Political Strategy and Tactics
A. Major parties normally avoid taking stands on controversial issues, but that tendency
reached abnormal proportions in the late nineteenth century
B. A delicate balance of power between the parties as well as new and difficult issues, to
which no answers were readily available, contributed to the parties’ reluctance to adopt
firm positions
C. The Democratic Party revived quickly after the Civil War and divided the electorate
almost evenly with the Republicans
D. Usually neither party controlled both Congress and the White House
E. The government in Washington became less important, and local and state governments
became more important
F. State governments set up commissions to investigate and regulate railroads and factories
1) Illinois was especially active in this regard, and its activities were declared
constitutional in the case Munn v. Illinois in 1877
2) When the Supreme Court retreated later in the Wabash case (1886), Congress
established the Interstate Commerce Commission
Voting Along Ethnic and Religious Lines
A. Although major parties had national committees and held national conventions to
nominate presidential candidates and draft “platforms,” these parties remained essentially
separate state organizations
B. More often than not, a voter’s ethnic origins, religious ties, perception of the Civil War,
and whether he lived in a rural or urban setting influenced his decision to vote
Republican or Democrat
C. Local and state issues often interacted with religious and ethnic issues and shaped
political attitudes
D. The nation’s political leadership, therefore, based their strategies and chose their
candidates with an eye to local and personal factors as well as national concerns
E. The office of the president reached its lowest point under Andrew Johnson, but presidents
who followed him in office reasserted the powers of the executive branch
Party Politics: Sidestepping the Issue
A. On the national scene, the South was solidly Democratic; New England and the TransMississippi West were staunchly Republican
B. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois usually determined the
outcome of elections
C. Only three presidential candidates between 1868 and 1900 did not come from New York,
Indiana, Illinois, or Ohio; and all three lost; partisan politics was intense in “swing states”
D. Because so much depended on these states, the level of political ethics was abysmally
low
City Bosses
A. Stresses of rapid urban growth, strain on infrastructures, and exodus of upper and middle
classes all led to a crisis in city government
B. This turmoil gave rise to urban political bosses
C. These bosses provided social services in exchange for political support
D. Money for these services (and to enrich themselves) came from kickbacks and bribes
E. Despite their welfare work and popularity, most bosses were essentially thieves
F. The system survived because most comfortable urban dwellers cared little it at all for the
fate of the poor
G. Many reformers resented the boss system mainly because it gave political power to
people who were not “gentlemen”
Tariffs, Trusts, and Silver
A. The Republicans, traditionally a high-tariff party, passed the McKinley Tariff in 1890,
raising duties to their highest point up to that time
B. As the party of the Union and the Union army, the Republicans granted pensions to
veterans or their survivors
C. By 1893, nearly one million pensions had been granted
D. The Republicans also passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890
1) The act attempted to regulate big business without hurting it
E. In order to head off demands for the free coinage of silver, which would have led to
inflation, the Republicans passed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1890
1) The federal government bought a certain amount of silver each month and issued
paper money backed by the silver, or by gold if the holder preferred
The 1890 Elections
A. On the state level, the Republicans also asserted strong government policies, such as
Sunday closing laws, prohibition, and the mandatory use of English in public schools
B. Although the Republicans were remarkably successful in enacting their programs into
law, various blocs of voters were so alienated that the party suffered massive losses in the
Congressional elections of 1890
Lackluster Leaders
A. America’s presidents of the day demonstrated little interest in dealing with the urgent
issues confronting the nation
B. Rutherford B. Hayes, president from 1877 to 1881, entered office with a distinguished
personal and political record
1) Hayes favored tariff reduction, civil service reform, and better treatment for
blacks in the South
2) However, he made little progress in any of these areas
C. The Republican Party split in 1880 between “Stalwarts” and “Half-Breeds,” and James A.
Garfield emerged as a compromise candidate
D. Garfield was assassinated after only four months in office, but he had already
demonstrated his ineffectiveness
E. His successor. Chester A. Arthur, although personally honest and competent, had been
and unblushing defender of the spoils system
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.
L.
