas , Florida , Georgia , Louisiana , Mississippi , North Carolina , South Carolina , Texas , Tennessee , and Virginia . It claims to also be a religious and social movement, advocating a return to a more traditionally conservative , Christian -oriented Southern culture. The movement and its members are allied with

864-573: Is a political philosophy and a paternalistic strain of conservatism in the United States stressing American nationalism , Christian ethics , regionalism , traditionalist conservatism , and non-interventionism . Paleoconservatism's concerns overlap with those of the Old Right that opposed the New Deal in the 1930s and 1940s as well as with paleolibertarianism . By the start of the 21st century,

918-467: Is a form of reason, rather than a competing force. Mel Bradford wrote that certain questions are settled before any serious deliberation concerning a preferred course of conduct may begin. This ethic is based in a "culture of families, linked by friendship, common enemies, and common projects", so a good conservative keeps "a clear sense of what Southern grandmothers have always meant in admonishing children, 'we don't do that'". Pat Buchanan argues that

972-598: Is categorized, others regard the movement known as Trumpism as supported by, if not a rebranding of, paleoconservatism. From this view, the followers of the Old Right did not fade away so easily and continue to have significant influence in the Republican Party and the entire country. The prefix paleo derives from the Greek root παλαιός ( palaiós ), meaning "ancient" or "old". It is somewhat tongue-in-cheek and refers to

1026-493: Is composed of Michael Hill, Mark Thomey, Mike Crane, Sam Nelson, and John Cook. Among the founding members were Thomas Fleming , Thomas Woods , Grady McWhiney , Clyde Wilson , and Forrest McDonald . Paleoconservative Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other Paleoconservatism

1080-584: The American Revolution . The chairman was Dr. Douglas Schell, Professor of Management. There were 78 people in attendance. The Asheville Declaration was adopted by the Convention as well as the State Party Platform. The Convention's theme was "A Second American Revolution." There was statewide media coverage including a 20-minute segment on NC Public TV. The party advocated peaceful secession of

1134-468: The British Isles ), and they believe the South's core Anglo-Celtic culture should be preserved. According to the League, the South has had a Marxist and egalitarian society "impressed upon it". The League's Core Beliefs Statement advocates the stigmatization of "perversity and all that seeks to undermine marriage and the family." The League believes that what it calls "the Southern people" have

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1188-707: The Southern Agrarians as forebears in this regard. Paleoconservatives are generally critics of Israel and supporters of the Arab cause in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ; they have argued that supporting the country damages foreign relations with the Islamic world and American interests abroad. Buchanan has asserted that "Capitol Hill is Israeli occupied territory". Kirk argued that "Not seldom has it seemed... as if some eminent Neoconservatives mistook Tel Aviv for

1242-892: The alt-right . The group was part of the neo-Nazi Nationalist Front formerly alongside the National Socialist Movement (NSM), the now-defunct Traditionalist Workers Party (TWP) and Vanguard America (VA, since rebranded as Patriot Front ). The group helped organize the Pikeville rally in Pikeville, Kentucky ; the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia ; and the White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville, Tennessee . The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated it as

1296-407: The antimodernism of the paleoconservative movement defined the neo-Confederate movement of the 1980s and 1990s. During this time, notable paleoconservatives argued that desegregation , welfare, tolerance of gay rights , and church-state separation had been damaging to local communities, and that these issues had been imposed by federal legislation and think tanks. Paleoconservatives also claimed

1350-575: The conservative part of the paleoconservative label, saying that they do not want the status quo preserved. Fleming and Paul Gottfried called such thinking "stupid tenacity" and described it as "a series of trenches dug in defense of last year's revolution". Francis defined authentic conservatism as "the survival and enhancement of a particular people and its institutionalized cultural expressions". Paleoconservatives support restrictions on immigration, decentralization , trade tariffs and protectionism , economic nationalism , isolationism , and

1404-622: The 2002, 2004, and 2006 elections and was an enduring presence in the statewide political struggle over the redesign of the Georgia State Flag . The party did not field a presidential candidate, but in 2007 Texan Gene Champman tried to seek the nomination of the Southern Party, the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party . In 2023, the Southern Party revamped it's platform, with delegates from Kentucky and Tennessee holding

1458-589: The Civil War. The group's legal counsel Jack Kershaw said their proposal included paying reparations to African-Americans due to the supposed negative effect the end of slavery had on their ancestors: "Blacks were better off in antebellum times in the South than they were anywhere else. [...] They lost a lot too when that lifestyle was destroyed." The League defines Southern culture as profoundly Christian and anti-abortion . The League describes Southern Culture as being inherently Anglo-Celtic in nature (originating in

