Chapter 20 Politics in the Gilded Age (1870-1900)

Partisan politics

Dominance of parties

Biased Journalism

Widespread participation

Mud-slinging

Mud-slinging

form of negative campaigning that has a metaphorical implication that candidates or politicians are “throwing mud” at each other

Political flaws

No secret ballot

No “official” ballot

Party tickets

Partisan election judges

Partisan

a committed member of a political party, in multi-party systems it’s someone who strongly supports their party being reluctant to compromise with opponent

Election chaos

Fighting & intimidation

Aliens allowed to vote

No voter registration

No differences between political parties

Party strengths

Democrats: South and Urban Northeast

Republicans: North and Midwest

Party breakdowns

Greenback Party

Populist Party

Mugwumps

Greenback Party

American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology

Populist Party

(People’s Party) left-wing agrarian (cultivated land) populist political party

Mugwumps

person who remains independent, especially from party politics

Criticism

Close divisions in Congress meant limited agenda

“Political mediocrity”

Woodrow Wilson

“No leaders, no principles; no principles, no parties”

“Political mediocrity”

poses a threat to freedom by engaging in populism rather than standing up for principles and solving problems

Issues of the day

Tariff

Civil Service Reform

Regulation of Corporations

Monetary policy

Immigration

Indian disputes

Tariff

a tax to be paid by the government of imports or exports of goods

Civil Service Reform

a major issue in the late 19th century at the national level, movements for the improvement of the civil service in methods of appointments, rules of conduct

Monetary policy

adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to affect monetary and other financial conditions to accomplish broader objectives like high employment and price stability

Weak federal government

Weak president, and very deferential to Congress (Rutherford Hayes)

“Though the people should support the government, the government should not support the people”

Inefficient Congress lacked modern organization

Rutherford B. Hayes

19th president

Term served (1877-1881)

Considered a weak president

fallout from Reconstruction

Disputed election

opposition to Hayes’s narrow victory

Attempted efforts at reform

Hayes sponsored civil service reform

Reform

James Garfield

Assassination

Chester Arthur took over

Pendleton Civil Service Reform

James Garfield

20th president

Term served (1881)

Was assassinated by Charles Guiteau

Pendleton Civil Service Reform

federal law passed in 1883 that required government jobs to be awarded to individuals based on merit and not political affiliation

Grover Cleveland

The only president to serve two non-sequential terms (1884-1892)

Believed “the people should support the government, but the government should not support the people”

Benjamin Harrison

Republican

23rd president

Term served (1889-1893)

Grandson of a former president (William Henry Harrison)

Lost the popular vote

“Billion-Dollar Congress”

“Billion-Dollar Congress”

(51st) Congress and Harrison appropriated $1,000,000,000 as the federal budget, earning its nickname and scorn from Democrats in October

Tariff

Benefits: revenue, protection

Drawbacks: raised price of manufactured goods, but not farm products

Covered 4,000 items

McKinley tariff

McKinley Tariff Act of 1890

increased the taxes on most imported goods while eliminating taxes on luxury items

Federal regulation

Interstate Commerce Act

ICC

Sherman Antitrust Act

Interstate Commerce Act

addressed the problem of railroad monopolies by setting guidelines for how the railroads could do business

ICC

first regulatory commission of the US, established as a result of mounting public indignation in the 1880s against railroad malpractices and abuses

Sherman Antitrust Act

antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce

Monetary policy

Sound money

Silver question

Inflation vs. deflation

Sound money

real wealth, with a natural, unmistakable signature of authority (silver or gold)

Silver question

(1873) Grant administration demonetizes silver and makes gold the sole standard of the nation’s currency (due to miners selling it to jewelers instead of the government)

Inflation vs. deflation

inflation occurs when the prices of goods and services rise too much, too quickly, while deflation occurs when those prices decrease

Ineffective policies

Bland Allison Act: 2 million/month

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

Bland Allison Act

act of Congress that restored the silver dollar as legal tender and required the U.S. Treasury to purchase each month between 2,000,000 and 4,000,000 worth of silver and coin it into dollars

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

a federal law enacted in 1890 that made the treasury buy 4.5 million ounces of silver monthly and pay those who mined it in redeemable notes in either gold or silver

Farmers protest

Lack of credit

Deflation

Freight rates: 2-3X higher than in the East

Lack of credit and deflation for farmers

Interest rates were too high because of monopolistic lenders, and the money supply was inadequate, producing deflation

Freight rates

price at which certain cargo is delivered from one point to another, the price depends on the form of cargo, weight, and distance to delivery destination

Cost of freight rates being two times high

affect farmers who then must deal with added costs and end up spending more on shipping

Populist party

Grange

Farmer’s Alliance

Very successful in West (KS, NE, MN)

Limited success in South

Failed biracial coalitions

Helped women’s suffrage (CO, Idaho)

Grange

founded in 1867 to advance methods of agriculture, as well as to promote the social and economic needs of farmers in the US

Farmer’s alliance

an organized agrarian economic movement founded in 1877 to improve economic conditions through creation of cooperatives and political advocacy

Women’s suffrage

populist party believed both men and women should have equal rights, including voting

Omaha Platform

Government ownership of railroads

National currency

More democracy

Graduated income tax

Redistribution of land held by railroads

Purpose of Omaha Platform

written by the Populist party that indicted the corruptions of the Gilded Age and promised government policies to aid “the people”

Depression of 1893

2nd worst

20% employment

Tight credits, banks, and railroads went under failing prices

Reduced markets

Cause of the Depression of 1893

financial panic in London combined with a drop in continental European trade caused foreign investors to sell American stocks to obtain American funds backed by gold

Coxey’s Army (also known as the Army of the Commonweal in Christ)

March to Washington

Public sympathy

Harsh federal reaction

Purpose of Coxey’s Army

a protest march by unemployed workers from the US, led by Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey. It happened in 1894 during the 2nd year of the 4 years economic depression

Jacob Coxey

sometimes known as General Coxey, from Ohio who ran for office several times. Led Coxey’s Army to present “Petition in Boots” demanding the US Congress allocate funds to create jobs for the unemployed

Lack of action

Injunctions

Income Tax invalidated

The Silver Purchase Act repealed

Injunction

a judicial order that restrains a person from beginning or continuing an action threatening or invading the legal right of another (an authoritative warning or order)

Income tax invalidated

no tax refunds issued until verification

Silver Purchase Act repealed

it decreased the number of gold reserves avaliable

Election of 1896

William McKinley

William Jennings Bryan

Populist dilemma

William McKinley

25th president forged a conservative coalition in which businessmen professionals, prosperous farmers, and skilled factory workers

William Jennings Bryan

former Secretary of state, advocated in free silver movement, lost to William McKinley

Populist dilemma

lacked compelling campaign planks that appealed specifically to urban laborers, were largely unable to mobilize support in urban areas

The Campaign

Unregulated money: Republican advantage

The most money ever spent: equivalent of $2 billion

Different styles of campaigning

“Key issue”

Watershed Moment (Election of 1896)

Highest turnout ever

What didn’t happen and what did

Republican dominance

Populist party disappears

Inflation massive: discoveries of gold

Meaning of Watershed Moment

refers to an important event that changes the direction of history

Why 1896 matters

Economic prosperity

Creation of the modern presidency