1) As president, however, Arthur conducted himself with dignity, handled patronage
matters with restraint, and gave nominal support to civil service reform
2) Arthur also favored regulation of the railroads and tariff reductions
3) Nevertheless, he was a political failure; the Stalwarts would not forgive Arthur for
his “desertion,” and the reformers would not forgive his past
4) His party denied him its nomination in 1884
The election of 1884 revolved around personal issues and was characterized by
mudslinging on both sides
Grover Cleveland, former Democratic governor of New York, defeated James G. Blaine
by fewer than 250,000 votes
Cleveland’s was an honest, if unimaginative, administration
1) His emphasis on strict separation of powers preventing his placing effective
pressure on the Congress, and thus he failed to confront the issue of the day
In 1888, Benjamin Harrison, a Republican from Indiana, defeated Cleveland
Harrison’s election elevated a “human iceberg” and fiscal conservative to the presidency
1) During Harrison’s term, Congress raised the tariff to an all-time high, passed the
Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the Silver Purchase Act, and enacted a “force” bill to
protect the voting right of southern blacks
2) Harrison, however, remained aloof from this process
Cleveland reclaimed the presidency from Harrison in 1892
By the standards of the late nineteenth century, Cleveland’s margin of victory was
substantial
Congressional Leaders
A. James G. Blaine, a Republican from Maine, stands out among Congressional leaders,
both for his success and for his shortcomings
B. Congressman William McKinley of Ohio devoted his efforts to maintaining a protective
tariff
C. Another Ohioan, John Sherman, held national office from 1855 to 1898
1) Although a financial expert, he proved all too willing to compromise his personal
beliefs for political gain
D. Thomas B. Reed, a Republican congressmen from Maine, was a man of acerbic with and
ultraconservative views
1) As Speaker of the House, his autocratic methods won him the nickname “Czar”
Crops and Complaints
A. If middle class majority remained comfortable and complacent, the economic and social
status of farmers declined throughout the late 19th century; and their discontent forced
American politics to confront the problems of the era
B. American farmers suffered from low commodity prices, restrictive tariff and fiscal
policies, competition from abroad, and drought.
C. Farmers on the plains experienced boom condition in the 1880s
D. The boom collapsed in the 1890s, and a downward swing in the business cycle
exacerbated their plight
The Populist Movement
A. The agricultural depression triggered an outburst of political radicalism, the Alliance
movement
B. The Farmers Alliance spread throughout the South and into the Midwest
C. The farm groups entered politics in the elections of 1890
D. In 1892, these farm groups combined with representatives of the Knights of Labor and
various professional reformers to organize the People’s, or Populist, Party. The
convention adopted a sweeping platform calling for:
1) A graduated income tax
2) The nationalization of rail, telegraph, and telephone systems
3) The “subtreasury” plan
4) The unlimited coinage of silver
E. The party also called for the adoption of the initiative and referendum, popular election of
United States senators, an eight-hour workday, and immigration restrictions
F. In the presidential election, Cleveland defeated Harrison
G. The Populist candidate, James B. Weaver, attracted over a million votes, but results in
congressional and state races were disappointing
H. Opponents of the Populists in the South played on racial fears, and the Populists failed to
attract the support of urban workers
The Crisis of the Depression
A. In February 1893, the failure of a major railroad company set off a panic on the New
York Stock Exchange
1) As investors sold stock to purchase gold, the United States Treasury was depleted
of its reserves, and fears of government bankruptcy further shook confidence in
the economy
B. In May 1893, the market hit a record low, and a wave of business failures put two million
people out of work
1) Conditions worsened in 1894, when drought destroyed the corn crop
C. Cleveland believed that the controversy over silver caused the depression by shaking the
confidence of the business community
D. The depression gave rise to “armies” of jobless persons who marched on Washington to
demand relief
1) The most famous was “Coxey’s Army,” led by Jacob Coxey in 1894
E. The depression also heightened tensions between capital and labor, as exemplified in the
Pullman strike
1) The American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs, protested wage cuts and
layoffs by closing down railroads in the West
2) President Cleveland used federal troops to bring the strike to a violent end in 1894
F. President Cleveland believed that the Sherman Silver Purchase Act had created the
depression by causing gold to flow out of the public treasury
1) In a bitter fight that divided his own party, Cleveland managed to get the act
repealed in 1893, but neither the depression nor the drain on the treasury ceased
2) In fact, Cleveland made silver a political issue
3) Cleveland and his party also failed to lower tariff rates as they had promised
G. Cleveland’s failure to end the depression reduced the Democratic party to a sectional
southern organization
1) Public confidence in Cleveland had eroded
H. In the rest of the nation, the Republicans became the overwhelming majority, and they
swept the 1894 congressional elections
I. The party deadlock that had existed since the 1870 was broken, and the American people
