tldr; The GOP was founded by anti-slavery activists in the North in 1854 and White in the South were in favor of slavery so they stuck with the Democratic party. A lot of Republicans became wealthy from the civil war, and in an effort to retain power, decided that fighting for black rights wasn’t in their best interest and stopped trying to reform the South allowing white Democrats to rise to power in th South. The Great Depression halted Republican power, putting big-government-advocate FDR in the White House. Republicans fought back, advertising themselves as champions of small government. In the 50s and 60s the civil rights movement divided the country again. In the North, 96% of Democrats and 84% of Republicans were in favor of civil rights, while in the South, 7% of Democrats and 0% of Republicans supported civil rights. In 1964, Democrat LBJ signed the Civil Rights act, which helped white Southerners get over the hatred of Abraham Lincoln enough to jump ship and start joining the GOP. The GOP’s small government pitch, along with its support of school prayer and anti-abortion platform, appealed to Southerners. Black Southerners, meanwhile, moved en masse from the GOP to the Democratic party. The GOP started losing elections because minorities won’t vote for it. Some GOP senators attempted to pass and immigration amnesty bill, which angered white GOP voters. They turned to Trump whose anti-immigrant rhetoric appeals to them.
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