The Republican Party is now the Trump Party

THE Republican Party has gone through several political and ideological metamorphoses since the middle of the 19th century when it emerged under the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln as the major driving force in the fight against slavery and in support of civil rights for blacks.

During the first part of the 20th century the Grand Old Party (GOP) was seen as representing the voice of the nation's business community. Its members were battling efforts by Democratic presidents to nationalise the American economy through regulation and taxation, and build the foundations of the welfare state.

But for a long time African-Americans continued to be in the camp of the Party of Lincoln, while whites residing in the states in the South, that were part of the Confederacy during the Civil War and where laws maintaining racial segregation were still in place, were voting for Democrats.