CHAPTER 11
SECTION 11-1 STALEMATE IN WASHINGTON, PP.
364-369
Objectives:

1. Explain why the Republicans and
Democrats were so evenly matched during this
period.

2. Cite the economic problems of the period
and the basic viewpoints of each political party.


Did You Know? President James A. Garfield
lived for 80 days after an assassin shot him in
the arm and the back. Doctors could not find
the bullet lodged in his back. Alexander
Graham Bell tried to find the bullet using an
electrical device, but he too failed. Garfield
ended up dying from an infection. At that time,
there were no X-ray machines, CAT scans, MRIs,
or modern antiseptics that probably would have
saved Garfield's life.
A CAMPAIGN TO CLEAN UP POLITICS (PAGES
364-365)

Under the spoils system, or patronage,
government jobs went to supporters of the
winning party in an election. By the late 1870s,
many Americans believed that patronage
corrupted those who worked for the
government. They began a movement to reform
the civil service.

President Rutherford B. Hayes attacked the
practice of patronage. The "Stalwarts"—a group
of Republican machine politicians who strongly
opposed civil service reform—accused Hayes of
backing civil service reform to create openings
for his own supporters. Civil service reformers
were called "Halfbreeds."
The Republican candidates for the election of
1880 were a Halfbreed, James Garfield for
president, and the Stalwart, Chester Arthur for
vice president. They won the election.
 President Garfield was assassinated a few
months into his presidency. He was killed by a
Stalwart who wanted a civil service job through
the spoils system.


In 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton Act.
This civil service reform act allowed the
president to decide which federal jobs would be
filled according to rules set up by a bipartisan
Civil Service Commission. Candidates
competed for federal jobs through
examinations. Appointments could be made
only from the list of those who took the exams.
Once appointed to a job, a civil service official
could not be removed for political reasons.
How did the Pendleton Act help reform the civil
service?
 (This civil service reform act allowed the president
to decide which federal jobs would be filled
according to rules set up by a bipartisan Civil
Service Commission. Candidates competed for
federal jobs through examinations. Appointments
could be made only from the list of those who took
the exams. Once appointed to a job, a civil service
official could not be removed for political reasons.)

TWO PARTIES, NECK AND NECK (PAGES 365366)

A major reason that few new policies were
introduced in the 1870s and 1880s was
because the Democrats had control of the
House of Representatives and the Republicans
had the control of the Senate.

Both the Republicans and the Democrats were
well organized in the late 1800s. The
presidential elections were won with narrow
margins between 1876 and 1896. In 1876 and
1888, the presidential candidate lost the
popular vote, but won the electoral vote and the
election.

The Republicans won four of the six
presidential elections between 1876 and 1896.
The Democrats controlled the House of
Representatives, however, and the Senate was
controlled by Republicans who did not
necessarily agree with the president on issues.


Why were few new policies introduced in the 1870s and
1880s?
(Both the Republicans and the Democrats were well
organized in the late 1800s. The presidential elections
were won with narrow margins between 1876 and
1896. The Republicans won four of the six presidential
elections between 1876 and 1896. The Democrats
controlled the House of Representatives, however, and
the Senate was controlled by Republicans who did not
necessarily agree with the president on issues. This
created a nearly even division of power between
Republicans and Democrats that produced political
deadlock at the federal level.)
DEMOCRATS RECLAIM THE WHITE HOUSE
(PAGES 366-367)
In the presidential election of 1884, Republicans
remained divided over reform. Democrats
nominated Governor Grover Cleveland of New York,
a reformer who opposed Tammany Hall.
 Republicans nominated James G. Blaine, a former
Speaker of the House of Representatives. Blaine
was popular among Republican Party workers.
 A major issue in the campaign was corruption in
American government. Voters focused on the
morals of each candidate.


Some Republican reformers, called
"Mugwumps," disliked Blaine so much that they
left the party to support the Democratic
candidate Grover Cleveland. The Mugwumps
did not like Blaine's connection with the Crédit
Mobilier scandal.
Cleveland admitted to having fathered a child
ten years earlier and retained the support of
the Mugwumps for his honesty.
 Blaine tried to persuade Roman Catholics to
vote Republican because his mother was an
Irish Catholic. His tactic failed, and Cleveland
was elected president.