endorsed the Republican doctrine of government
J. With the silver issue looming ever larger and the Populist demanding unlimited coinage
of silver, the major parties could no longer avoid the money question in 1896
1) The Republican nominated William McKinley and endorsed the gold standard
2) The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan and ran on a platform of free
silver
3) The Populists nominated Bryan as well
The Election of 1896
A. The election of 1896, fueled by emotional debates over the silver issue, split party ranks
across the nation
B. Pro-silver Republicans swung behind Bryan, while pro-gold Democrats, called “goldbugs” or National Democrats, nominated their own candidate
C. The Republican aspirant William McKinley, relied upon his experience, his reputation,
his party’s wealth, and the skillful management of Mark Hanna
1) Moreover, the depression worked to the advantage of the party out of power
D. Bryan, a powerful orator, was handicapped by his youth, his relative inexperience, and
the defection of the gold Democrats
1) He nevertheless conducted a vigorous campaign, traveling over eighteen thousand
miles and delivering over six hundred speeches
E. On election day, McKinley decisively defeated Bryan
The Meaning of the Election
A. Far from representing a triumph for the status quo, the election marked the coming of age
of modern America
B. McKinley’s approach was national; Bryan’s was basically parochial
C. Workers and capitalists supported McKinley, and the farm vote split
D. The battle over gold and silver had little real significance; new gold discoveries led to an
expansion of the money supply
E. Bryan’s vision of America, and that of the political Populists who supported him, was
one steeped in the past
F. McKinley, for all his innate conservatism, was capable of looking ahead toward the new
century
Class Conflicts and Ethnic Clashes
A. In 1877, the president of the nation’s four largest railroads decided to cut
wages by 10%, and workers struck back, stopping work, and when President
Hayes sent troops to stop this, violence erupted, and more than 100 people
died in the several weeks of chaos
B. The failure of the railroad strike showed the weakness of the labor
movement, but this was party caused by friction between races, especially
the Irish and the Chinese
C. In San Francisco, Irish-born Denis Kearney incited his followers to terrorize
the Chinese
D. In 1879, Congress passed a bill severely restricting the influx of Chinese
immigrants (most of whom were males had come to California to work on
the railroads), but Hayes vetoed the bill on grounds that it violated an
existing treaty with China
1) After Hayes left office, the Chinese Exclusion Act, passed in 1882, was
passed, baring any Chinese from entering the United States
E. Hayes entering office accused of securing the presidency through fraud, and
his declaration of being a single-termer probably saved his reputation, since
he would not have been re-nominated
The Garfield Interlude
A. In 1880, the Republicans nominated James A. Garfield, a man from Ohio
who had risen the rank of major general in the Civil War, and as his running
mate, a notorious Stalwart (supporter of Roscoe Conkling) was chosen:
Chester A. Arthur of New York
B. The Democrats chose Winfield A. Hancock, a Civil War general who
appealed to the South due to his fair treatment of it during Reconstruction
and a veteran who had been wounded at Gettysburg, and thus appealed to
veterans
C. The campaign once again avoided touchy issues, and Garfield squeaked by
in the popular vote (the Electoral count was better: 214 to 155)
1) Garfield was a good person, but he hated to hurt people’s feelings and
say “no”
D. Garfield named James G. Blaine to the position of Secretary of State, and he
did other anti-Stalwart acts, but on September 19, 1881, Garfield died after
having been shot in the head by a crazy but disappointed office seeker,
Charles J. Guiteau, who, after being captured, used an early version of the
“insanity defense” to avoid conviction (he was hung anyway)
Chester Arthur Takes Command
A. Chester Arthur did not seem to be fit for the presidency, but he surprised
many by giving the cold shoulder to Stalwarts, his chief supporters, and by
calling for reform, a call heeded by the Republican party as it began to show
newly found enthusiasm for reform
B. The Pendleton Act of 1883, the so-called Magna Carta of civil-service
reform, prohibited financial assessments on jobholders, including lowly
scrubwomen, and established a merit system of making appointments to
office on the basis of aptitude rather than “pull”
1) It also set up a Civil Service Commission, charged with administering
open competitive serve, and offices not “classified” by the president
remained the fought-over footballs of politics
2) Luckily, Arthur cooperated, and by 1884, he had classified nearly
10% of all federal offices, or nearly 14,000 of them
C. The Pendleton Act partially divided politics from patronage, but it drove
politicians into “marriages of convenience” with business leaders
The Blaine-Cleveland Mudslingers of 1884
A. James G. Blaine became the Republican candidate, but some Republican
reformers, unable to deal with Blaine’s lack of honesty, switched to the
Democratic Party and were called Mugwumps
B. The Democrats chose Grover Cleveland as their candidate but received a
shock when it was revealed that he might have been the father of an
illegitimate child
1) The campaign of 1884 was filled with perhaps the lowest mudslinging
in history
2) The contest depended on how New York chose, but unfortunately, one
idiotic Republican insulted the race, faith, and patriotism of New
