■Essential Question:
–What role did presidents
Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, &
Harrison play in developing
policy during the Gilded Age?
The Presidents Videos:
Garfield—Cleveland
Rank order the following
Gilded Age presidents in
order of their significance in
American history:
Grant, Hayes, Garfield,
Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison
■Essential Question:
–How effective were politicians in
meeting the needs of Americans
during the Gilded Age?
■Warm-Up Question:
–Watch this film on the “Gilded
Age” & answer this question:
What was government like in
America during the Gilded Age?
■Essential Question:
–How did problems in gov’t
(patronage & coinage), the
economy (depression of 1893),
& agriculture (Populists) impact
the politics of the Gilded Age?
■Warm-Up Question:
–Why might westerners grow
frustrated with railroad
companies, banks, & the federal
gov’t during the Gilded Age?
The Politics of the
Gilded Age
No more Politics
than 1% of
popular vote
ofthe
Stalemate
separated the candidates in 3 of 5 elections
■The 5 presidential elections from
1876 to 1892 were the most
closely contested elections ever
■Congress was split as well:
Pendleton Civil
Interstate Commerce
–Democrats
Service
Act of 1883 controlled
Act ofthe
1887House
–Republicans
held
the
Senate
Sherman Antitrust
McKinley Tariff Act
Act of“stalemate”
1890
of 1890
■This
made
it difficult
for any of the 5 presidents or
either party to pass significant
legislation for 20 years
The Two-Party Stalemate:
1876-1892
A TwoParty
Republicans & Democrats were closely
divided
Stalemate
in New York, Ohio, & Indiana—these 3 states
swung the 5 presidential elections
As a result, 16 of the 20 presidential & VP
candidates were from NY, Ohio, or Indiana
Voting Blocs in the Gilded Age
Democratic Bloc
Republican Bloc
 Supported by Northern
 Supported by white
whites, Midwest & rural
southerners, farmers,
areas, small
immigrants Lutherans &
Northeastern towns,
Roman
Catholics,
&
the
Agreed mostly on issues blacks
like the
in tariff,
South,civil
GAR,
working
poor
in
industrial
service reform, & currency
issue. Major
& nativists
Northissues over prohibition & education.
 Supported big
 Favored white supremacy business & favored
& supported labor unions anti-immigration laws
 Did not want govt to
 Did want govt to
impose moral standards
impose morality
Division in Republican Party
Stalwarts
■ Led by Roscoe Conkling
■ Swapped civil service
jobs for votes
Half-Breeds
■ Led by James Blaine
■ Discussed civil service
reform but they really
disagreed with the
Stalwarts over WHO gets
the spoils of the
patronage system
Intense
Voter
Loyalty to
the 2
Parties
Civil&Service
Reform
Dept of Agriculture
Treasury
Dept grew from
Bureau
of
Indian
4,000
employees
in
1873
■The
most
important
political
issue
Affairs were added
to 25,000 by 1900
of 1880s was civil service reform:
–The federal bureaucracy
swelled in size after 1860 &
these positions were appointed
via patronage (spoils system)
–Congressmen often took bribes
or company stock for their votes
56,000 bureaucratic jobs were
–Political
filled by machines
patronage in ruled
1881 cities
through bribes & personal favors
Boss Tweed
The
of the
NYC
Democratic
“Bosses”
Political
of the
Machine,
Senate
Tammany Hall
“If the
spoils
systemReform
could kill a
Civil
Service
president, it was time to end it”
■ Civil service reform received a boost when
disaffected patronage seeker, Charles Guiteau,
assassinated President Garfield:
– In 1883, Congress created the Pendleton Act
for merit-based exams for civil service jobs
(affected 10%)
• Established Civil Service Commission,
which awarded jobs based on performance
not “pull”
– State & local gov’ts mirrored these reforms in
1880s & 1890s
– Negative: Politicians looked elsewhere big
corporations
Charles Guiteau assassination of Garfield
Gov’t Regulation
of Industry
Depression
of 1870s: Significant
pressure from farmers and organizations
■From
1900,
28 state
like the 1870
Grangetowho
protested
being
forced
into
bankruptcy.
