Lecture 4: Politics of the Late Nineteenth Century: A Comprehensive Study Guide

Course Logistics and Administrative Overview

• The course is currently running ahead of the class schedule due to the streamlined nature of online lectures compared to in-person sessions (as certain classroom activities are omitted online).
• The test schedule remains unchanged despite the accelerated lecture pace, providing students more time to review the video materials.
• Attendance Certification: Students must submit answers to the questions provided in the introductory lecture via email. This must be completed by midday on Tuesday, $\text{June}\, 16$. Failure to do so will result in being dropped from the course by Austin Community College.
• Note-taking: Students are encouraged to document questions while listening to lectures and store them for future submission.
• The current material covers Chapter $20$, focusing on politics in the second half of the $19\text{th}\, \text{century}$, specifically the decades following the American Civil War.

Political Landscape and Partisan Deadlock $(1876\text{--}1896)$

• The period between $1876$ and $1896$ was characterized by a national political deadlock between the Republican and Democratic parties.
• The Democratic Party held the status of the majority party in terms of total membership during this juncture.
• The Republican Party maintained a decisive advantage in the populous states of the North and Midwest, frequently granting them political dominance in presidential elections.
• Politics served as a form of mass entertainment, characterized by high engagement and divided government.
• Average Voter Turnout: Across the six presidential elections between $1876$ and $1896$, voter turnout reached an average of $79\%$.

The Influence of the Civil War Generation on Politics

• National politics were dominated by the Civil War generation until the late $1890\text{s}$. Although the war killed $620,000$ soldiers, the vast majority of combatants survived and remained active in politics for three to four decades.
• Hardened Convictions: Having fought for their personal beliefs, homes, and causes (Union or Confederate), veterans possessed strengthened political loyalties.
• Presidential Statistics: Five out of six $(5/6)$ presidents elected between $1865$ and $1900$ had served in the war.
• Electoral Base: The voting population included over $1,000,000$ Union veterans and hundreds of thousands of Confederate veterans.

Party Platforms and Ideologies

• Democratic Party:
  • Advocates for states' rights and a decentralized system of government.
  • Promoted limited government interference.
  • Controlled the "Solid South" after the end of Reconstruction in $1876$ when Confederate states were "redeemed."
• Republican Party:
  • Wanted to utilize national and state government power to promote business and the economy.
  • Favored high protective tariffs to safeguard American industry and jobs.
  • Identified as the party of civil rights, advocating for the freedmen (former slaves).
  • Enjoyed absolute loyalty from African Americans due to Abraham Lincoln's role in the Union victory, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the passage of the $13\text{th}$, $14\text{th}$, and $15\text{th}$ Amendments.

The Strategy of Swing States and Political Nominations

• Because partisan loyalties were closely divided, elections were determined by a handful of key swing states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
• The Nomination Strategy: Parties typically nominated candidates from these swing states to secure those specific electoral votes. From $1868$ to $1912$, eight out of nine $(8/9)$ Republican candidates and six out of seven $(6/7)$ Democratic candidates hailed from these states.
• The Preeminence of Ohio: Ohio produced more presidents than any other state during this era, not due to specialized training but because of its status as a critical swing state with a large number of electoral votes.

Voting Rights and Disenfranchisement Tactics

• Women's Suffrage:
  • Women remained denied the right to vote in national elections.
  • In $1875$, the Supreme Court upheld the right of states to determine voting qualifications and deny women suffrage.
  • Between $1870$ and $1910$, $12$ states defeated suffrage bills.
  • Only new Western states with less entrenched power structures, such as Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, and Utah, granted women the right to vote.
• Black Disenfranchisement:
  • After Reconstruction, the South gained political power because the $13\text{th}$ Amendment effectively ended the Three Fifths Compromise; former slaves now counted as full persons for congressional representation.
  • To maintain dominance, Southern Democrats sought to bypass the $14\text{th}$ Amendment, which mandated that states barring citizens from voting would lose a proportional number of congressional seats.
  • Southern states implemented "de facto" rather than "de jure" restrictions to avoid losing representation.

