When Republicans Were Democrats: the Party Flip

The Republican party today is unrecognizable from when it was established in 1854. The party that abolished slavery and extolled the virtues of individual liberties for all Americans doesn’t quite feel like the same one that celebrated overturning Roe v. Wade. The same is true of the Democrats; the party of slave-owning secessionists and segregationists is hardly the party that today stands for minority, women’s, and trans rights, to name a few. Both parties have evolved, but the significant change came in the mid-20th century with the Party Flip. And it’s not a myth like I’ve seen some people claim.

As a mid-century historian, I work almost exclusively in this politically strange era where nothing aligns with what we know today, and the lines aren’t quite as black and white as readers expect. It confuses people, and frankly, I sometimes need to get it reframed in my head. Especially as a born and raised Canadian; this isn’t anything I ever learned in school. It’s a fascinating history, and like so many big topics, it needs a lot of context. To start unpacking the Flip, we’re going to look at how the two party system came to be, how their ideologies developed, and how those two major parties flipped in the 20th century. And we’re going to start right at the beginning.