commissions were created to
regulate industry, especially RRs:
–In 1870, Illinois declared RRs to
be public highways; this was
upheld by Munn v. Illinois (1876)
–But, was overturned in Wabash
v. Illinois (1886): “only Congress
can regulate interstate trade”
This was the 1st attempt The ICC became the
Tariffs
by the federal gov’t
to & Trusts
model for future
regulate big business
regulatory agencies
■ Congress responded by creating:
– The Interstate Commerce Commission
(ICC) was established by Interstate
Commerce Act in 1887 to regulate the
railroad industry
–Banned rebates and pools
–Required railroads to publish their rates
openly
–Forbade unfair discrimination against
shippers & banned charging more for a
short haul than a long one
The Interstate Commerce Act
Tariffs
&
Trusts
U.S. v. E. C. Knight Co (1895) was the
1st test of the Sherman Antitrust Act
■ The Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 which
made it illegal to restrain trade through
combinations (trusts, pools, interlocking
directorates, holding companies)
The Supreme Court weakened the Sherman
– Punishable
by dissolution
of themonopoly
company
Antitrust
Act by ruling
that this sugar
do not
trade because
making
good
– Itrestrain
did not distinguish
between
gooda or
bad
is not
the same
as sellingwas
it the sin
trusts;
bigness,
not badness,
– It was not immediately effective because it
could not be enforced; legal loopholes
– It was used later to curb unions or
combinations
The Depression of 1893
■ The most serious blow to politics in the
Gilded Age was a five-year depression
that began in 1893:
–A stock market panic occurred when
the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad
went bankrupt
–500 banks, 200 railroads failed
– 8000 businesses failed in 6 months
–Companies cut wages & laid off
workers; unemployment hit 20%
The Depression of 1893
■ Long term causes
– Overbuilding and speculation
– Labor disorders
– Ongoing agricultural depression
– Free silver agitation (expand $ supply with
unlimited coinage of silver) had hurt
American credit abroad
• European bankers began calling in loans
that Americans could not pay
Coxey’s
(1894)
Panic of 1893
fueled Army
complaint
that farmers &
laborers
byby
anhordes
■ In 1894,
therewere
werebeing
1,400victimized
strikes led
oppressive economic
& political gov’t
system.
of unemployed
people demanding
relief:
Armies began marching in protest.
– Jacob Coxey led an “army” from Ohio to D.C.
to convince Congress to relieve
unemployment by
a public works
program
– Issuance of $500
million in legal
tender notes
■ Arrested for walking
on grass
Pullman
Strike
(1894)
InThe
re Debs
in 1895,
the Supreme
■ In
1894,upheld
Pullmanthe
Palace
Car workers
went
Court
injunction
since
theon
strikestrike
when the
company cut
wages
by 50%
“restrained”
U.S.
trade
but did not reduce prices in town
– American RR Union leader Eugene V.
Debs called for a national railroad strike,
stopping transit from Chicago to Pacific
– President Cleveland issued an injunction &
sent the army to end the strike & resume
rail traffic
– Strikers in 27 states resisted U.S. troops &
dozens died
– Result: Appearance that there was an
alliance between business & courts
The Pullman Strike (1894)
■Effects
the
Pullman
Strike:
Thisof
was
a clever
application
of
the Sherman
Antitrust
Act
–Eugene
Debs was
arrested
&
became
committed
to socialism
In re Debs
made the Sherman
Act
a
great
anti-labor
tool
while in jail, sparking a brief U.S.
socialist movement
–In the 1895 case, In re Debs,
the Supreme Court used the
Sherman Antitrust Act to uphold
Cleveland’s injunction since the
strike “restrained” U.S. trade
■Essential Question:
–What factors led to the rise of
the Populist Party, what were the
Populists’ demands, & why were
the Populists not more effective
in meeting the needs of
Americans living in the West?