York’s heavy Irish population, and as a result, New York voted for
Cleveland; that was the difference
“Old Grover” Takes Over
A. Portly Grover Cleveland was the first Democratic president since James
Buchanan, and as a supporter of laissez-faire, he delighted business owners
and bankers
B. Cleveland named two former Confederates to his cabinet, and at first tried to
adhere to the merit system (but eventually gave in to his party and fired
almost 2/3 of the 120,000 federal employees), but he had his problems
1) Military pensions plagued Cleveland; these bills were given to Civil
War veterans to help them, but they were used fraudulently to give
money to all sorts of people
2) However, Cleveland showed that he was ready to take on the corrupt
distributors of military pensions when he vetoed a bill that would add
several hundred thousand new people on the pension list
C. He signed into law both the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, and the
Dawes Act
Cleveland Battles for a Lower Tariff
A. The money question, whether or not to expand the money supply, reflected
the growing tension during the industrial age between the “haves” and the
“have-nots”
1) Debtors, farmers, and start-up businesses wanted more money in
circulation
2) Bankers, creditors, investors, and established businesses stood firm
for sound, or hard, money – currency backed by gold stored in
government vaults
B. By 1881, the Treasury had a surplus of $145 million, most of it having come
from the high tariff, and there were lots of clamor for lowering the tariff,
though big industrialists opposed it
C. Cleveland was not really interested in the subject at first, but as he
researched it, he became inclined towards lowering the tariff, so in late 1887,
Cleveland openly tossed the appeal for lower tariffs into the lap of Congress
1) Democrats were upset at the stubbornness of their chief while
Republicans gloated at his apparently reckless act
Harrison Ousts Cleveland in 1888
A. With no other choice, the Democrats re-nominated Cleveland, and
Republicans chose Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of William H. Harrison,
as their candidate
B. More “waving the bloody shirt” occurred, and more of Cleveland’s private
life was revealed, but what caused Cleveland to lose was when a British
diplomat announced that a vote for Cleveland was like a vote for England;
this irked the Irish voters, and it helped Harrison win
C. Cleveland was not a great president, but compared to those around him, he
was excellent
D. One reason to why the best men were no longer in politics is because by that
time, politics was full of corruption, and no one in his right mind wanted to
associate with such filth and dirt
The Republicans Return Under Harrison
A. New president Benjamin Harrison was inaugurated on a rainy March 4, 1889
1) He was brusque and abrupt, but also honest and earnest
B. For the next two years, Republicans controlled the presidency and both
houses of Congress
C. After four years out of the White House, the Republicans were eager to
return to power, especially those seeking political rewards
1) James G. Blaine became the Secretary of State
2) Theodore Roosevelt was named to the Civil Service Commission
D. However, the Republicans had troubles, for they only had three more
members than was necessary for a quorum, and Democrats could simply not
answer to the roll and easily keep Congress from working
E. The new Speaker of the House, Thomas B. Reed, was a large, tall man, a
masterful debater, and very critical and quick man
1) To solve the problem of reaching a quorum in Congress, Reed
counted the Democrats who were present but did not answer to the
roll call, and after three days of such chaos, he finally prevailed,
opening the 51st or “Billion Dollar” Congress – one that legislated a
lot of expensive projects
F. The new Congress was the most active in years, passing the first billiondollar budget in U.S. history. It enacted:
1) The McKinley Tariff of 1890, which raised the tax on foreign
products to a peacetime high of over 48 percent
2) Increases in the monthly pensions to Civil War veterans, widows, and
children
3) The Sherman Antitrust Act, outlawing “combinations in restraint of
trade”
4) The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, which increased the
coinage of silver, but in amounts too small to satisfy farmers and
miners
5) A bill to protect the voting rights of African Americans, passed by the
House but defeated in the Senate
G. In the election of 1890, Democratic seats in the House rose to 235, while
Republicans only had 88 representatives
1) Nine members of the Farmers’ Alliance, an organization of southern
and western farms, were also elected to the House of Representatives
The Populist Challenge of 1892
A. In 1892, the Democrats nominated conservative Grover Cleveland while
Republicans went with unpopular Harrison, but the splash was made by a
new third party; the People’s Party (Populist Party)
1) The Populists made up mainly of the Farmers’ Alliance (and other
groups), demanded free and unlimited coinage of silver at a ratio of
sixteen to one, a graduated income tax, and government ownership of
the telephone, telegraph, and railroads – all to combat injustice
2) They also wanted direct elections of US Senators, a one-term limit on
the presidency, and the use of the initiative and referendum to allow
citizens to propose and review legislation – all in the true spirit of
Democracy
B. A rash of strikes in the summer of 1892 also brought concerns that
disgruntled workers could join the Populist Party
1) At Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead steel plant near Pittsburgh, a strike
