Reading: Reform
Waves of Reform in America in the Late 19th Century
Waves of reform swept across the American landscape in the late 19th century as various social groups responded to significant social changes.
Key reformers included farmers, workers, women, and middle-class reformers.
Powerful mass movements emerged, many of which were anti-monopoly movements.
These movements fought against corporate privilege and political corruption.
Advocated for regulation and public control of key sectors such as railroads, banking, and other industries.
Voluntary Associations and Their Role
Reform movements were characterized by the formation of voluntary associations.
Individuals joined fraternal orders, unions, leagues, and clubs, marking a significant feature of the reform age.
These associations served as building blocks for reform movements that shaped modern America.
The Farmers' Response
Farmers were among the first groups to organize in response to their struggles.
They faced numerous hardships, such as:
Laboring hard under harsh conditions in remote locations.
Encountering agricultural pests like boll weevils and grasshoppers.
Experiencing a deflationary price spiral and tight credit, resulting in low prices for their crops and high investment rates on debts for supplies and machinery.
Isolated farmers had little negotiating power with railroads, grain dealers, and merchants.
The Patrons of Husbandry (Grange)
The Grange, formed in 1867, signified the first major breakthrough in large-scale organization among farmers.
By the mid-1870s, the Grange had nearly 800,000 members.
Activities and initiatives included:
Establishing cooperative stores, grain elevators, cotton gins, and insurance agencies.
Although officially non-political, the Grange acted as a powerful lobbying force for farmers.
Advocated for rural education, public school improvement, and land-grant universities.
Fought for state regulations of railroad and freight rates, leading to the implementation of "Granger Laws" across various states from Illinois to California.
The Grange declined but set a model for future farmer organizations.
The Farmers' Alliance and Further Organization
The Farmers’ Alliance evolved from the Grange, gaining even more power.
Originating in Central Texas, by 1890, the Alliance had 1,200,000 members in 27 states.
Its initiatives included:
A massive campaign for adult rural education.
Experiments with large-scale cooperative marketing schemes.
Advocacy for government intervention in the economy to support farmers.
The Alliance's most unique proposal was the "sub-treasury" plan, advocating for federal investment in warehouses in farm districts and providing low-cost loans based on farmers’ stored products.
Exclusionary Practices of Farmer Organizations
While demanding rights for farmers within the national economy, farmers' organizations often excluded African Americans and other non-white individuals.
In the 1870s, the Grange supported efforts by the White Planter class to dismantle biracial Reconstruction governments in the South, establishing a pattern of racial exclusion within these alliances.
The Labor Movement
The labor movement saw the emergence of the Knights of Labor in 1869 among Philadelphia garment workers.
By the mid-1880s, it became the largest labor organization on either side of the Atlantic.
Reasons for the Knights' success included:
Organizing women, African Americans, immigrants, and unskilled workers typically excluded from craft unions.
However, they displayed hostility toward Asian immigrants.
The Knights organized coal miners and railroad workers, effectively challenging corporate power.
Key struggles included:
A battle against J. Gould's railroad empire.
Participation in a national movement advocating for an eight-hour workday.
Challenges Faced by Labor Organizations
However, anti-labor sentiment grew following the Haymarket bombing on May 4, resulting in repression of labor organizers.
Courts issued injunctions against the Knights, leading to firings and blacklisting of members.
The labor movement's energy shifted towards trade unions and the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
Women’s Mobilization for Reform
Women organized into various clubs and associations, leading to the formation of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).
The WCTU was primarily composed of Protestant and middle-class women and campaigned against alcohol consumption, viewing it as harmful to public health.
The organization expanded its focus in the 1880s and 1890s to include:
Women’s suffrage.
Equal pay laws.
Poverty alleviation and broader social justice issues.
Collaborated with the Farmers' Alliance and the Knights of Labor.
Broader Coalitions and Economic Issues
Coalitions formed around specific reforms, including tax remedies to limit corporate power and address income inequality.
Rural and urban reformers engaged in debates regarding monetary standards, specifically, issues surrounding:
Gold standard vs. greenback and silver standard.
Historians previously dismissed these debates as superficial; however, reformers recognized the substantial economic stakes involved.
For farmers and debtors, the inflating currency was seen as a way to alleviate the burdens of debts and stem wealth flow to financial centers.
Engagement in Electoral Politics
Reformers sought political solutions and often aligned with traditional parties or new third parties such as the Greenback Labor Party and the Populist Party.
The Populist Party emerged in the early 1890s, bringing together various reform currents from the Gilded Age.
Political cartoon "A Party of Patches" from Judge Magazine (1891) depicts the Populist Party as a mixture of various political organizations.
Challenges of Race for the Populist Movement
The Populist Party’s initial successes created political challenges related to race.
Post-Reconstruction, the Democratic Party held sway in the South.
The Populists' appeal to white Southern voters led to complex dynamics regarding black voters, who gained political leverage through the Populists' competition with the Democrats.
Democrats launched campaigns of white supremacy, implemented poll taxes, literacy tests, and other measures aimed at disenfranchising African Americans by the end of the 1890s.