1512-641: The Federation of States and various state-based Southern Independence Parties (SIPs). Two state SPs (Georgia's and North Carolina's) disaffiliated from the SNC and became wholly independent, refusing to recognize any national/regional authority. Many of the other remaining state SPs were, in reality, only "paper parties" led by a few officers and lacking substantial numbers of dues-paying members. These parties soon proved untenable and ultimately collapsed due to their inability to recruit party members and raise operating funds. In

1566-520: The SNC-led faction and the League of the South prompted the SNC to vote for a formal break with the League in May 1999. While the decision to break with the League was influenced by many factors, the leadership of the SNC faction also had become increasingly concerned about the League of the South's apparent unwillingness to purge elements from its ranks that had become more vocal and seemingly more influential within

1620-399: The SNC. Kalas, the principal founder of the SP, was a committed paleoconservative whose interest in Southern heritage and regionalism tended to constitute more a reflection than a foundation of his core beliefs. On the other hand, Lancaster, the author of the Asheville Declaration, was a moderate-conservative Republican in many respects who nonetheless harbored strong regionalist sympathies,

1674-485: The South is opposed to fiat currency , personal income taxation , central banking , property taxes and most state regulation of business. The League supports sales taxes and user fees. In the summer of 2000, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designated the League of the South as a hate group , citing the group's "academic veneer" of revisionist history and calls for secession. Hill dismissed

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1728-645: The Southern States from the American union and the restoration of an independent Southern nation. The party believed this was a real and achievable goal, though they did not know whether it could be achieved in the short-term or in the long-term. In the interim, they believed in working toward a devolution of powers from the Federal Government to state governments. The Southern Party disbanded around 2002, primarily due to infighting and fractures that developed among

1782-461: The Spring of 2003 the League of the South attempted to re-establish its influence in the Southern Party by volunteering to serve as an honest broker to coordinate the reunion of all SP supporters (excluding the now-discredited Baxley faction) under one flag. The League invited all anti-Baxley factions of the SP to a meeting in North Carolina for the purpose of realigning all of the invited state parties into

1836-549: The abandonment of Confederate restorationist symbolism and ideology. For a time, the movement garnered attention and sparked debate within Southern movement ranks. However, the Home Rule concept and Web site were abandoned in 2003 after Lancaster and Kalas concluded that the factionalized Southern movement was beyond repair. The most successful remnant of the original Southern Party was the Southern Party of Georgia. The Georgia SP fielded multiple candidates for local and state offices in

1890-450: The bickering by voluntarily resigning his post. The SNC reluctantly accepted the resignation, though voting to recognize Kalas as "Chairman Emeritus" of the Southern Party in recognition of past services. Mike Crane, a Georgia activist and SNC member, whose immediate goal was to head the rift, subsequently was elected interim chairman. Even so, the conflict continued into the early months of 2000, sowing additional disillusionment and leading to

1944-456: The committee, led to the fracture of the SPEC into two competing factions. One faction, which continued to operate under the name SPEC, remained loosely affiliated with the League, while the other faction, led by Kalas, Jerry Baxley, and Thomas Reed, among others, formed the Southern National Committee (SNC). Its purpose was to launch the Southern Party as soon as possible. Continued disagreements between

1998-463: The conduct of American foreign policy. Historian George Hawley states that although influenced by paleoconservatism, Donald Trump is not a paleoconservative, but rather a nationalist and a right-wing populist . Hawley also argued in 2017 that paleoconservatism was an exhausted force in American politics, but that for a time it represented the most serious right-wing threat to the mainstream conservative movement . Regardless of how Trump himself

2052-527: The designation as politically motivated. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the League of the South is a white supremacist group which promotes racism and anti-Semitism through events held with other white supremacist groups. The League of the South joined the Nationalist Front , a loose coalition of neo-Nazis and other white supremacists, in 2017. The League's board of directors

2106-700: The group announced it would be holding an event celebrating the assassination of Abraham Lincoln , while honoring John Wilkes Booth as a hero. On April 11, 2015, it was organized by the vice chairman of the Maryland-Virginia chapter of the League, Shane Long. The LOS's main Facebook page put it bluntly: "Join us in April to celebrate the great accomplishment of John Wilkes Booth. He knew a man who needed killing when he saw him!" The League has attempted to form paramilitary groups on more than one occasion. The League of

2160-534: The group took inspiration. The League's first meeting included 40 men, 28 of whom formed The Southern League . Two years later, they changed the name to The League of the South to avoid confusion with the Southern League of Minor League Baseball . Among the early members were Southern professors, including its president Michael Hill, a British history professor and specialist in Celtic history at Stillman College ,

2214-520: The launch of the Asheville Declaration was the presentation of flags of the Southern states and the reading and signing of the Asheville Declaration, which articulated the SP's paleoconservative founding philosophy. The National Convention called for state conventions. In October 1999, the NCSP held a statewide convention in Hillsdale, the first capital of North Carolina, at a colonial inn dating back to before

