Political Realignments of
the 1890s
The Coming of a
“Gilded Age”
Mark Twain (1835-1910) coined the
term implying that what looked
beautiful and valuable on the surface-growing industry and accumulation of
fortunes by the privileged few--was but
a cover for the less valuable (“brasslike”) or destructive features of the
period--poverty, child labor, widespread
political corruption, trusts and
monopolies, etc.**
“Under the cruel impact of the depression, ideas changed in
many areas including politics. A realignment of the American
political system. . . finally reached its fruition in the 1890s,
establishing new patterns that gave rise to the Progressive
Era and lasted well into the twentieth century.”
Presidential Politics
•
•
•
20—A
The Declining Power of the Presidency
after 1865**
Background Conditions—Economic
Depression, 1873-1897**
Public Interest in Politics**
Elections of 1876 and 1896—
79% turnout
Party Positions
•
Democrats
–
–
–
•
State’s Rights
Decentralization
Limited government—small and local
Republicans
–
–
Pursuit of national policies
Government an institution to promote moral
progress and material wealth
“The late 1890s. . . marked the birth of the
modern powerful presidency.”
The Election of 1876 was hotly
contested as the flanking
cartoons suggest. In the end,
Rutherford B. Hayes received
the winning number of electoral
votes in spite of the fact that
Democrat Samuel Tilden
garnered more of the popular
vote.
Election of 1876
Election of 1876
Rutherford B. Hayes won
the election of 1876—
Electoral vote being cast
Election of 1880
• Union Army hero
• Union Army hero
James A.
Garfield
Assassination of Garfield by a
deranged lawyer and
disgruntled office seeker,
Charles J. Guiteau
(September 19, 1881)
Chester A. Arthur,
the “accidental
president”
Approved construction
of a modern U.S. Navy
Created bipartisan Civil Service Commission (in part, a
response to Garfield’s assassination)—it administered
competitive exams and appointments based on merit
Election of 1884
Grover Cleveland
1. Democratic governor of New York
2. Honest, stubborn, hard worker
3. Only America president to serve two
discontinuous terms
Election of 1888
1. Republicans gained
Congressional majority
2. Democrats in Congress used
“disappearing quorum” rule to
bring a halt to legislation
3. The midterm election of 1890
was a crushing defeat for
Republicans--for the first time
since 1850, the White House
controlled both houses of
Congress
Republican Benjamin Harrison, the losing candidate
received more popular vote
Election of 1892
Democrats gained
Many Republican
Congressional majority
voters switched
parties in this
election
Those voters
tended to vote
Democratic rather
than Populist
The midterm elections of
1894 resulted in a loss of
113 Democratic seats in
the House
There was a national trend of
shifting political alignments. Power
in the Democratic Party shifts to the
South where it would remain for a
long, long time. “In effect, the
Democrats became a sectional—no
longer a national—party.”
Cleveland’s policies drove many
Democrats into the
Republican party
“The elections of 1894 marked the end of the party
deadlock that had existed since the 1870s. . . . In the midst
of the depression, the Republican doctrines of activism
and national authority. . . became more attractive. . . .
Americans became more accepting of the use of
government power to regulate the economy and safeguard
individual welfare. The way lay open to the reforms of the
Progressive Era, the New Deal, and beyond. . . . In
prosperous times, Americans had thought of
unemployment as the result of personal failure, affecting
primarily the lazy and immoral. . . . In the midst of
depression, such views were harder to maintain, since
everyone knew people who were both worthy and
unemployed. . . . Pressures for reform increased, and
demand grew for government intervention to help the
poor and unemployed.”
