Changes

The system of sharecropping instituted after the end of the war left most Freedmen poor, while the [[Jim Crow]] policies of racial [[segregation]] that were implemented after the end of [[Reconstruction]] limited their civic and political rights. Notably, the states that supported these policies were largely governed by members of the [[Democrat Party]].

The system of sharecropping instituted after the end of the war left most Freedmen poor, while the [[Jim Crow]] policies of racial [[segregation]] that were implemented after the end of [[Reconstruction]] limited their civic and political rights. Notably, the states that supported these policies were largely governed by members of the [[Democrat Party]].

Blacks left the rural south in two waves, the first around 1915-20, the second coming after [[World War II]] when machinery ended the need for large numbers of people to pick cotton by hand. The migrants headed to the large cities of the North and West, and also in the South, moving from very poorly paid farm work to wage labor.

Blacks left the rural south in two waves, the first around 1915–20, the second coming after [[World War II]] when machinery ended the need for large numbers of people to pick cotton by hand. The migrants headed to the large cities of the North and West, and also in the South, moving from very poorly paid farm work to wage labor.

==Politics==

==Politics==

Blacks tended to support the [[Republican Party]] from the 1860s to the 1960s, but Democrats suppressed the vote of Blacks living in [[the South]] —some states even stopped people of African ancestry voting by the use of literacy tests, poll taxes and other measures. The [[New Deal]] provided some relief for blacks during the [[Great Depression]] but still legislated [[discrimination]] based on race. Some black Republican organizations, as in Chicago, switched overnight to the [[Democrat]]s. This sudden change is often attributed to the leftist sentiments that were growing in the late twentieth century. The [[15th Amendment]] allowed blacks to vote, but [[Jim Crow]] laws suppressed minority voter registration to a level much lower than white voter registration.<ref>Issacharoff, Samuel; Karlan, Pamela S.; Pildes, Richard H. (2012). ''The Law of Democracy: Legal Structure of the Political Process'' (4th ed.). New York, NY: Foundation Press. ISBN 1-59941-935-1, p. 514</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20040806055436/http://www.justice.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_a.htm</ref> After the Voting Rights Act, black turnout increased substantially.  Beginning with [[Lyndon Johnson]]'s [[War on Poverty]], blacks voted 85% to 92% for Democrat presidential candidates; however, the Democrat poverty programs which encourage out-of-wedlock births had a devasting effect on Black families, Black fatherhood, Black males in general, and Black communitites.

Blacks tended to support the [[Republican Party]] from the 1860s to the 1960s, but Democrats suppressed the vote of Blacks living in [[the South]] —some states even stopped people of African ancestry voting by the use of literacy tests, poll taxes and other measures. The [[New Deal]] provided some relief for blacks during the [[Great Depression]] but still legislated [[discrimination]] based on race. Some black Republican organizations, as in Chicago, switched overnight to the [[Democrat]]s. This sudden change is often attributed to the leftist sentiments that were growing in the late twentieth century. The [[15th Amendment]] allowed blacks to vote, but [[Jim Crow]] laws suppressed minority voter registration to a level much lower than white voter registration.<ref>Issacharoff, Samuel; Karlan, Pamela S.; Pildes, Richard H. (2012). ''The Law of Democracy: Legal Structure of the Political Process'' (4th ed.). New York, NY: Foundation Press. ISBN 1-59941-935-1, p. 514</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20040806055436/http://www.justice.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_a.htm</ref> After the Voting Rights Act, black turnout increased substantially.  Beginning with [[Lyndon Johnson]]'s [[War on Poverty]], blacks voted 85% to 92% for Democrat presidential candidates; however, the Democrat poverty programs which encourage out-of-wedlock births had a devastating effect on Black families, Black fatherhood, Black males in general, and Black communitites.

==Religion==

==Religion==