Forgive me if I don’t take your word for anything. What historian defined conservatism or conservatives back in 1860? Like I said the names of liberals have changed over the years but not their behavior. LF is probably right in the fact that your definition of conservatives is different but that’s not surprising to me.
All I know is the kkk was the strong arm of the democrats after the civil war. They were mainly about terrorizing and killing ex-slaves, and suppressing their vote (sound familiar). White sympathizers to the Republican Reconstruction efforts were also hanged. I sure don’t see any reversals on these points. In fact, the similarities are too obvious to be coincidental.