resulted in violence that killed ten and wounded sixty, and the
eventual calling of US troops to break the strike and its union backers
2) Silver miners striking in Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene District was also
broken
C. Impressively, the Populist party did get over a million votes and 22 Electoral
votes, but these came all from the Midwest (farmer country)
1) The South was unwilling to support the Populists because of race; one
million Black farmers in the Colored Farmers’ National Alliance,
along with other Blacks, were targets of Populist outreach
2) Populist leaders like Georgia’s Tom Watson reached out to the Black
community, but racist Whites stunted Populist support in the South
D. The Blacks were the real losers in the Election of 1892, for upon seeing that
African-Americans were trying to show their political power, Southern
Whites passed literacy tests, poll taxes, and the infamous “grandfather
clause,” which stated that no Black could vote unless his forbearer had voted
in 1860 (none had)
1) Severe Jim Crow Laws were also passed in many Southern states, and
it would not be for another half century until Blacks finally became a
political force
2) Even Tom Watson became a racist himself following 1892, and after
1896, the Populist party lapsed into vile racism and Black
disfranchisement
“Old Grover” Cleveland Again
A. Grover Cleveland won, but no sooner than he had stepped into the
presidency did the Depression of 1893 break out; it was the first such panic
in the new urban and industrial age, and it caused much outrage and
hardships
B. About 8000 American business houses collapsed in six months, and dozens
of railroad lines went into the hands of receivers
1) Now Cleveland had a deficit, for the Treasury had to issue gold for the
notes that it had paid in the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, and
according to law, those notes had to be reissued, thus causing a steady
drain on gold in the Treasury – the level alarmingly dropped below
$100 million at one point
C. Meanwhile, Grover Cleveland had developed a malignant growth under the
roof of his mouth, and it had to be secretly removed in a surgery that took
place aboard his private yacht; had he died, Adlai Stevenson, a “soft money”
(paper money) man, would have caused massive chaos with inflation
D. Also, 33 year-old William Jennings Bryan was advocating “free silver,” and
gaining support for his beliefs, but an angry Cleveland used his executive
power to break the filibuster in the Senate – thus alienating the silversupporting Democrats
Gold Shortages and Job Shortages
A. Finally, the US repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, but this only
partially stopped the problem, and by 1864, the gold reserve sank to only
$41 million
1) The US was in danger of going off the gold standard, sinking into
financial turmoil, and ruining its international trade
B. Finally, Cleveland turned to J.P. Morgan, the “banker’s banker,” who agreed
to have Wall Street loan the government $65 million in gold, obtain half of
the gold from abroad, and take the needed steps to dam up the leaky
Treasury
1) This caused an outrage, for silverites saw only corruption and badness
in Cleveland’s dealings with the “evil Jupiter” Morgan
C. Meanwhile, the unemployed, led by men like “General” Jacob S. Coxey, a
wealthy Ohio quarry owner, demonstrated for much-needed help
1) He and his “Commonwealth Army” of Coxeyites marched to
Washington DC, but upon reaching there, he and his “lieutenants”
were arrested for walking on the grass, while the other people
accounted for lots of disorder and pillage
Cleveland Crushes the Pullman Strike
A. In Chicago, the infamous Pullman Strike, led by American Railway Union
leader Eugene V. Debs, was a violent flare-up but just one of the many that
occurred
1) The Pullman Palace Car Company had been hit hard by the depression
had been forced to cut wages about one-third
2) In the opinion of Illinois governor, John Peter Atgeld, who had
pardoned the Haymarket Riot anarchists the year before, the riot was
serious but not out of hand
3) However, Attorney General Richard Olney felt that the strikes were
interfering with US mail delivery to Chicago, and he ordered federal
troops to crush the strike leading to controversy
B. Labor unions began to think that employers and even the US government
were out to shut the unions down, and were incensed
Democratic Tariff Tinkering
A. The Democrats took to revisiting the existing tariff into one that would
follow their campaign promises by providing moderate protection and
adequate revenue
1) The new bill even included a tax of 2% on $4000+ incomes
2) However, upon reaching the Senate, the opposition of big business
forced the Wilson-Gorman Bill to be amended 630 times, including a
scandalous insertion of $20 million a year to itself by the sugar trust
3) Thus, this bill fell quite short of providing a low tariff, though it was
lowered down to 41.3% on dutiable goods
4) In 1895, though, the Supreme Court struck down the graduated
income tax portion – the most popular one – of the Wilson-Gorman
Bill
B. As a result of the unpopular tariff, the Democrats lost a lot of seats in the
House in 1894, and the Republicans regained control
C. Discontented debtors were turning to free silver as a cure-all, as such
pamphlets as Coin’s Financial School, written by William Hope Harvey,
influenced many toward the free silver cause
McKinley: Hanna’s Fair-Haired Boy
A. The leading Republican candidate in 1896 was William McKinley, a
respectable and friendly former Civil War major who had served many years