**
Tariffs, Trusts, and the
Regulation of Business
20—B1
There were New Laws
Regulating**:
• Railroads 20—B2
• Trusts 20—B3
Railroads 20—B2
Interstate Commerce Act**—1887—Interstate
commerce = trade that crosses state lines
• Banned rebates and pooling
• Required railroads to set “reasonable and
just” rates
• Required end of overcharging short haul
customers
• Created Interstate Commerce Commission
The ICC Charged with investigating and overseeing railroad
activities and became prototype of federal commissions today
that regulate various sectors of the economy
Trusts 20—B3
•
•
•
•
Sherman Antitrust Act**—1890—First
federal effort to control trusts, regulate
big business
Prohibited monopolies
Made deliberate destruction of
competition a crime
The terms of the Act were vague leaving a
wide area for interpretation by the courts
United States v. E. C. Knight Company,
1895
McKinley Tariff Act**—1890
20—B
Passed during the
Harrison
administration (right),
the Act popularly bore
the name of Ohio
Congressman William
McKinley (left)
McKinley Tariff Act**—1890 20—
B1
•
•
•
•
Raised tariff duties about 4%
Included novel reciprocity provision allowing
president to lower duties if other countries did
the same
Promoted certain new industries, e.g., canned
foods
Upshot was development of holding companies
through which one company could control
others through purchase of the stock in those
companies
United States v. E. C. Knight
Company, 1895**
Blow against the Sherman Antitrust Act-drew false line of distinction between
“trade or commerce” and
manufacturing.” Allowed Knight Co.—a
business that controlled 98% of American
sugar refining—to continue operations
that were only in “one state.”
The Depression Years**—The
Causes 20—C
• In response to rapid industrialization, the
U.S. economy expanded too rapidly in the
1870s and 1880s
• Industrialists had overbuilt, hoping for
continuing growth—companies grew
beyond their markets
• Farmers and businesses borrowed heavily
to expand
Causes Continued**
• Business investments dropped sharply
• Drought and hot summer west of
Mississippi in 1894
• The U.S. gold reserve dropped sharply
hurting business confidence and leading to. .
.
• A stock market collapse May 5, 1893-“Industrial Black Friday” was Wall Street’s
worst day until 1929
Impact of the Stock Market Crash
• Bankruptcy or failure
of many firms,
businesses, mines, and
banks
• Some 3 million
unemployed by 1894
• The American public
became restive and
angry
Jacob S. Coxey (above)-his leadership inspired a
march on Washington, D.
C. Photo upcoming
shows some of Coxey’s
marchers in their quest.
Theory Believed by Silver
Supporters**
• Free, independent silver
coinage at a ratio of 16
ounces of silver to every one
ounce of gold
• Free coinage meant U.S.
mints would coin all silver
given to them
• Inflation--higher prices and
lower purchasing power
due to rising costs
The Silver Controversy--A Quick
Fix for Economic Troubles? 20—D2
Who supported silver and why?
• People wanted quick solutions to the
economic problems of the day
• Americans in the South and West—
particularly those in the Democratic
Party—favored a silver policy
• Why Did Farmers Favor Unlimited Coinage
of Silver?**
Farmers Who Supported Silver**
• They believed that the coinage of silver
would cause inflation and help them repay
their debts with less valuable money than
they had borrowed
• They believed it would raise wages and crop
prices
• They believed it would challenge the hated
power of the gold-oriented Northeast
Two Free Silver Cartoons of the
1890s. At left, William Jennings
Bryan advertises free silver as an
elixir to heal what ails you. See
Election of 1896 below. To right,
an ex-Confederate soldier—now
a farmer—argues his case for
free silver as a panacea that will
restore favorable economic
conditions across the United
States of America
Who Supported the “Gold
Standard”?** 20—D2
Gold Standard—currency based solely on
gold; it held down the money supply and
kept prices from rising
• Bankers and established business people,
especially in the East
• Workers who feared inflation would lessen
the purchase power of their wages
Sherman Silver Purchase Act,
1890 20—D2
• U.S. Treasury directed to purchase 4.5
million ounces of sliver a month
• Treasury to issue legal tender—Treasury
notes—in payment for this silver
• Both sides—silver and gold—were satisfied
with this compromise
Repeal of Silver Purchase Act,
1893 20—D2
• President Cleveland repealed the bill
• This reduced the flight of gold out of the
U.S. but did not solve the Treasury’s gold
problem
• It boosted business confidence
• It contracted currency when inflation was
needed
Continued. . .
• It failed to revive business or the stock
market, reduce unemployment, or prevent a
fall in farm prices
• The repeal discredited President Cleveland
• It confined the Democrats to the South
• It propelled the Republicans into the
majority party by 1894
Trouble of the Farm**—Demanding
a “Fairer Share” of Economic
and Social Benefits
• Plentiful supplies on foreign market drove
down crop prices
• Credit was difficult to obtain
• Deflation
• Rising freight charges imposed by railroads
(although rates actually fell during this
period)
Continued. . .**
• Drought
• Mortgages that were burdensome (although
not crippling)
• Crisis of Self-Esteem
“Farm discontent was a worldwide phenomenon
between 1870 and 1900. With the new means of
transportation and communication, farmers
everywhere were caught up in a complex
international market they neither controlled nor
entirely understood.”
