AP United States History
Mr. M. Pecot
Bailey, Chapter 23: Politics in the Gilded Age, 1869-1889
I.
The Election of Ulysses S. Grant
a) Popular support for Grant
1. a good general makes a good president…
2. popular war hero
b) Grants' weaknesses
1.
no political experience
2. culturally illiterate
c) The Election of 1868
1. Republican platform - continue military Reconstruction
2. Democratic platform
denounces Reconstruction
The "Ohio Idea" (the debate between eastern-merchant interests and western-agrarian interests
survives the Civil War! Yahoo!)
3. The campaign of 1868
"waving the bloody shirt"
4. The results -- Grant wins
the importance of the enfranchised black vote: provides the margin of victory
II. The Era of Good Stealings: Graft and Corruption in Gilded Age Politics
a) Corruption in Business and Government rampant in the post-War era
1. Financial corruption
"Jubilee" Jim Fisk & Jay Gould
- attempt to "corner" the gold market
2. In municipal government: The Tweed Ring
City "Boss" William Marcy Tweed
graft in NYC
The NYT, Thomas Nast, and Samuel Tilden bring him down
3. In the White House
Credit Mobilier Scandal (1867-68)
Whiskey Ring (1875)
Sec. of War Belknap Impeachment (1876)
III. The Liberal Republican Revolt and the Election 1872
a) The Liberal Republican Party forms
1. nominate Horace Greeley (an odd selection!)
editor of the New York Tribune
brilliant, but eccentric
also endorsed by the Democratic Party
calls for a bringing nation back together "across the bloody chasm"
b) The election of 1872: Grant v. Greeley
1. A mudslinging campaign (is there really any other kind?)
2. The legacy of the election
Republicans respond to calls for reform with modest civil service reforms
1872 Amnesty Act - pardons all but about 500 former Confederate leaders
IV. Economic Woes under Grant
a) The Panic of 1873
1. A result of over-expansion, over-investment
begins with collapse of the Jay Cooke & Company Banking firm
15,000 business close
rioting in NYC
c) The Argument for Inflation
1. Debtors hit by the depression call for inflation
Greenbacks issued during the war ($450 million worth)
by 1868, the Treasury was removing this money from circulation causing deflation (prices decrease
as money becomes more scarce and more valuable)
debtors seek inflation (more money in circulation makes money less valuable--"cheap money"-which drives up prices and makes it easier to pay fixed debts)
2. Monetary argument reflects tensions between the a) creditor/urban/merchant/eastern/banking interests and the
b) debtor/rural/agrarian/western/farming interests.
3. Grant's monetary policies favor hard currency usage
1874, Grant vetoes a bill to print more paper currency
1875 Specie Resumption Act (calls for withdrawal of paper and return to gold standard)
4.
5.
Silver
-
The US Treasury stopped minting silver dollars in 1873.
inflation advocates call for a return of the minting of silver dollars at a ratio of 16 oz. of silver to 1
oz. of gold in order to drive up the money supply.
Bland-Allison Act of 1878 - doesn't go far enough to cause inflation
Importance of the monetary debate
hard-money policies of the Grant administration result in "contraction" from 1870-1880
hard-money policies probably worsened the Depression
gave the Democratic Party an issue to run on in 1874 -- retake the House of Representatives
formation of the Greenback Labor Party in 1878 - 1 million votes, 14 MOC's
V. Gilded Age Politics (and you thought monetary policy was boring!)
a) Political See-Saw
1. Close elections, frequent turnovers in House makeup
majority party switched six times in 11 session between 1869-1891
divided government (H, S, and White House)
discourages bold stands by politicians
2. Political Parties
little difference between the Dems and the Reps on major issues: tariffs, currency, civil service
reform…
ferocious competition
motivate their constituents at election time (voter turnout 80% from 1860s-90s)
b)
Characteristics of the Parties
1. cultural & ideological differences
Republicans = Puritan religious roots, native born, support gov't involvement in economy and
society
Democrats = numbers include Roman Catholics and Lutherans, less stern, opposed gov't attempts
to impose a single moral standard on society.
2. geographical centers of party loyalty
Democrats: South (but not among freedmen), Northern industrial cities (immigrants and political
machines)
Republicans: Midwest, Northeast, and freedmen, and the GAR
3. use of patronage and spoils
use of spoils to gain support common
Sen. Roscoe Conkling (R-NY) and the "Stalwarts" v. Rep. James G. Blaine (R-ME) and the
Half-Breeds stalemate the GOP over the issue of civil service reform
VI. The Disputed Election of 1876
a) Rutherford B. Hayes: "The Great Unknown"
1. political qualifications
veteran officer of the Civil War
an Ohioan--the "swing state"
b) Samuel J. Tilden: "Whispering Sammy"
1. runs on a platform of reform
c) The "disputed" election
1. Tilden wins the popular vote, but only has 184 electoral votes (he needs 185) because the returns in 3 states
are being disputed
2. The electoral returns in three southern states are disputed due to allegations of fraud and intimidation of
black Republican voters: SC, LA, and--surprise, surprise--FL
3. Each state sends in two sets of returns--one for Tilden and one for Hayes.
4. The constitutional crisis:
who counts the votes? The Republican president of the Senate, or the Democratic speaker of the
House?
