Chp 18 Politics of Late 19th century America
This cartoon
depicts Roscoe
Conkling trying to
solve “the great
presidential
puzzle” and
deduce who
would be the
Republicans’ best
candidate in
1880. Conkling
hoped to see U.S.
Grant nominated
for a third term,
but many
Republicans,
including James
A. Garfield,
opposed a third
term.
(wikipedia.com)
• Between 1877 & 1893 there were 5 presidents; R.B. Hayes,
James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, & Ben
Harrison, (and Cleveland again in 1894). These were also
known as the “Forgettable” Presidents, In part because most of their
time was spent dispensing political patronage- Giving out jobs to
political supporters. After James Garfield was assassinated by
Charles Guiteau, in 1881, a disappointed patronage seeker, and
Religious Fanatic who yelled out after shooting him, "I am a Stalwart of
the Stalwarts. .. Arthur is president now!”. Demands were made for Reforms.
• In 1880, more than half of all
federal employees were
working in the Postal service,
one of the biggest assignments
for patronage. When Chester A.
Arthur (a stalwart Republican) took
the presidency, the death of his
predecessor was used as a motivator
for patronage reform and The
Pendleton act of 1883 created a list
of jobs that had mandatory testing
and created a Civil Service
commission to insure the
competency of applicants.
• In 1884 The Republicans nominated James G. Blaine for president and the
Democrats Nominated Grover Cleveland…. As per most elections after the
Civil war, the Republicans waved the “Bloody shirt” (a reference to the
Democratic opposition to the Civil War) Republican’s also accused
Cleveland of having an illegitimate child, Which he did not deny, but he had
supported the child. Blaine on the other hand had questionable deals with
the railroad, Blaine also had to deal with an ardent Supporter who charged
Democrats were the party of Rum, Romanism & Rebellion ! Cleveland was
the first Democrat elected to office since the Civil War . The Republican
Chant: “ Maw Maw , Where’s my Paw?” was answered “He’s gone to the
White House Haw Haw Haw.”
Grover
Cleveland
• In his first term, Cleveland’s
administration had the awful
job of determining what to do
with the Surplus Revenue
created by the Tariffs that
Republican’s had imposed on
Imports. Congress tried to
reduce the surplus by giving
bonuses to Union Veterans of
the Civil War… Cleveland
vetoed those attempts.
• One reason for Cleveland’s victory, was the splinter in the
Republican Party, between Stalwarts, Half Breeds & Mugwumps.
Half Breeds, led by James Blaine wanted reforms (mostly for
political reasons) Stalwarts led by Roscoe Conklin, were opposed
to reforms, and Mugwumps considered themselves to be above
party politics, wanted real reforms and were willing to vote for an
honest Democrat, (like Cleveland) over a man of blemished
Character (like Blaine). These were the “best men” like Henry
Adams & Charles Francis Adams (both descendants of John Adams ), Samuel
Clemens, Thomas Nast , & Carl Schurz.
The American
Myth of Opportunity
• Horatio Alger
captures the
imagination of the
American reader’s
belief that hard
work and ingenuity
will always set a
man on the road to
success. Alger,
wrote 135 of these
stories.
• In the Late 1800’s Herbert Spencer, an Englishman,
Applied Darwin’s Theory to Society, the idea took
hold in America, and Social Darwinists Such as
William Graham Sumner believed that Millionaires
were the fittest Americans, in a world where
“Survival of the fittest” meant that Society was
made for the rich.
• The Supreme Court seemed to be in support of
Social Darwinism. The 14th Amendment was
created to protect the rights of Citizens, and the
Courts asserted that Corporations were citizens
guaranteed the rights of contracts and property
without government Restraint.
In 1886 the court ruled
Granger laws
unconstitutional in Wabash v
Illinois. .
In 1895 it ruled the power to
limit interstate commerce did
not cover manufacturing and
it also struck down an income
tax law.
• Women Suffrage was still a growing issue from the
days of the Seneca Falls Convention, and
Suffragettes had managed to gain the right to vote
in a few western states such as Wyoming and Idaho
between 1869 & 1900,
(probably not a coincidence that marryable women were in short supply in these states).
An 1890 Puck cartoon depicts President
Harrison at his desk wearing his Grandfather’s
hat which is too big for his head, suggesting
that he is not fit for the presidency.
• In 1888 Republicans won
the Presidency with the
Grandson Of William
Henry Harrison,
Benjamin Harrison.
Harrison’s was not a
successful presidency,
and in 1892 Grover
Cleveland retook the
Whitehouse… He is the
only president to have
two nonconsecutive
terms.
• President Cleveland did not have the
Surplus Problem he had in his first
administration… The Country was in a
depression and the government had a
depleted gold reserve which Cleveland
dealt with by borrowing gold from J. P.
Morgan and Associates. When this
secret deal became public, Cleveland’s
popularity plunged. When jobless men
joined Coxey’s “army” of marchers in
Washington DC, Cleveland had them
forcibly removed and Arrested Jacob
Coxey. and his handling of the Pullman
Strike also plunged his support even
more. In The 1896 Election, The
Republicans would emerge as the
majority party.
PLESSY v FERGUSON 1896
• in 1896 , the supreme Court heard the case of
Homer Plessy, a man of 1/8 African blood, who, in
violation of a Louisiana law boarded a “Whites
only” train car and was arrested. Plessy stated this
was a violation of the 14th amendment , but the
court determined that the amendment could not
have intended to mean that there were no
differences between the races, and therefore
recognized the validity of “JIM CROW LAWS” by
setting a standard of “Separate but Equal” a ruling
that would stand until 1954.
• As Corporations became more powerful, and Farmers suffered from
the extreme rights of “corporate Citizens” to deny the rights of other
citizens, a political movement developed known as “Populism” Since
White farmers and black farmers were both victims to Railroads &
Bankers, Some Populist Politicians tried to bring them into the same
party. In 1892, Tom Watson, a founder of Georgia’s Populist party
said, “ The accident of color can make no difference in the interest of
farmers, croppers & laborers… You are kept apart that you may be
separately fleeced of your earnings .” Democrats in the South used
Race baiting as a way of defeating the populist and it worked.
Tom Watson quickly adopted a
Policy of RACE BAITING to set
Whites against Blacks. Benjamin
Tillman of South Carolina, another
supporter of Farmers , who helped
to establish two Agriculture
colleges, also used Race Baiting to
get elected.
• The Populist Party had great orators, Like Mary Elizabeth Lease, a Wyoming
Rancher’s widow, Who exclaimed that farmers should “ Raise less corn and
more Hell!”
• The Populist platform was to create inflation to help farmers pay off their
crippling debt with inflated currency. The way they could do this was to
extend the Gold coinage into a Gold & Silver coinage… Known as
Bi-metalism.
The Presidential
candidate for the Populist
& the Democratic Party in
1896, was WILLIAM
JENNINGS BRYAN , who
said: “ You shall not press
down upon the brow of
labor, this crown of
thorns, You shall not
crucify mankind on a
cross of gold!”
• Booker T. Washington became one of the pre-eminent
African American leaders… Although publicly he did not
assert “Civil Rights” Instead Washington proposed
“ACCOMMODATIONISM” The idea that “negroes,
should work on developing themselves as skilled and
Industrious workers to earn the respect of whites.
Secretly and discreetly Washington tried to lobby for
anti lynching laws and JIM CROW Laws
Chapter 18 End