The exodus from farm to city
led to a new “literature of
disillusionment.” Such books
were Hamlin Garland’s Son
of the Middle Border, 1890
(frontispiece right) and MainTravelled Roads, 1891.
Hamlin Garland, left.
Problems led to formation of
organizations like the Grange (1867
by Oliver Kelly) 20—C
• Supported passage of “Grange Laws”
regulating railroad freight rates
• Worked to boost farm profits
• Pooled resources to form cooperatives
running grain elevators and marketing
grain on their own
Various Farmers Alliances
also formed through U. S.
20—C
• They used many of the Grange’s
methods and shared many of the same
goals
• National Farmers’ Alliance
• Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial
Union
The Ocala Platform** 20—C
•
Easier credit for farmers--most important of the
demands
End to deflation by increasing the money in
circulation
•
–
–
–
Deflation = falling value of price for goods and
services; meant that the farmers who borrowed
actually had to pay back more than they had
borrowed
Notion of doing so by minting silver became very
popular—would increase the money supply
Urged free coinage of silver
Continued. . .
• Graduated personal income tax in
proportion to one’s income
• Strict regulation of the railroads
• Charged government added to
farmers’ misery with high tariffs
• Creation of a “sub-treasury” system
The Rise of Populism and the
Formation of a “Third National
Party” 20—D1
Members of the farm alliances (National
Farmers’ Alliance) were disappointed
when reform candidates elected in 1890s
failed to carry out their promises. Those
who promised to support farm- related
reform enjoyed great success. . . but then
they did not carry out their promises.
Populist Party gathered in Omaha,
Nebraska in 1892. “There was no reason
to cooperate with the Democrats who
exploited Alliance popularity but failed to
adopt its reforms.
Goals of the Populist Party**
• Like labor movement of late1800s, it tried to protect interests
of ordinary working people
against industrialists and railroad
owners-- was based on idea that
united action was more effective
than individual action
• Weaver (left) was the first thirdparty presidential candidate to
receive more than a million
popular votes. He received 22
electoral votes for carrying
Kansas, Idaho, Nevada, and
Colorado, and parts of North
Dakota and Oregon.
James B. Weaver—from
Iowa, he was the Populist
candidate for president in
1892
Fading of Populism and Rise of
William Jennings Bryan 20—D3
Bryan was a powerful leader who was able to
unite the “Silver Faction” One reporter aptly
prophesied, “All the Silverites need is a
Moses,” and in Bryan, they certainly found one
Bryan’s Qualities
• Dramatic public speaker—“The Voice”
• Used gestures dramatically
• Called the “Great Commoner” in reference
to his identification with the common man
• Religious upbringing
Bryan’s father, a Baptist deacon and his mother,
devout Methodist. He learned in both
denominational environments, eventually becoming
an expert on the Bible and a spokesman for
Fundamentalist views
Bryan’s “Public Event”** 20—D3
Bryan’s rousing conclusion:
“Having behind us the
producing masses of this nation
and the world. . . we will
answer their demand for a gold
standard by saying to them:
‘You shall not press down upon
the brow of labor this crown of
thorns, you shall not crucify
mankind upon a cross of gold.”
Bryan the Man
• Barely 36 years old in 1896
• Little political experience
• His “Cross of Gold” speech at the 1896
Democratic Convention
• Spoke as in defense of a righteous, holy
cause
• Captivated delegates at the Convention
Bryan’s Platform of 1896** 20—D3
• It reflected the
Populist Creed:
– regulate
railroads
– curb monopolies
– establish a
currency backed
by silver
“The Battle of the Standards”**—a contest
between the gold vs. silver standard
The Election of 1896: McKinley vs.
Bryan 20—D3
The Election of 1896: McKinley vs.