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2268-544: The movement had begun to focus more on issues of race . The terms neoconservative and paleoconservative were coined by Paul Gottfried in the 1980s, but the term originated following the outbreak of the Vietnam War and a divide in American conservatism between the interventionists and the isolationists . Those in favor of the Vietnam War then became known as the neoconservatives (interventionists), as they marked

2322-452: The paleoconservatives' claim to represent a more historic, authentic conservative tradition than that found in neoconservatism . Adherents of paleoconservatism often describe themselves simply as "paleo". Rich Lowry of National Review claims the prefix "is designed to obscure the fact that it is a recent ideological creation of post-Cold War politics". Samuel T. Francis , Thomas Fleming , and some other paleoconservatives de-emphasized

2376-584: The party leaders. A "Southern Parties of the Southwest", operating in Arizona, had 120 members in Arizona and New Mexico. It is not affiliated with the SP organization. However the Southern Parties of the Southwest was disbanded, after the founder and long-time Chairman Charles Goodson was replaced in an election in 2005. Goodson declined to run for re-election citing personal and financial reasons, and claimed that he

2430-476: The previous few months before the break. The SPEC and SNC factions continued to compete for the allegiance of Southern political activists throughout the spring and summer of 1999. While the SPEC faction continued to enjoy the official support of the League of the South, it appeared to gain little political traction as the date of the SNC-sponsored launch of the Asheville Declaration approached. The highlight of

2484-421: The right to secede from the United States, and that they "must throw off the yoke of imperial [federal, or central government] oppression". The League promotes a Southern Confederation of sovereign, independent States. The League favors strictly limited immigration , opposes standing armies and any regulation whatsoever of firearms. This proposed independent nation is described by League publications as part of

2538-463: The state level. Sometime after their departure from the Southern Party and from the League of the South-led Southern movement, Lancaster and Kalas experimented with a concept known as Home Rule for Dixie, the purpose of which was to provide a forum through which a more mainstream, center-right, racially inclusive movement could be developed. A hallmark of this nascent movement was its emphasis on

2592-429: The subsequent election resulted in the surprise selection of Jerry Baxley by a narrow margin as the new national SNC chairman. Substantial voting irregularities, which, in the view of many, were orchestrated by the Baxley faction, produced additional disaffection within party ranks. This dissatisfaction was further exacerbated by what many viewed as Baxley's abrasive, erratic and unpopular leadership style. The party reunion

2646-452: The various SP factions nevertheless professed a strong allegiance to the Southern tradition of decentralized government and localized control. The party infighting was actually driven more by personal conflicts between competing party leaders than by genuinely substantive disagreements over party ideology. As one prominent supporter once humorously described the problem: "Organizing Southerners is harder than herding cats!" This factionalist trait

2700-526: Was not interested anymore in the Chairman seat. After the elections, the party membership decided to merge with the Confederate Party of Arizona, the Southern Parties of the Southwest was dissolved. Despite its initial media success at Flat Rock, North Carolina , the SP soon squandered its momentum, falling to the same type of internal squabbling that resulted in the earlier rift within SPEC ranks. The rift

2754-424: Was not lost on outside observers, more than one of whom noted the irony that a party advocating secession found itself undone by multiple secessions within its own ranks. After the party's demise, there was little regionally coordinated political effort – a lack often attributed to a longstanding reluctance among Southern movement activists to empower a "national" coordinating body. Even so, some activity continued at

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2808-537: Was organized at a later meeting in Tuscaloosa, Alabama , which was held in January 1999. During this meeting Kalas was elected to chair the committee. The Southern Party achieved its first electoral victory on August 22, 2000 when party member Wayne Willingham was elected to the nonpartisan office of Mayor of West Point, Alabama . The SPEC operated until May 1999, when internal disagreements over ideology and strategy, exacerbated by personal animosities among some members of

2862-412: Was short-lived and Baxley soon found himself presiding over a rapidly shrinking party organization as other SNC members resigned and state party organizations began disaffiliating from the SNC as their recognized national party organ. The steady departure of established state party organizations ultimately led to the dissolution of the SNC in 2002. In the aftermath of the SNC's collapse, one faction formed

2916-526: Was sparked by disagreement over a proposed increase in SNC dues for state party organizations. While seemingly a mundane administrative matter, it soon escalated out of control, culminating in a deep and irreconcilable split of the SNC into two factions – one led by party Chairman George Kalas, the other by party Vice-Chairman Jerry Baxley. A protracted power struggle ensued for control of the party's Web site, treasury and state-party organizational affiliations. In December 1999, SNC chairman George Kalas tried to end

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