Speaker 1: Right now, It's time for the way Black History Fact.
Speaker 1: In Today's Way Black History Fact is sponsored by Major Threads.
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Speaker 1: gonna try to get through as quickly. When did black
Speaker 1: people become Democrat leaning? This is from students of history
Speaker 1: dot com. The Democrat, Democratic, and Republican parties have not
Speaker 1: always had the same ideals that they have today. In fact,
Speaker 1: America has. America's two dominant political parties have essentially flipped
Speaker 1: ideologies in the time since they were founded. The Democratic
Speaker 1: Party was founded in eighteen twenty eight, while the Republican
Speaker 1: Party dates back to eighteen fifty four. In its early years,
Speaker 1: the Republican Party was considered quite liberal, while Democrats were
Speaker 1: known for staunch conservatism. This is the exact opposite of
Speaker 1: how each party would be described today. This change did
Speaker 1: not happen overnight, however. It instead was a slow set
Speaker 1: of changes in policies that caused the Great Switch. At
Speaker 1: the outbreak of the Civil War, Republicans controlled the majority
Speaker 1: of northern states. The party sought to expand the United States,
Speaker 1: encourage settlement of the West, and help to fund the
Speaker 1: Transcontinental railroad and state universities. Additionally, because the growing tension
Speaker 1: over slavery, many Republicans became abolitionists who argued against slavery.
Speaker 1: Democrats represented a range of views but a shared commitment
Speaker 1: to Thomas Jefferson's concept of an agrarian society. They viewed
Speaker 1: the central government as the enemy of individual liberty. Because
Speaker 1: most Democrats were in Southern states, they fought to keep
Speaker 1: slavery legal. As the Civil War came to a close,
Speaker 1: the Republican Party controlled the government and used its power
Speaker 1: to protect formally enslaved people and guaranteed them civil rights.
Speaker 1: This included the three Reconstruction Amendments, which won Republicans the
Speaker 1: loyalty and vote of America's black population. Unsurprisingly, most Democrats
Speaker 1: disapproved of these measures. However, a change had begun in
Speaker 1: the Republican Party following the Civil War. Northern industrialists had
Speaker 1: grown rich from war, and many entered politics afterwards. These
Speaker 1: new wealthy politicians did not see much sense in supporting
Speaker 1: the rights of black Americans when the nation was still
Speaker 1: largely white. By the eighteen seventies. Many in the Republican
Speaker 1: Party felt that they had done enough for black citizens
Speaker 1: and stopped all efforts to reform in the Southern States.
Speaker 1: The South was left to the white Democrats and their
Speaker 1: oppressive policies toward black citizens after the Compromise of eighteen
Speaker 1: seventy seven ended reconstruction. With the end of reconstruction, the
Speaker 1: solid South voted for Democratic presidential candidates for the next
Speaker 1: forty four years. Almost sixty years later, the Great Depression
Speaker 1: became a catalyst for a massive political shakeup. The Republican
Speaker 1: Party had continued to be dominated by wealthy businessmen, which
Speaker 1: meant that they had come to favor lassez faire policies
Speaker 1: that supported big business. These policies were effective when the
Speaker 1: economy was booming, but were disastrous when it wasn't. When
Speaker 1: the economy crashed in nineteen twenty nine, that's the stock
Speaker 1: market crash, the Great Depression, the Republican President Herbert Hoover
Speaker 1: opted not to intervene, earning him and his party the
Speaker 1: ire of the American public. Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat,
Speaker 1: sensed the need for change. He campaigned on a promise
Speaker 1: of government intervention, financial assistance, and concern for the welfare
Speaker 1: of the people. He won the nineteen thirty two election
Speaker 1: by landslide. It was FDR's campaign policies that caused a
Speaker 1: major shift in party ideologies. Republicans opposed everything about FDR's government. Primarily,
Speaker 1: they saw the growth of large government as harmful to
Speaker 1: the federal as foundation of the nation. This, too, has
Speaker 1: come to define the ideals of the Republican party. Race
Speaker 1: inequality began to return to the center of politics in
Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties and nineteen sixties. Race did not necessarily
Speaker 1: fall into a party viewpoint at this point. Instead, it
Speaker 1: was more of a regional issue. Southern Democrats and Republicans
Speaker 1: both opposed the early Civil Rights movement, while Northern Democrats
Speaker 1: and Republicans began to support the legislation as the movement
Speaker 1: picked up steam. In nineteen sixty four, Democratic President Lyndon B.
Speaker 1: Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. In the
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty four election, Republican candidate Barry Goldwater publicly opposed
Speaker 1: the new law, arguing that it expanded the power of
Speaker 1: the federal government too dangerous levels. And this is sort
Speaker 1: of the background of how the party switched. So when
Speaker 1: people talk about how black people used to be Republican,
Speaker 1: there's a reason for that.