Bryan 20—D3
Displacement of the Cleveland
wing—Pro-Silver—of the
Democratic Party
• Attacked Cleveland’s
actions in Pullman
Strike
• Demanded free
coinage of silver
• Censured Cleveland’s
bond on gold sales
McKinley won the election
• McKinley let voters come to him in his
hometown of Canton, Ohio**
• He used the press to appeal to labor,
immigrants, prosperous farmers,
businessmen, and the middle class
• He defended economic nationalism
• He supported the advance of urbanindustrial society
Not
surprisingly,
McKinley
overwhelmed
Bryan
among city
voters
Upshot of the Election of 1896**
• New voting patterns
replaced old ones
• A new majority party
confirmed its control of
the country
• National policy shifted to
suit new realities
• Bryan took his campaign
directly to the people
William McKinley—
this election was
important because it
broke the deadlock
of Gilded Age
politics. Republicans
became the majority
party and
dominated national
politics for decades
to come. The
Republicans became
the party of progress
and prosperity.**
Why Did the Populist Movement
Fade After 1896?** 20—D1
• Failure of morale within the party
• Many Populists returned to the Democratic
Party
– Populists staked all on the assumption that
neither major party would endorse silver
– Rather than split Silverite forces, Populists
endorsed Bryan
• The economy improved—prosperity
returned
Why Did the Populist Movement
Fade After 1896?** 20—D1
• Failure of morale within the party
• Many Populists returned to the
Democratic Party
• The economy improved—prosperity
returned
The McKinley Administration
• William McKinley the Man
–
–
–
–
–
Union Army officer during Civil War
Affable, calm, and able
Served as Congressman from Ohio since 1876
Chief sponsor of the tariff bill named after him
McKinley’s campaign manager, Mark Hanna, billed
McKinley as “the Advance Agent of Prosperity”
– McKinley’s campaign manager, Mark Hanna, billed
McKinley as “the Advance Agent of Prosperity”
America Under McKinley**
•
•
•
•
•
The economy revived
The stock market rose
Factories became active again
Farm prices rose with bumper crops in 1897
Discoveries of gold in Alaska and Australia
increased the world’s gold supply and
inflated the value of currency
Art Imitating Life
New York native and poet, Walt
Whitman (left) called the
literature after 1865 “ornamental
confectionary” and “copious
dribble.”
“The depression gave point to a growing
movement in literature toward realism
and naturalism. In the years after the
Civil War, literature often reflected the
mood of romanticism--sentimental and
unrealistic.”
Post-Civil War Romanticism**
Horatio Alger--Alger’s
some 130 novels told
tales of poor young
people who advanced
through the ranks
through their hard
work, thrift, honest
behavior, and good
fortune.
Louisa May Alcott—Alcott’s Little Women
(1868-1869) traced the daily lives of four
girls in a New England family
Anna Sewell--Sewell wrote
Black Beauty (1877), a
charming novel that told the
story of an abused horse that
found a happy home.
Post-1870 Realism,** Naturalism,
and Darwinism
Joel Chandler Harris (left) and George Washington Cable
(right, 1844-1925). These two authors depicted life in the
South. Harris wrote the Uncle Remus tales (far right).
Hamlin Garland
(left) wrote about life
on the Great Plains.
Sarah Orne Jewett
(right) wrote about
everyday life in
rural New England.
Jewett’s Play Days,
1878 (far right).
Bret Harte (left)--his most famous
portrayal of life and local color in
the California mining camps was
“The Outcasts of Poker Flat” in
his Gold Rush.
Mark Twain, a.k.a. Samuel
Clemens
Twain was the nation’s foremost
realist writer.** He wrote about
“life around him with a
humorous and skeptical eye. . . .
Twain used dialect and common
speech instead of literary
language, touching off a major
change in American prose
style.”
In the same style, Twain
wrote The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn (1884).
His best-known works were Life on
the Mississippi (1883), The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Stephen
Crane
portrayed
the reality
of war.**
William Deal Howell--Howell sketched
the impact of industrialization. His
utopian novel, A Traveler from Altruria
(1894) revealed a picture of how
industrial society consumed lives. His
Rise of Silas Lapham is pictured to the
right.
The Naturalists
Frank Norris produced
The Octopus (1901), The
Pit (1903), and McTeague
(1899,left). The two firstnamed volumes related the
“story of individual futility
in the face of the heartless
corporation.” The lastnamed “studied the
disintegration of character
under economic pressure.
