Chapter 11
Politics and Reform
Section 1
Stalemate in Washington
Campaign to clean up Politics
• Garfield assassination = reform
politics
• Gharles Guiteau got upset that he
didn’t get a government job.
• Many felt that patronage or the
spoils system was bad.
• The Pendleton Act
• Allowed the President to decide
which federal jobs would be filled
according to rules laid down by a
bipartisan Civil Service Commission.
Candidates competed for jobs. Once
appointed the individual could not
be removed for political reasons.
"To General Sherman: I have just shot the
President. I shot him several times as I
wished him to go as easily as possible.
His death was a political necessity. I am a
lawyer, theologian, and politician. I am a
stalwart of the Stalwarts. I was with Gen.
Grant, and the rest of our men in New
York during the canvass. I am going to the
Jail. Please order out your troops and
take possession of the Jail at once. Very
respectfully, Charles Guiteau."
•Two Parties, Neck and Neck
•From 1877 to 1896 voting patterns gave the
democrats an edge in the House of
Representatives while the Republicans had
the edge in the Senate.
•Republicans won 4 of the 6 elections
between 1876 and 1896, but had to contend
with a democratic House much of the time.
•Democrats reclaim the White House
•1884 – Grover Cleveland vs James Blaine
•Cleveland was the first Democratic President
since the Civil War.
•A President Besieged by Problems
•Interstate Commerce Commission
•Many strikes were occurring during this time
period. Big business took advantage of their
positions.
•Responding to Wabash vs Illinois Cleveland
signed into law the Interstate Commerce
Commission. (ICC)
•Debating Tariffs
•Many wanted reduced tariffs, but the House
and Senate had a hard time finding common
ground. As a result, the issue of tariff
reduction became contested in the election of
1888.
Republicans Regain Power
• Benjamin Harrison lost the Popular Vote, but won the Electoral
Vote.
• The McKinley Tariff
• Lowered federal revenue and transformed the nation’s budget surplus into a
deficit
• The tariff lowered taxes on certain items, but raised them on others.
• The Sherman Antitrust Act
• Declared illegal any “combination in the form of trust…or conspiracy, in
restraint of trade or commerce among the several States.”
• Like the ICC the Sherman Antitrust Act was all bark and not bite
• By 1890 (midterm elections) many Americans had lost hope in their
2 party system. They felt that neither the Democratic Party nor the
Republican Party were there to help. (especially farmers). They felt
exploited by banks and railroads.
Chapter 11 Politics and Reform
Section 2
Populism
Unrest in Rural •
America
Populism – movement to increase
farmers’ political power and to work
for legislation in their interest.
– Economic crises since the Civil War led
farmers to rise up politically. Farm
prices had dropped, cost of production
had rose, banks and railroad industry
made it expensive for farmers. High
tariffs did not help as well. Farmers felt
they were losing power and influence.
• The Money Supply
– Money supply hurt farmers
– Civil War – greenbacks = inflation
– After the Civil War – stopped printing
greenbacks and began paying back
bonds.
– 1865=$30 per person, by 1895=$23 per
person
– Deflation= increase in the value of
money and prices began to fall.
Unrest in Rural American
• Deflation hurts farmers
– Farmers had to barrow money and interest rates
began to rise. In essence, farmers had to PAY
more, but MADE less.
– Many farmers blamed eastern banks for the
reduction in currency and pushed for the printing
of more greenbacks, others wanted the
government to mint silver coins.(mostly in the
west)
Unrest in Rural America
• The Grange Takes Action
– Grange – first organized farming organization.
(Department of Agriculture sent Oliver H. Kelly)
– 1873, the Nation fell into a recession and farm income
fell. Farmers looking for help joined the Grange.
– Grangers responded
• Pressure legislatures on railroad rates
• Joined the Independent National Party
• Tried to create Cooperatives
– Marketing organizations that worked for the benefit of its
members.
– Cooperatives pooled farmers’ crops and held them off the market
in order to force up prices. Also, cooperatives were able to
negotiate better shipping rates with railroads
Unrest in Rural America
• The Grange Fails
–None of the strategies worked well to
improve the economic status of famers
–Greenbacks failed
–Cooperatives failed as well.
• Too small to affect prices and others
refused to business with them.
The Farmers’ Alliance
• Farmers’ Alliance
– Started in Texas in 1877. Built up fairly well in Texas.
• The Alliance Grows
– The Alliance spread throughout the South and Great Plains
– Planned to set up large cooperatives called exchanges
• Exchanges had some success. The Texas Exchange and the Illinois
Exchange both negotiated better prices and rates.
• The People’s Party
– The Large Cooperatives still failed. They overextended
themselves by loaning too much money with low interest rates
– never repaid.
– Wholesalers, manufacturers, railroads, and bankers didn’t like
them and made it hard to stay in business.
– The Exchanges were still too small to affect prices in the big
picture
– Pushed for the People’s Party (The populists)
The Farmers’ Alliance
• The Sub treasury Plan
– Government set up warehouses called
subtreasuries. Farmers would store crops in these
warehouses and the government would offer low
interest loans to famers.
– Charles Macune (leader of the Farmers’ Alliance)
hoped that it would force prices up for the
farmers. He hoped the democrats would adopt
the plan in exchange for farmers’ votes.