The Farmers’
Movements & the
Rise of the Populists
Political Organization
■The Gilded Age saw a rise in
political organization among
disaffected Americans:
–Labor unions (like the Knights
of Labor & the AFL) encouraged
industrial workers to vote
–Women’s Christian Temperance
Union (WCTU) advocated
temperance, race relations, &
the right for women to vote
The great temperance agitator—Carrie Nation
The Farm
Problem
1880s-1890s:
droughts,
grasshopper
■ The
most discontent
group
the in
Gilded
plagues,
heat waves,
bollduring
weevils
the
floods washed away topsoil
AgeSouth,
were farmers:
– Harsh farming conditions
– Tied to one crop; increased production;
declining grain & cotton prices
– Rising RR rates & mortgages (high IR)
– Government deflation policies—deflated
currency (prices go down)
■ Prices drop alongside deflation  the value of
their
increases
Hurtdebt
by other
trusts—harvester, barbed
■ Farmers lashed
out fertilizer.
at banks, merchants,
wire,
railroads, & the U.S. monetary system (gold
standard)
Price Index for Consumer &
Farm Goods (1865-1915)
The Currency Debate
■Grant’s decision to reduce the
number of greenbacks deflated
the post-war money supply:
–By 1879, the U.S. returned to
the international gold standard
& stabilized the U.S. economy
–But this policy hurt western
farmers because money was
more scarce & credit was limited
What Happens to Borrowers During DEFLATION?
Total Income
Year One
Price Index =
100
$1,200
Year Two
Price index =
90
$1,080
Year Three
Price Index =
81
$ 972
Farm Supplies
and Living
Expenses
- 550
- 495
- 455.50
Loan Payments
- 500
- 500
- 500
Net Income
$ 150
$
85
$ 16.50
What Happens to Borrowers During INFLATION?
Year One
Year Two
Price Index = Price index =
100
110
Year Three
Price Index
= 120
$1,200
$1,320
$ 1,452
Farm Supplies
and Living
Expenses
- 550
- 605
- 655.50
Loan Payments
- 500
- 500
- 500
Net Income
$ 150
$ 215
$ 286.50
Total Income
This
would lead &
to inflation
someone
Greenback
Silver &Movements
would consistently buy silver from miners
■Many farmers supported the “free
In 1878, Congress passed the
silver”Bland-Allison
movement:
Act to coin between
$2-4minted
million insilver
silver coins
–The U.S.
& gold
coins
at a ratio
of 16:1,
but
In 1890,
Congress
passed
the
Sherman
Silver
Purchase
Act
to
stopped
in
1873
due
to
an
increase silver coinage but not to
oversupply
of gold
16:1 (the
act was repealed
in 1893)
–But western miners found huge
lodes of silver & wanted “free
silver”—the gov’t should buy all
silver from miners & coin it
The Granger Movement
■ The 1st attempt to organize farmers began with the
Grangers (1867):
– Grangers grew angry at the exploitive practices of
Eastern bankers, railroads, & wholesalers (low farm
prices, high debts)
– Founded by Oliver Kelley
– Grangers formed co-op stores, banks, & grain
elevators/warehouses
– Most success in upper MS valley—state legislated
the regulation of railway rates & storage fees
(Granger Laws)
– Often reversed in high courts; i.e. Wabash case
■ The Grange died in the depression of the 1870s, but
established the precedent of farmer organization
The National Farmers’ Alliance
■ In 1890, the National Farmers’ Alliance
replaced the Grange as the leading farmers’
group (ignored many)
■ In 1890, made Ocala Demands:
– Allow farmers to store crops in gov’t silos
when prices are bad
– Free-coinage of silver & cheap money
policies, a federal income tax, & regulation
of RRs
– Direct election of U.S. senators
The Populist Party
■3In
1890, farmers
& factory workers
formed the
governors,
10 congressmen,
5 senators,
Populist