in Congress representing his native Ohio
B. McKinley was the making of another Ohioan, Marcus Alonzo Hanna, who
financially and politically supported the candidate through his political years
C. McKinley was a conservative in business, preferring to leave things alone,
and his platform was for the gold standard, even though he personally was
not
1) His platform called for a gold-silver bimetallism – provided that all
the other nations in the world did the same, which was not bound to
happen
Bryan: Silverite Messiah
A. The Democrats were in disarray, unable to come up with a candidate, until
William Jennings Bryan, the “Boy Orator of the Platte,” came “to their
rescue”
B. At the 1896 Democratic Convention in Chicago, Bryan delivered a movingly
passionate speech in favor of free silver, and his Cross of Gold Speech
created a sensation and got him nominated for the Democratic ticket the next
day
1) The Democratic ticket called for unlimited coinage of silver with the
ratio of 16 silver ounces worth as much as one ounce of gold
2) Democrats who would not stand for this left their party
3) Some Democrats charged that the Democrats had stolen the Populist
ideas, and ruing the Election of 1896, it was essentially the “DemoPop” party
C. Traveling by train from one end of the country to the other, Bryan covered
18,000 miles and gave more than 600 speeches
Hanna Leads the “Gold Bugs”
A. Hanna thought that he could make the tariff the heart of the campaign issue,
but Bryan turned the tables, making silver the key issue
1) Free silver seemed to be a religion, with Bryan the “savior” of all free
silverites
2) Essentially, Bryan was cutting in half the value of people’s earnings
and savings with his free silver idea, and this worried the eastern
conservatives
B. With the public afraid of Bryan’s radical ideas, Hanna campaigned
vigorously and amassed a sizeable amount of money for the Republicans to
use in the election
1) As a result, many Democrats accused Hanna of “buying” the election,
since the Democrats only had $1 million for their campaign, as
opposed to the Republicans $16 million
Appealing to the Pocketbook Vote
A. Hanna launched a full-force attack against free silver, sending many
speakers out onto the stump to appeal to the public in person, but few people
could really understand what all the hoopla was about, and even they
disagreed
1) It was mostly shouting and little thinking
B. A sharp rise in wheat prices near the end of the campaign quelled much of
the farmers’ anger against the Republicans, and most people voted for
McKinley due to fear of Bryan and his “dangerous, crazy, radical ideas”
Class Conflict: Plowholders versus Bondholders
A. McKinley won decisively, getting 271 Electoral votes, mostly from the
populous East and upper Midwest, as opposed to Bryan’s 176, mostly from
the South and the West
B. This election was perhaps the most important since those involving
Abraham Lincoln, for it was the first to seemingly pit the privileged against
the underprivileged, and it resulted in a victory for big business and big
cities
C. The Middle Class preserved their comfortable way of life while the
Republicans seized control of the White House for 16 more years
Republican Standpattism Enthroned
A. When McKinley took office in 1897, he was calm and conservative, working
well with his party and avoiding major confrontations
B. The Dingley Tariff Bill was passed to replace the Wilson-Gorman law and
raise more revenue, raising the tariff level to 46.5%
Inflation without Silver
A. Just as McKinley came to power, prosperity was returning as the Depression
of 1893 was running its course, and the Republicans took credit for this
event
1) Farm prices rose, factory production increased, the stock market
climbed
B. The Gold Standard Act was not passed until 1900, when many silverites had
left Congress, but it provided that paper currency was to be redeemable in
full in gold
C. A stable expansion of currency was clearly desired in America, since money
was tight at the time, but free silver was a poor method of obtaining that
D. Inflation occurred when new gold was discovered in Alaska, Canada, and
South Africa, and when science perfected a cheap cyanide process for
extracting gold from low-grade ore
Significance of the Election of 1896
A. Marked the end of the stalemate and stagnation that had characterized
politics in the Gilded Age
B. It initiated the era of Republican dominance of the presidency (seven of the
next nine elections) and both house of Congress (17 of the next 20 sessions)
C. The Republicans became the party of business, industry and a strong
national government
D. The election of 1896 was a clear victory for big business, urban centers,
conservative economics, and moderate, middle-class values
E. McKinley emerged as the first modern president, an active leader who took
the United States from being relatively isolated to becoming a major player
in international affairs
F. Mark Hanna, the master of high-finance politics, created a model for
organizing and financing a successful campaign focused on winning
favorable publicity in the mass media
The Populist Movement – The Value of Third Parties
-
-
-
-
The Agricultural Revolution permanently altered the lives and outlook of farmers
o Costly farming equipment forced them to specialize and commercialize their
operations
Farmers found themselves increasingly at the mercy of forces they could neither
understand nor control
o Railroads, bankers, middlemen, monopolists, and government officials all
appeared to conspire against farmers
Like factory workers, farmers tried various measures to counteract and cope with their
changed circumstances