Why did Grover Cleveland win the presidential
election of 1884?
 (Some Republican reformers, called
Mugwumps, disliked Blaine and supported
Grover Cleveland instead. They disliked Blaine
because they did not like his personal morals
and his connection with the Crédit Mobilier
scandal.)

A PRESIDENT BESIEGED BY PROBLEMS (PAGES
367-368)
Many supporters of President Grover Cleveland
sought patronage jobs after his election to
office.
 Many strikes occurred during Cleveland's
administration. Police and paid guards
sometimes attacked the strikers. A bomb
exploded at a labor demonstration in
Haymarket Square in Chicago.


Small businesses and farmers became angry at
railroads because they paid high rates for
shipping goods, but large corporations were
given rebates, or partial refunds, and lower
rates for shipping goods.

Both Democrats and Republicans believed that
government should not interfere with
corporations' property rights. In 1886 the
Supreme Court ruled in the case of Wabash v.
Illinois that the state of Illinois could not restrict
the rates that the Wabash Railroad charged for
traffic between states because only the federal
government could regulate interstate
commerce.
In 1887 a bill was signed creating the
Interstate Commerce Commission. This was the
first law to regulate interstate commerce.
 Many Americans wanted to do away with high
tariffs because they felt that large American
companies could compete internationally. They
wanted Congress to cut tariffs because these
taxes caused an increase in the price of
manufactured goods.

President Cleveland proposed lowering tariffs, but
Congress was deadlocked over the issue. Tariff
reduction became a major issue in the election of
1888.
 What was the purpose of the Interstate Commerce
Commission?
 (The commission was created to regulate
interstate commerce. The commission limited
railroad rates to what was "reasonable and just,"
forbade rebates to high-volume users, and made it
illegal to charge higher rates for shorter hauls.)

REPUBLICANS REGAIN POWER (PAGES 368369)

The Republican candidate in the 1888 election
was Benjamin Harrison. His campaign was
given large contributions by industrialists who
wanted tariff protection. The Democratic
candidate was Cleveland. He was against high
tariff rates. Harrison won the election by
winning the electoral vote, but not the popular
vote.
As a result of the election of 1888, Republicans
gained control of both houses of Congress and
the White House. The Republicans were able to
pass legislation on issues of national concern.
 The McKinley Tariff cut tariff rates on some
goods, but increased the rates of others. It
lowered federal revenue and left the nation
with a budget deficit.

A new pension law passed in 1890 for veterans
furthered worsened the federal deficit.
 The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 made trusts
illegal, although the courts did little to enforce
the law.

What were the results of the Sherman Antitrust
Act?
 (The courts did little to enforce the Sherman
Antitrust Act. The legislative act was important
for establishing a precedent in the regulation of
big business.)

SECTION 11-2 POPULISM, PP. 372-379
Objectives:

1. Explain why farmers wanted a greenback
currency and why the adoption of the gold
standard led to the Farmers' Alliance.

2. Describe who joined the Populist Party
and what the party's goals were.


Did You Know? During the hard times for
farmers in the 1880s, many farmers left their
homesteads in the West and headed back to
the East. "In God we trusted, in Kansas we
busted," was a sign that one wagon carried as
it headed East. Another sign read, "Going home
to Mother."
UNREST IN RURAL AMERICA (PAGES 372-374)


In the 1890s, a political movement called Populism
emerged to increase the political power of farmers and
to work for legislation for farmers' interests.
The nation's money supply concerned farmers. To help
finance the Union in the Civil War, the government
issued millions of dollars in greenbacks, or paper
currency that could not be exchanged for gold or silver
coins. This rapid increase in the money supply without a
rapid increase in goods for sale caused inflation—a
decline in the value of money. The prices of goods
greatly increased.