Party: the state governments of
& dominated
NV,
CO, KS,
ND
– TheirIdaho,
platform
included
the&Ocala
Demands, an 8-hour day, gov’t control of
RRs & banks, the breakup of monopolies,
& tighter immigration restrictions
– Led by Ignatius Donnelly & Mary Elizabeth
Lease
– William Hope Harvey: Coin’s Financial
School
– Populists emerged as a powerful 3rd party &
got numerous state & national politicians
elected
Many Populists demanded bimetallism:
using currency based on gold and silver
in order to inflate the money supply
InUpon
1892,
the election,
Populists Southern
ran presidential
candidate
his
Cleveland
called
for and
Even
Midwestern
Democrats
used
James
Weaver
against
Democrat
Grover
Cleveland
received
the
repeal
of
the
Sherman
Silverto
farmers
did
not
racism
&
intimidation
The
Election
of
1892
& Republican
Benjamin
Harrison
Purchase
Act
which
alienated
Southern
&
vote Populist
remind whites
of the
Western Democrats from
the flag”
party
“bloody
Black farmers voted Republican &
did not support the Populists
Platform
of Lunacy
The Election of 1896
“Having
behind us the producing masses…we
■A Populist-Democrat
merger will
answer their demand for the gold standard ‘You
when
shalllooked
not presspossible
down uponin
the1896
brow of
labor this
crown
of thorns,
you shall not
crucifyreceived
mankind
William
Jennings
Bryan
upon a cross of gold.’”
the Democratic nomination
against Repub William McKinley:
–Called for free silver & income
tax; attacked trusts & injunctions
–Bryan visited 26 states on his
whistle-stop campaign to
educate Americans about silver
Bryan: The Farmers’ Friend
OR?
18,000 miles of campaign “whistle stops”
The Election of 1896
■Advised by RNC chairman, Mark
Hanna, McKinley waged a “front
porch” campaign from Ohio
■Aided by the press, McKinley’s
message reached as many voters:
–Advocated economic, urban, &
industrial growth
–Aroused fear that a “free silver”
victory would result in 57¢ dollar
The election of 1896 killed the Populist
Party, butThe
key Election
Populist ideas
(income
tax,
of
1896
secret ballot, & direct election of Senators)
would be enacted by other parties
The McKinley
Administration
The McKinley Administration
■Republicans benefited from an
improving economy, better crop
production, & discoveries of gold:
–The election of 1896 cemented
Republican rule for 30 years &
became the party of prosperity
–From 1860-1890, Republicans
had promoted industry; by 1900,
it was time to regulate it
The McKinley Administration
■McKinley was an activist
president and became the first
“modern” president:
–He communicated well with the
press
–The Spanish-American War
brought the USA respect as a
world power
–The Gold Standard Act (1900)
ended the silver controversy
Conclusions:
A Decade of Dramatic
Changes
A Decade of Changes: The 1890s
■The Depression of 1893 and the
problems faced by farmers &
industrial workers forced people
to rethink industry, urbanization,
& the quality of American life
■Many embraced the need for
reform which opened the door to
the Progressive Era
National Government
in the Gilded Age:
A Sham of Democracy
Activity
Problems of Farmers
■Read each document from
Problem of Farmers & write 1
sentence that explains a problem
faced by farmers
■The Wizard of Oz is a Populist
allegory. Examine the list of
characters from the story & guess
who each character represents in
the Gilded Age
What
does
each
character
represent?
TheAllegory—The
“Emerald
Good
Witch
City”?
of the
“Oz”?
North?
Populist
Wizard
of Oz
What
about
the
“Yellowbrick
Road”
The
Witch
of
the East?
The
Wizard?
andBad
the
“Ruby
Slippers”?