In the late 1870s, farmers joined the Greenback movement to gain relief from low prices
and high indebtedness through inflation of the currency
Oliver Kelly’s Grange attracted many farmers as a social, educational, and fraternal
organization
o Midwestern Grangers achieved some success, particularly in Illinois, as they
prodded state legislatures to regulate railroads, grain elevators, and warehouses,
but reversals in higher courts cost Grangers most of their gains
Membership of more than a million farmers in Farmers’ Alliances in the late 1880s
attested to the continuing unrest in rural America
Finally, in 1882, leaders of several agrarian state parties met in Omaha, Nebraska, to
draw up their platform for a national political party
Part A
-
-
They wrote the Omaha Platform in 1892
Populists included farmers, laborers, single-taxers, and Socialists
Most Populists came from the West or South
The following were among their proposals:
o Free and unlimited coinage of silver at a sixteen to one ration with gold
o Increase in the amount of money in circulation
o Graduated income tax
o Government ownership of railroads, telephones, and telegraphs
o Tariff reduction
o Eight-hour work day
o Direct election of US Senators
o Secret ballot
o Immigration restrictions
o Initiative and referendum
o Single term for the Presidency
o Sub-treasury plan to help finance farmers at harvest time
The Greenback Party of the 1870s had pushed for inflation based on free silver, and they
had worked for regulation, if not public ownership, of the railroads
The Republicans received approximately 44 percent of the vote; the Democrats 47
percent; and the Populists, nearly 9 percent
-
-
-
-
The Populist vote of nearly 9 percent in the 1892 election attracted both major political
parties. However, the Republicans were philosophically further removed from the
Populists and would have been less likely to adopt their positions. The Populist vote, cast
as a bloc, could have altered the outcome of the 1892 election. This is a point the
Democrats noted in the national convention in 1896
Bryan’s rousing, emotional speech became a rallying cry for many Populists and
Democrats; on the other hand, his narrow approach to solving problems of the disgruntled
undoubtedly cost him many other votes
The Republicans offered pluralism to the American people; every occupation, religion,
industry, and section would receive fair treatment under the protective tariff, and farmers’
grievances would be considered and corrective action taken
The Panic of 1893 occurred during a Democratic administration and hurt the party’s
cause. The large Republican campaign chest permitted for more campaign activities than
the Democrats could afford. Also, without the secret ballot, many factory workers felt
intimidated to vote as their employers desired
Part B
-
-
-
-
-
Cartoon
o All had complaints against the system that neither political party addressed; all
represented lower economic groups who felt the government should control (or
even own) major businesses
o Although they shared an opposition to big business, they could not agree on
solutions. Laborers, for example, did not favor inflation as the farmers wanted;
farmers wanted an income tax while single taxers championed a drastic property
tax reform; socialists wanted government ownership, not regulation, of big
business
William Jennings Bryan, the Populist and Democratic candidate, represented primarily
farm interests for whom inflation seemed a crucial issue
Various explanations account for the Republican victory. First, Democrats were
associated with the Panic of 1893; second, many voters were intimidated into voting for
the Republican candidate; finally, and perhaps more important, the nation, had become
increasingly urban and, therefore, less in tune with Populist sentiments. Factory laborers,
too, could hardly be expected to approve the Populist-Democratic plank on inflation
The Klondike gold rush soon brought inflation, although it was based on gold, no silver.
The Spanish-American War and the influx of immigrants to American cities both created
larger markets and higher prices for farm produce
Later generations recognized the need to extend democracy and control corporations.
More specifically, we had adopted the graduated income tax, direct election of senators,
secret ballot, initiative and referendum; public utilities were regulated, if not owned, by
the government. Farm relief programs of the New Deal resembled the subtreasury
proposed by the Populists
Hofstadier viewed the Populists as a backward-looking faction intent on restoring
conditions that existed before the commercialization of agriculture and the rise of big
business. Pollack saw the Populists as forward-looking critics who pointed the way to
reforms and improvements in the system in the 20th century
-
-
Farmers did indeed recall better times in earlier years and wished to enact political and
economic reforms that would restrict the influence of big business. The Populist agenda
did became a basis for reform in the twentieth century
Third parties, such as the Populists, called attention to needed changes which the major
political parties overlook or ignore. When the third party receives sufficient popular
support, a major party adopts their program, and the third party fades from existence. A
third party’s focus is issues rather than candidates
Political Realignments in the 1890s
Politics of Stalemate
-
Economic depression dominated the 1890s and reshaped political alignments and
attitudes.
-
America’s white male voters of the 1870s and 1880s (the bulk of electorate) displayed
keen interest in partisan politics. Southern states increasingly disenfranchised black
men.