To get inflation under control, the federal government
stopped printing greenbacks and started paying off
bonds. Congress also stopped making silver into coins.
As a result, the country did not have a large enough
money supply to meet the needs of the growing
economy. This led to deflation—or an increase in the
value of money and a decrease in the general level of
prices.
Deflation forced most farmers to borrow money to plant
their crops. The short supply of money caused an
increase in interest rates that the farmers owed.
Some farmers wanted more greenbacks
printed to expand the money supply. Others
wanted the government to mint silver coins.
 The Grange was a national farm organization
founded for social and educational purposes.
When the country experienced a recession,
large numbers of farmers joined the Grange for
help. The Grange changed its focus to respond
to the plight of farmers.

Grangers put their money together and created
cooperatives—marketing organizations that worked
to help its members. The cooperatives pooled
members' crops and held them off the market to
force the prices to rise. Cooperatives could
negotiate better shipping rates from railroads.
 The Grange was unable to improve the economic
conditions of farmers. By the late 1870s, many
farmers left the Grange and joined other
organizations that offered to help them solve their
problems.

THE FARMERS' ALLIANCE (PAGES 374-375)


The Farmers' Alliance was formed in 1877. By 1890 it
had between 1.5 and 3 million members with strength
in the South and on the Great Plains.
The Alliance organized large cooperatives called
exchanges for the purpose of forcing farm prices up and
making loans to farmers at low interest rates. These
exchanges mostly failed. Many exchanges overextended
themselves by loaning too much money at low interest
rates that were not repaid. Wholesalers, manufacturers,
railroads, and bankers discriminated against the
exchanges. The exchanges were too small to
dramatically affect world prices for farm products.
Members of the Kansas Alliance formed the
People's Party, or Populists, to push for political
reforms that would help farmers solve their
problems.
 Most Southern leaders of the Alliance opposed the
People's Party because they wanted the
Democrats to retain control of the South. One
Southern leader, Charles Macune, came up with a
subtreasury plan to set up warehouses where
farmers could store their crops to force prices up.

THE RISE OF POPULISM (PAGES 375-378)
In 1890 the Farmers' Alliance issued the Ocala
Demands to help farmers choose candidates in
the 1890 elections. The demands included the
adoption of the subtreasury plan, the free coinage
of silver, an end to protective tariffs and national
banks, tighter regulation of the railroads, and
direct election of senators by voters.
 Many pro-Alliance Democrats were elected to
office in the South.


By early 1892, Southern members of the
Alliance began to realize that Democrats were
not going to keep their promises to the Alliance
and they were ready to leave the Democratic
Party and join the People's Party.

In July 1892, the People's Party held its first
national convention where it nominated James
B. Weaver to run for president. The People's
Party platform called for unlimited coinage of
silver, federal ownership of railroads, and a
graduated income tax, one that taxes higher
earnings more heavily. It also called for an
eight-hour workday, restriction of immigration,
and denounced the use of strikebreakers.
Democrats nominated New Yorker Grover
Cleveland for the 1892 presidential election.
Cleveland won the election.
 The Panic of 1893 was caused by the
bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroads. It resulted in the stock market crash
and the closing of many banks. By 1894 the
country was in a deep depression.


President Cleveland wanted to stop the flow of
gold and make it the sole basis for the
country's currency, so he had Congress repeal
of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. This
caused the Democratic Party to split into the
goldbugs and the silverites. Goldbugs believed
the American currency should be based only on
gold. Silverites believed coining silver in
unlimited amounts was the answer to the
nation's economic crisis.
THE ELECTION OF 1896 (PAGES 378-379)
The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan
for the presidential election of 1896. He strongly
supported the unlimited silver coinage. Populists
also supported Bryan for president.
 The Republicans nominated William McKinley of
Ohio for president. He promised workers a "full
dinner pail." Most business leaders liked McKinley
because they thought the unlimited silver coinage
would ruin the country's economy.


