---
title: "Realignment of the Democratic Party — APUSH Definition"
description: "The 1930s shift of African Americans, urban workers, and immigrants into FDR's Democratic coalition. Why this New Deal realignment matters for APUSH Unit 7."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms/realignment-of-the-democratic-party"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP US History"
unit: "Unit 7"
---

# Realignment of the Democratic Party — APUSH Definition

## Definition

The realignment of the Democratic Party was the long-term shift of voters, especially African Americans who had migrated to northern cities, urban workers, and immigrants, into the Democratic coalition during the New Deal era, a legacy of FDR's programs noted in KC-7.1.III.C.

## What It Is

For decades after the [Civil War](/apush/unit-5/comparison-period-5/study-guide/F4PJCNduTfAlJJKn5VEj "fv-autolink"), African Americans voted Republican. It was the party of [Lincoln](/apush/key-terms/lincoln "fv-autolink") and emancipation. The realignment of the Democratic Party flipped that pattern. During the 1910-1940 period, the Great Migration moved hundreds of thousands of Black Americans into northern cities where they could actually vote, and by the 1930s the New Deal gave them a reason to vote Democratic. Relief programs, jobs agencies, and FDR's visible (if limited) outreach pulled Black voters into the Democratic column for the first time.

This was bigger than one group, though. The New Deal stitched together a durable coalition of urban workers, union members, immigrants, white Southerners, and African Americans. The CED is explicit about the takeaway in KC-7.1.III.C. The New Deal did not end the Depression, but it left a legacy of reforms, [regulatory agencies](/apush/key-terms/regulatory-agencies "fv-autolink"), and a long-term political realignment. That realignment shaped American elections for the next thirty-plus years.

## Why It Matters

This term lives in **Topic 7.10 (The New Deal)** in [Unit 7](/apush/unit-7 "fv-autolink") and supports learning objective **[APUSH](/apush "fv-autolink") 7.10.A**, which asks you to explain how the Great Depression and the New Deal impacted American political, social, and economic life *over time*. That phrase "over time" is the whole point. The realignment is the New Deal's political afterlife. You can argue the New Deal failed economically (the Depression really ended with WWII mobilization) while still showing it transformed politics. That kind of nuanced, both-sides-of-the-evidence argument is exactly what earns complexity points on essays. It also connects to the Politics and Power (PCE) theme, since it explains why the Democratic Party of 1940 looked nothing like the Democratic Party of 1890.

## Connections

### The New Deal and FDR's programs (Unit 7)

The realignment is a direct consequence of [New Deal](/apush/unit-7/new-deal/study-guide/O8bvpnFSbBfiQMHlcl4D "fv-autolink") relief. Programs like the CCC and WPA put paychecks in people's hands, and voters rewarded the party that delivered. Think of the realignment as the New Deal's report card from the electorate.

### [The Great Migration (Unit 7)](/apush/key-terms/the-great-migration)

[Migration](/apush/unit-3/movement-early-republic/study-guide/eoL3MkhdlT5xBQVMW6jW "fv-autolink") made the realignment possible. In the Jim Crow South, Black voters were disenfranchised. In Chicago, Detroit, and New York, their ballots counted. Moving north turned African Americans into a voting bloc that politicians had to compete for.

### Populist pressure on FDR (Unit 7)

Figures like [Father Charles Coughlin](/apush/key-terms/father-charles-coughlin "fv-autolink") and Dr. Francis Townsend pushed Roosevelt toward bolder programs (KC-7.1.III.B). The more the New Deal expanded, the more groups it pulled into the Democratic coalition. Pressure from the left helped build the coalition's breadth.

### Civil Rights era and the Southern realignment (Units 8-9)

The New Deal coalition contained a contradiction: Black voters and segregationist white Southerners in the same party. When Democrats embraced civil rights in the 1960s, the white South gradually flipped Republican. The 1930s realignment set up the 1960s realignment, a classic continuity-and-change thread for essays.

## On the AP Exam

This term appeared on the **2018 SAQ Q4**, which is the typical format for it. SAQs ask you to explain a political effect of the New Deal or an effect of the Great Migration, and the realignment is a ready-made answer for either. On MCQs, expect stems pairing a 1930s election map or a quote about Black voters with a question about changing party coalitions. The key move is causation. Don't just say "African Americans became Democrats." Explain the chain: Great Migration enabled northern voting, New Deal relief gave a concrete reason to switch, and the result was a durable coalition. On a DBQ or LEQ about the New Deal's effects, the realignment is your best evidence that the New Deal mattered politically even where it fell short economically.

## Realignment of the Democratic Party vs The Southern realignment of the 1960s-1980s

These are two different shifts and mixing them up wrecks chronology. The 1930s realignment moved African Americans, urban workers, and immigrants INTO the Democratic Party because of the New Deal. The later realignment moved white Southerners OUT of the Democratic Party and toward Republicans after the party backed civil rights legislation. First realignment: Unit 7, voters joining. Second realignment: Units 8-9, voters leaving. If a question is set in the 1930s, you're talking about the first one.

## Key Takeaways

- The realignment of the Democratic Party refers to African Americans and other groups shifting their votes to the Democrats during the New Deal era, ending decades of Black loyalty to the party of Lincoln.
- The Great Migration was a precondition for the shift, because African Americans could vote in northern cities in ways Jim Crow laws blocked in the South.
- New Deal relief programs gave migrants, urban workers, immigrants, and union members concrete economic reasons to back FDR and the Democrats.
- KC-7.1.III.C frames this as the New Deal's lasting legacy: even though the New Deal did not end the Depression, it fostered a long-term political realignment.
- The New Deal coalition held together African Americans and segregationist white Southerners, a tension that broke apart during the civil rights era and triggered a second realignment.

## FAQs

### What was the realignment of the Democratic Party in APUSH?

It was the long-term shift of African Americans, urban workers, immigrants, and union members into the Democratic Party during the 1930s, driven by the Great Migration and New Deal relief programs. The CED (KC-7.1.III.C) calls it one of the New Deal's lasting legacies.

### Why did African Americans switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party?

Two reasons working together: the Great Migration (1910-1940) brought Black Americans to northern cities where they could actually vote, and FDR's New Deal programs delivered jobs and relief during the Depression. Practical economic benefits outweighed historical loyalty to the party of Lincoln.

### Did the New Deal end the Great Depression?

No. The CED is direct about this. The Depression really ended with World War II mobilization. But the New Deal left a legacy of reforms, regulatory agencies, and the political realignment, which is why it still counts as transformative.

### How is the New Deal realignment different from the Southern realignment of the 1960s?

The 1930s realignment brought voters INTO the Democratic Party (Black northerners, urban workers, immigrants). The 1960s-80s realignment pushed white Southern voters OUT of it after Democrats embraced civil rights. They're separate events in separate units (7 versus 8-9).

### Is the realignment of the Democratic Party on the AP exam?

Yes. It appeared on the 2018 SAQ Q4, and it sits squarely in Topic 7.10 under learning objective APUSH 7.10.A. It also works as evidence on DBQs and LEQs about the political effects of the New Deal or the Great Migration.

## Related Study Guides

- [7.10 The New Deal](/apush/unit-7/new-deal/study-guide/O8bvpnFSbBfiQMHlcl4D)

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