-
Democrats emphasized decentralized power.
-
Republicans emphasized a more active national government, but the closeness of
electoral politics and disillusionment with Civil War centralization stalemated national
government. Elections depended on a few key “swing” states.
-
It is noteworthy that 140 years later, the platforms of the two political parties have
virtually changed hands.
-
Most governmental action and reform, and especially with the new regulatory
commissions and bureaus, occurred at the state and local level.
-
Between 1880 and 1900, American presidents succeeded in reassuring the authority of
their office.
-
The presidency had been weakened considerably by the Johnson impeachment, the
Grant scandals, and the electoral controversy of 1876. By the late 1890s, they had laid
the basis for the powerful modern presidency.
Republicans in Power: The Billion-Dollar Congress
-
In 1888, the Republicans broke the electoral stalemate by winning control of the
presidency and both houses of Congress.
-
Holding the controlling majority of government, the Republicans enacted significant
legislative programs, the McKinley Tariff, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Sherman
Silver Purchase Acts.
-
Americans rejected that activism by crushing the Republicans in the elections of 1890
and, especially in the Midwest, Democrats gained new power.
The Rise of the Populist Movement
-
By the summer of 1890, Farmers’ Alliance organizers were recruiting huge numbers of
unhappy farmers, sometimes at the rate of 1,000 week.
-
Populism surged as a response to an agrarian sense of social and economic loss that was
not altogether realistic.
-
Farmers organized the Grange and the Farmers’ Alliance in pursuit of the reforms of
the Ocala Demands. Later, the Populist party adopted much of the same platform as
the Ocala Demands.
-
In the South, the Alliance enjoyed considerable success within the Democratic party; in
the North and West, it successfully ran many of its own candidates.
-
In 1892, the Alliance led in the formation of the Populist party, which collected over one
million votes for its 1892 presidential candidate, but the party then began to lose
strength.
-
Major planks of the Populists’ presidential platform were later incorporated into law.
The Crisis of the Depression
-
Grover Cleveland and the Democratic party swept the election of 1892 but then faced a
severe depression following the Panic of 1893.
-
The economy slumped into a crisis as banks failed at record rates, factories and mines
shut down, and millions were out of work. The next year worsened, and the economic
crisis became more than a temporary hitch.
-
The depression led to protests demanding relief for workers and farmers, including a
march on Washington by Coxey’s Army and the Pullman Strike, which shut down the
railroads of the West and produced the Socialist leader Eugene Debs.
-
President Cleveland defeated the strike with a violent confrontation between federal
troops and a mob of people unconnected with the strike.
-
The depression also led to a strike of bituminous coal mines by the new United Mine
Workers. The violence which followed pitted workers against capital but also divided
the “old” mostly English and Irish miners and the “new” miners from Southern and
Eastern Europe.
-
President Cleveland blamed the depression on the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and led
its repeal in 1893, which split and (in combination with the depression) wrecked the
Democratic party.
-
Thus, the depression led to a new Republican supremacy, and made the Democratic
party little more than a southern, sectional party.
Changing Attitudes
-
The depression also changed the country’s traditional social views. Many Americans
now saw poverty as a failure of the economy rather than the individual, so they
demanded reforms to help the poor and unemployed, an important step toward
national authority and activism.
-
“Everybody Works but Father” more women and children worked jobs made available
to them because they were paid less than men.
-
Realistic and naturalistic writers portrayed everyday life in a new, sometimes
deterministic manner, including, for example, Mark Twain, William Dean Howells,
Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, and Theodore Dreiser.
The Presidential Election of 1896
-
The Republican dominance initiated in 1894 continued with the victory of the
Republican William McKinley over the Democrat William Jennings Bryan.
-
Silver became a central, symbolic issue.
-
Many believed silver’s free coinage could end the depression; it also came to represent
the interests of the common people, especially farmers in the West.
-
McKinley and the Republicans promised a return to the gold standard, which they
claimed would end the depression.
-
Although split over silver, the Democrats endorsed free silver and nominated William
Jennings Bryan after he captured the convention with the oratory of his “Cross of Gold”
speech.
-
McKinley won the election handily, as both the Democrats and the People’s party
nominated Bryan, but each chose a different vice-president, effectively dividing the
vote.
-
The People’s party vanished after 1896.
The McKinley Administration
-
The new government enjoyed prosperity, raised the tariff, demonetized silver, and
prodded its party to shift from promoting to regulating industrialism.
-
By the time of McKinley’s assassination and Theodore Roosevelt’s ascent to the
presidency, the Republican party had clearly emerged as the dominant party, as
Americans rallied to reform the system that had produced the depression of the 1890s.