Politics in the Gilded Age

Three major theme

Laissez-faire versus government expansion

Economic and political corruption

Formation of modern political and economic norms

Laissez-faire approach

"hands off governing"

Common during gilded age

Government did very little in domestic matters

Did not step in to help with urban problems (infrastructure, clean streets)

Characteristics

Voter participation (78%)

Clear party division - very close elections

Corruption and party patronage

Weak Presidents

Laissez faire ideology

Big four

J.P. Morgan - banks and railroads

Rockefeller - oil

Vanderbilt - railroads

Carnegie - steel

Election campaigns

Mudslinging

Big speeches

Campaign buttons

Picnics - free food and beer

Mudslinging

basing the other candidate in order to make themselves look better

Democrats

White Southerners

Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Jews

Immigrants

Working poor

Farmers

Controlled the House

Democrats beliefs

Favored less government involvement - for states rights; limit power of government (opposite now)

Low tariffs

Soft money advocates - wanted silver currency (bi-metalism)

Republicans

Grand Old Party (GOP)

Northern Whites

Businessman

African Americans

WASPs (white anglo saxon protestants)

Middle class

Controlled the presidency

Republican beliefs

Strict moral codes

Favored government involvement in economic and social issues (opposite now)

High tariffs

Hard money advocates - wanted a gold standard

Why where African Americans Republicans?

White southerners/previous slave owners voted for democrats so African Americans wanted to do the opposite

Lincoln freed them so they supported him/the party

Do not know much about the politics so they are just loyal Republicans

Coinage Act of 1873

Limited money supply (amount in circulation)

Eliminated the standard silver currency (bi-metalism)

Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890

Supported by farmers and miners

U.S. Treasury bought 4.5 million ounces of Silver each month and issued tender

Helped farmers pay back their debts and increased the money supply

Diminished Gold reserves which led to an economic panic

Financial Panic of 1893

Silver price dropped

Farmers went bankrupt

Farms were sold to pay off debt

Hard Money Advocates

Bankers and operators of other financial institutions

Wanted a stable currency that was not subject to inflation

Soft Money Advocates

Investors, speculators, and people who tended to be in debt (farmers in particular) favored a loose or soft money policy

Inflation tended to ease their financial burdens

Farmers obliged to borrow money to purchase land or finance their crops, and in an inflationary environment, the prices of their crops would rise, and repayment of their loans would be easier