McKinley won the election of 1896. New gold
strikes in Alaska and Canada's Yukon Territory
and in other parts of the world increased the
money supply without needing to use silver. As
the silver issue died out, so did the Populist
Party.
SECTION 11-3 THE RISE OF SEGREGATION, PP.
380-384
Objectives:

1. Discuss how African Americans in the
South were disenfranchised and how
segregation was legalized.

2. Describe three major African American
leaders' responses to discrimination.


Did You Know? Ida Wells was born in Mississippi in
1862, the daughter of enslaved African
Americans. She was educated in a Freedmen's
Bureau school. At the young age of fourteen, Wells
began to teach in a rural school. In 1884 she
moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she
continued teaching as well as attended Fisk
University. In 1891 she lost her teaching position
because she had refused to give up a seat in a
"whites only" railroad car. This led to a profession
in journalism in which she began a campaign
against lynching.
RESISTANCE AND REPRESSION (PAGES 380381)
After Reconstruction, most African Americans
were sharecroppers, or landless farmers who
had to give the landlord a large share of their
crops to cover their costs for rent and farming
supplies.
 In 1879 Benjamin "Pap" Singleton organized a
mass migration of African Americans, called
Exodusters, from the rural South to Kansas.

Some African Americans that stayed in the South
formed the Colored Farmers' National Alliance. The
organization worked to help its members set up
cooperatives. Many African Americans joined the
Populist Party.
 Threatened by the power of the Populist Party,
Democratic leaders began using racism to try to
win back the poor white vote in the South. By
1890 election officials in the South began using
methods to make it difficult for African Americans
to vote.

II. DISFRANCHISING AFRICAN AMERICANS
(PAGE 382)


Southern states used loopholes in the Fifteenth
Amendment and began to impose restrictions that
barred almost all African Americans from voting.
In 1890 Mississippi required all citizens registering to
vote to pay a poll tax, which most African Americans
could not afford to pay. The state also required all
prospective voters to take a literacy test. Most African
Americans had no education and failed the test. Other
Southern states adopted similar restrictions. The
number of African Americans and poor whites registered
to vote fell dramatically in the South.

To allow poor whites to vote, some Southern
states had a grandfather clause in their voting
restrictions. This clause allowed any man to
vote if he had an ancestor on the voting rolls in
1867.
LEGALIZING SEGREGATION (PAGES 382-383)
In the late 1800s, both the North and the
South discriminated against African Americans.
In the South, segregation, or separation of the
races, was enforced by laws known as Jim Crow
laws.
 In 1883 the Supreme Court overturned the Civil
Rights Act of 1875. The ruling meant that
private organizations or businesses were free
to practice segregation.

Southern states passed a series of laws that
enforced segregation in almost all public
places.
 The Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson
endorsed "separate but equal" facilities for
African Americans. This ruling established the
legal basis for discrimination in the South for
over 50 years.


In the late 1800s, mob violence increased in
the United States, particularly in the South.
Between 1890 and 1899, hundreds of
lynching’s—executions without proper court
proceedings—took place. Most lynchings were
in the South, and the victims were mostly
African Americans.
THE AFRICAN AMERICAN RESPONSE (PAGES
383-384)
In 1892 Ida B. Wells, an African American from
Tennessee, began a crusade against lynching. She
wrote newspaper articles and a book denouncing
lynchings and mob violence against African
Americans.
 Booker T. Washington, an African American
educator, urged fellow African Americans to
concentrate on achieving economic goals rather
than legal or political ones. He explained his views
in a speech known as the Atlanta Compromise.


The Atlanta Compromise was challenged by
W.E.B. Du Bois, the leader of African American
activists born after the Civil War. Du Bois said
that white Southerners continued to take away
the civil rights of African Americans, even
though they were making progress in education
and vocational training. He believed that
African Americans had to demand their rights,
especially voting rights, to gain full equality.


How did the viewpoints on solving discrimination differ
between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois?
(Booker T. Washington urged fellow African Americans
to concentrate on achieving economic goals rather than
legal or political ones. Washington said African
Americans should prepare themselves educationally
and vocationally for full equality. Du Bois said that white
Southerners continued to take away the civil rights of
African Americans, even though they were making
progress in education and vocational training. He
believed that African Americans had to demand their
rights, especially voting rights, to gain full equality.)