Jack London--as a naturalist, London
focused on the power of nature over
civilization.** His works The Sea Wolf
(1904) and Call of the Wild (1903)
emphasized this theme.
Theodore Dreiser is
the period’s foremost
naturalist. His Sister
Carrie (1901) tells the
story of a young
farm girl who moves
to Chicago and takes
a job in a shoe
factory.
Dreiser’s work “grimly portrayed a dark world
in which human beings were tossed about by
forces beyond their control. . . . [He] focused on
environment and character. He thought writers
should tell the truth about human affairs, not
fabricate romance.”
Influence of Darwinism 19—B
The publication of Charles Darwin’s
Origin of the Species in 1859 had a far
greater impact than altering the Western
view of biology. Many late-19th century
intellectuals applied Darwin’s principles
like “survival of the fittest” and “natural
selection” to human society.** These social
Darwinists saw the human world as a
struggles in which only the strong
survived. Meanwhile, Darwin’s opponents
lampooned the English author, likening
him to the monkey from whom man
allegedly evolved.**
The Wizard of Oz—An Allegory of
the Times
Frank Baum and The Wizard of Oz,
1900. Literary critics contend that this
book is an allegory** of the silver
movement of the late-19th century.
The parallels are startling:
In 1939, Hollywood
turned the book into
a successful movie
Baum emphasizes the grays in his opening
description of Kansas. Life on the prairie
during that period was gray, bland,
difficult, lonely and windswept
Aunt Em and Uncle Henry—When she arrived in Kansas,
Em was youthful and attractive. By the time the reader
meets her, she is worn and without the sparkle that once
lightened her eyes.
Henry never laughs; he joylessly
toils from early in the morning
to nightfall.
Their condition is like that of
many Kansans who were
devastated and demoralized by
the droughts that buffeted
Kansas after 1887.
Gold versus Silver
Many Great Plains farmers
believed that the free
coinage of silver would bring
relief with higher crop
prices, more available
money, and a return to
prosperity.
The industrial
Northeast favored
the Gold Standard.
Silverites considered
these wealthy people
to be the idle rich.
Silver was the metal
of the common folk
Dorothy represents every
person. The cyclone that
carries her out of drought
stricken Kansas to Oz--a
symbolic victory at the
polls of silver over gold.
In Baum’s book,
Dorothy’s slippers are
made of silver rather than
ruby
Wicked Witch of the East—This
witch is symbolic of eastern money
and those who favored gold. By
destroying her, Dorothy frees the
Munchkins--another symbol of the
common people.
The Emerald
City
The Emerald City
represents
Washington, D. C.,
the national capital,
portrayed in a
“green-back” color
The Yellow Brick Road
In her silver slippers, Dorothy
trip down the golden colored
road represents a right balance-a proper relationship between the
two foremost precious metals,
gold and silver.
“Oz” was a contemporary
abbreviation to anyone
involved in the fight for
the 16 to 1 ounce ratio of
silver to gold
Good Witch of the North
This witch represents the Northern voters who
protect Dorothy as she travels down the Yellow
Brick Road.
Scarecrow—he is symbolic of the
American farmer. Although he has “no
brain,” he does have remarkable common
sense. The Scarecrow’s eventual rule of
the Emerald City points to the triumph of
the farmers
Tin Woodman—he represents the
industrial worker. While he may at first
seem heartless, he finds within himself the
spirit of love and cooperation. The Tin
Woodman’s rule over the west alludes to
the Industrialization of the American West.
The Lion—symbolic of reformers in
general and William Jennings Bryan in
particular, he finds the courage he
thinks he lacks.
Wicked Witch of the West—
this witch symbolizes
heartless mortgage
companies. Dorothy
dissolves her with a bucket
of water, symbolic of the
rain needed by droughtridden farmers.
The Wizard—while appearing
great and powerful, in the end he
is a charlatan and manipulator
whose power is but an illusion. He
represents the money power of the
period.
Glinda, the Good Witch of the
South—she represents support of
silver that came from the South.
Summary of the Decade:
The 1890s**
•
•
•
•
Shifting political patterns
Acquisition of greater presidential power
Massive unrest that prompted social change
Alteration of American life by developing
technology