The Rise of Populism
• Ocala Demands – called for the adoption of the
sub treasury plan, free coinage of silver, and end
to protective tariffs and national banks, tighter
regulations of railroads, and direct election of
senators.
• Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 –
authorized the Treasury to purchase 4.5 million
ounces of silver per month. It put more money
into circulation. Reduced the deflation slightly,
but still did little to help farmers.
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The Rise of Populism
• The South turns to Populism
– Despite promises, few democrats upheld the Alliance
system.
– Frustration led to a new People’s Party to run candidates
for President
• A Populist for President
– James B. Weaver nominated.
– The populist platform appealed to organized labor but
most decided to stay with the Democratic Party.
– Democrats Nominated a popular New York Governor,
Grover Cleveland.
– Cleveland won in 1893 and the Populists lost
The Rise of Populism
• The Panic of 1893
– The Nation plummeted into the worst economic crisis
it had ever had. Started in March when the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroads declared
Bankruptcy. Many railroads had expanded too quickly
and couldn’t repay their loans.
– The Stock Market crashed and banks closed their
doors. By 1894 the U.S. was in a depression. 500,000
workers went on strike, and 2-3 million people were
unemployed (15-20 percent of the workforce)
The Election of 1896
• Republicans supported the Gold standard and the Democrats
supported Silver and nominated William Jennings Bryan.
– Bryan’s Campaign was vigorous for the cause of silver.
– William McKinley was the nominee for the Republicans
• The Front Porch Campaign
– McKinley stayed at home in Ohio. While others campaigned for
him.
– McKinley focused on other issues other than gold and silver.
– McKinley won the election.
• Populism Declines
– Gold strikes in Alaska and the Yukon and in South Africa increased the
currency in the U.S. 1900 – adopted a gold-based currency
– When the silver movement died out the populists lost much of their
momentum
Chapter 11 Politics and Reform
Section 3
The Rise of Segregation
•African Americans after the Civil War –
were sharecroppers – landless farmers
who had to hand over to the landlord a
large portion of their crops to cover the
cost of rent, seed, tools, and other supplies
•Exodus to Kansas
•Benjamin “Pap” Singleton organized a mass
migration from the rural South to Kansas. The
migrants became known as “Exodusters”
•They left because former slave owners had all
of the power in the South.
Resistance and Repression
•Forming a Separate Alliance
•Some African Americans joined the Farmers’
Alliance
•In 1886, African American farmers formed the
Colored Farmers’ National Alliance.
•The Colored Farmers’ National Alliance worked
to help its members economically by setting up
cooperatives. Many African American Farmers
joined the Populist party in hopes that poor
whites and blacks would unite against the
Democratic party.
Resistance and Repression
•Crushing the Populist Revolt
•Democrats began to appeal to racism
warning against returning to a “Black
Republican” South much like during
reconstruction.
•By 1890 many African Americans could
vote and the Democratic party began to
make sure that their voting rights were
hindered
Disfranchising the African Americans
•Southern States found a loophole in the 15th
Amendment
• Poll Tax – pay $2 to vote. Many African Americans
could NOT afford $2 to vote.
• Literacy Test – Mississippi – in order to vote one
must be able to read and understand the state
Constitution. Most African Americans were illiterate
• Election officials were less strict when it came to
applying the new rules to whites. Both Black and
White voters fell significantly.
• Grandfather clause – Louisiana allowed any man to
vote if he had an ancestor on the voting rolls in 1867
Legalizing Segregation
• Jim Crow Laws – statutes or laws enforcing
segregation.
• 1883 Supreme Court overturned the Civil Rights Act
of 1875 (prohibited keeping people out of public
places based on race and prohibited discrimination
when choosing a jury).
• 1892, African American named Homer Plessy
challenged a Louisiana Law that forced him to ride
in a separate railroad car from whites.
• 1896 – Plessy v Ferguson upheld the Louisiana law
and expressed a new legal doctrine endorsing
“separate but equal” facilities for African Americans
Legalizing Segregation
•Racial Violence
•Mob violence increased
in the United States,
particularly in the
South.
•Between 1890 and 1899
an average of 187
lynching's were carried
out by mobs each year.
•80% were in the South
and 70% of the victims
were African Americans.
The African American Response
•Ida B. Wells – fought against
lynchings. She wrote in the
Memphis Free Speech
newspaper about 3 grocers that
were lynched. A mob destroyed
the press that printed the
Memphis Free Speech
newspaper and drove Ms. Wells
out of town.
• Because of Ida B. Wells and others’
efforts, the number of lynching's
decreased greatly in the 1900s.
The African American Response
• A Call for Compromise
• Booker T. Washington wanted African
Americans to focus on economic
goals rather than legal or political
ones. He summed up his views in the
Atlanta Compromise. He wanted
African Americas to postpone the
fight for civil rights and concentrate of
preparing themselves educationally
and vocationally for equality.
• Voice of the Future
• W.E.B. Du Bois – 1903 book, The
Souls of Black Folk that white
southerners continue to strip African
Americans of their Civil Rights
• Argued that African Americans
needed to fight for their civil rights.