Economic Hardship and the Sharecropping System

• Following emancipation, former slaves were often destitute, lacking land, money, and education.
• Sharecropping: A system where landowners (destitute after the war) provided land and seed, while freedmen provided labor. They would "share" the crop profit.
• Debt Cycles: Landowners charged rent for cabins and provided food and clothing on credit. This reduced the worker's share from $50\%$ down to as little as $5\%$ or $10\%$. If there was no profit, the worker received nothing. Unlike slavery, sharecroppers could be fired and were often subject to worse economic abuse due to their lack of property value.

Legislative and Administrative Methods of Disenfranchisement

• Georgia Poll Tax $(1877)$: Required a fee to vote, which disenfranchised destitute former slaves (and some poor whites).
• South Carolina Eight Box Law $(1882)$: Required voters to place specific ballots into the correct boxes for different offices. This effectively barred illiterate voters.
• Mississippi Literacy Test $(1890)$: Required proof of reading ability. It was unfairly applied; whites were given simple headlines while African Americans were given complex constitutional passages.
• Louisiana Grandfather Clause $(1898)$: Stated that anyone who was the son or grandson of an eligible voter before $1867$ was exempt from the literacy test.
  • This restored the vote to almost all whites while excluding blacks whose ancestors were slaves.
  • Impact: In New Orleans/Louisiana, black voters dropped from $130,334$ in $1896$ to only $1,342$ by $1904$.

The Rise of Railroad Regulation and Judicial Conflict

• Railroads were the $\text{19th-century}$ equivalent of the internet, vital for communication and commerce.
• Corruption and Monopolies: Trusts (monopolies) led to rate discrimination, where small farmers were charged more than big companies (who received rebates). J. P. Morgan controlled $3/4$ of the national railroad network.
• State Commissions: Massachusetts established the first railroad commission in $1869$. By $1900$, $28$ states had commissions.
• Munn v. Illinois $(1877)$: The Supreme Court ruled that "private property affected with the public interest must submit to being controlled by the public for the common good."
• Wabash St. Louis and Pacific Railway Company v. Illinois $(1887)$: The Supreme Court overturned Munn, ruling that only the federal government can regulate interstate commerce (commerce crossing state lines).
• Interstate Commerce Commission $(1887)$: Established by Congress to oversee railroad activities and outlaw rebates. It would eventually expand to cover pipelines and airlines.

Presidential History: Garfield and Civil Service Reform

• James Garfield (Ohio) was elected in $1880$. He was a General in the Civil War and ran on an anti-corruption platform.
• Assassination: On $\text{July}\, 2,\, 1881$, Garfield was shot by Charles Guccot (also referred to as Gateaux), a deranged and disappointed office-seeker who felt he was owed an ambassadorship to Turkey through the "spoils system."
• Garfield died from infection on $\text{September}\, 19,\, 1881$.
• The Zero Curse: Until Ronald Reagan $(1980)$, every president elected in a year ending in zero died or was assassinated in office. Hinckley attempted to kill Reagan in $1981$.
• Pendleton Act $(1883)$: Signed by Chester Arthur, it created a bipartisan Civil Service Commission. It replaced the spoils system with competitive merit-based exams for government jobs, initiating the professionalization/bureaucracy of the national government.

The Harrison Presidency and the Billion Dollar Congress

• Grover Cleveland (Democrat) won in $1884$. He was known for being stubborn and vetoed more legislation than all previous presidents combined.
• Election of $1888$: Benjamin Harrison (Republican) defeated Cleveland.
• "Waving the Bloody Shirt": A Republican tactic reminding Northern voters that Democrats were the party of secession and treason. A politician literally waved a blood-stained Union shirt to illustrate his point.
• United Government $(1888\text{--}1890)$: For the first time since $1875$, Republicans controlled the Presidency, House, and Senate.
• McKinley Tariff: Raised tariff rates by $4\%$, reaching historically high levels.
• Dependent Pensions Act: Provided lifetime pensions to Union veterans, widows, and orphans.
  • By $1893$, costs rose to $\$163,000,000$ per year for nearly $1,000,000$ people.
  • Precedent: Markered the first time the government gave direct money to a large group of people.
  • Social Legacy: The last Civil War widow died in the early $21\text{st}\, \text{century}$, and the last orphan died in the summer of $2020$.
• Sherman Antitrust Act $(1890)$: Declared monopolies (trusts) illegal as "conspiracies in restraint of trade." It was rarely used until the $20\text{th}\, \text{century}$ due to restrictive Supreme Court rulings.

Monetary Policy and the Silver Issue

• Currency Value: In the $19\text{th}\, \text{century}$, paper money was only as valuable as the gold or silver (specie) backing it.
• Inflation vs. Deflation: Farmers in the South and West wanted more money in circulation (inflation) to increase crop prices and ease loan accessibility.
• Sherman Silver Purchase Act: The government agreed to buy $4,500,000$ ounces of silver monthly to expand the money supply.
• The Gold Drain: The law allowed dollars to be redeemed in gold or silver. In downturns, people traded silver-backed dollars for gold, threatening to deplete the national gold reserve.

The Populist Movement and the People's Party

• The Grange: A social organization for farmers that evolved into the National Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union.
• Economic Grievances: Farmers suffered from rising railroad rates, declining crop prices (corn dropped from $63$ cents in $1881$ to $28$ cents in $1890$), and high mortgage rates.
• Populist Party: Formed when farmers realized mainstream parties would not prioritize their needs.
• Election of $1892$: James B. Weaver (Populist) won over $1,000,000$ votes and $22$ electoral votes. However, Grover Cleveland won the presidency, becoming the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.

The Panic of $1893$ and the Pullman Strike

• The first depression of the industrial economy occurred just as Cleveland took office.
• Impact: Unemployment reached $15\%$; $15,000$ businesses and $600$ banks collapsed.
• Lack of Safety Net: There was no unemployment insurance, welfare, or federal deposit insurance.
• Pullman Strike $(1894)$: A railroad strike involving $500,000$ workers across $27$ states.
• Cleveland's Response: He sent the US Army to break the strike, justifying it on the grounds that interference with railroads stopped the movement of the US mail.
• Resolution: Cleveland repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and shifted the US to a strict gold standard to stabilize the currency. J. P. Morgan loaned the government a billion dollars (and a million in gold) to keep the treasury afloat.

The Battle of the Standards and the McKinley Era

• Election of $1896$: William McKinley (Republican/Gold Standard) vs. William Jennings Bryan (Democrat/Silver/Bimetallism).
• McKinley won by a margin of $4\%$, signaling a permanent realignment where Republicans became the majority party.
• The end of the $19\text{th}\, \text{century}$ saw the economy recover due to gold discoveries in Australia and Alaska (the Yukon Gold Rush) and a bumper crop in $1897$.
• William McKinley: Considered the first modern president. He was a "man of the people" who rode streetcars and window-shopped with his wife. He was the last Civil War veteran to serve as president.

Questions & Discussion

• Question $16$: Who is the only Democrat elected President of the United States between $1860$ and $1900$? (Answer: Grover Cleveland)
• Question $17$: Who is the second American president to be assassinated? (Answer: James Garfield, elected in $1880$)
• Question $18$: What is the name of the Supreme Court case that declares private property affected with the public interest must submit to being regulated by the government? (Answer: Munn versus Illinois)
• Question $19$: What is the name of the political tactic used by the Republican Party to remind voters about the Civil War in the election of $1888$? (Answer: Waving the bloody shirt)
• Question $20$: What is the name of the organization that was basically a labor union for farmers and would become an instrument to help found the People's Party? (Answer: The National Farmers Alliance/National Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union)