Will there be a President by inauguration day in March?
d) The Compromise of 1877
1. Electoral Count Act of 1877
establishes an electoral commission of 15 men to count disputed returns--the commission is 8-7
Republicans to Dems.
During roll call of electoral votes, the Florida return is challenged and sent to the commission,
which by an 8-7 vote accepted the Republican returns
Enraged Democrats threaten to filibuster the remaining proceedings…
2. Reconstruction falls victim to politics
GOP agrees to withdraw troops from SC and LA and to support a bill giving federal aid to the
construction of the Texas and Pacific RR's construction of a southern transcontinental line in return
for a Hayes presidency.
VII. The Collapse of Reconstruction
a) Support for Reconstruction had been waning in the GOP
1. Civil Rights Act of 1875 - an attempt at equal accommodations proved futile
b)
2. Civil Rights Cases (1883) - guts the Civil Rights Act
The condition of freedmen after 1876: second-class citizenship
1. sharecropping and tenant farming
2. segregated educational facilities
3. systematic disenfranchisement through fraud and intimidation
4. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) upholds the doctrine of "separate but equal"
VIII. The Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes
a) Turbulent years in office
1. The Election of 1876 hangs over his head
Rutherfraud, Old 8-7, His Fraudulency
- allegations deeply offend his sense of honor
2. Labor disturbances
Railroad strikes across the nation in 1877
- troops suppress strikers
3. Anti-Chinese uproar on the West Coast
75,000 Chinese laborers in California by 1880
Dennis Kearney in San Fransisco
1879 Chinese Exclusion Act -- vetoed by Hayes (finally passed in 1882)
b) Hayes' legacy left little to be desired
IX. The Garfield Presidency
a) 1880 Nomination
1. Hayes not in running, pledged to one-term
2. Stalwart v. Half-Breed factions compromise to select candidates: James A. Garfield for Pres, and Chester A.
Arthur (a stalwart) for VP
b) 1880 campaign
1. Republican platform: protective tariff and some civil service reform
2. Democratic platform: Winfield S. Hancock is candidate, runs against tariff and for civil service reform
3. both parties avoid big issues
4. close election--fewer than 40,000 votes elect Garfield
c) The assassination of James Garfield
1. occurs during the beginning of a political showdown between the Half-Breeds and the Stalwarts in the
White House
2. Charles J. Guiteau -- a deranged office seeker shoots Garfield in a Washington railroad station in 1881.
X. Chester A. Arthur in the White House
a) Arthur and Civil Service Reform
1. Arthur seemed entirely unqualified; owed his career to the Conkling political machine in NY
in reality, he was highly intelligent
his job as collector for the Port of New York put him in charge of the largest federal office in the
nation: 2/3 of all tariff revenues were collected there
2. Arthur surprises the Stalwarts by taking on Civil Service reform
prosecutes post office frauds
"For the vice-presidency, I was indebted to Mr. Conkling, but for the presidency of the United
States I am indebted to the Almighty."
public pressure encourages Republican action
3. The Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883
Magna Carta of civil service reform
establishes a merit system for classified federal jobs
created the Civil Service Commission to administer tests
prohibited "assessments" of how much a federal employee contributed to a political party
b) The legacy of reform
1. Changes political parties
politicians court contributions from business leaders and lobbyists
XI. The Election of 1884
a) The Candidates
1. Republican: James G. Blaine
tattooed with political villainies, e.g., the Mulligan Letters
Mugwumps bolt the party and join the Democrats
2. Democrats: Grover Cleveland
a reformer from NY
rising star in NY politics
"Grover the Good" label tainted by illegitimate son
b) The Election of 1884
1. little attention to the issues
campaigning revolved around personalities, not issues
"Burn, Burn, Burn this letter" v. "Ma! Ma! Where's my Pa?"
2.
A margin of less than 30,000 elects Cleveland
mugwumps shifted the tide
Blaine's campaign failed to condemn a Republican clergyman's anti-Irish speech in NY: "Rum,
Romanism, and Rebellion" -- costs the GOP Irish votes in NY
XII. The Cleveland Presidency
a) Cleveland in office
1. First Democrat in White House since James Buchanan
2. Cleveland tended to be tactless and outspoken
3. Politically philosophy: laissez-faire (hands off) - "Though the people support the government, the
government should not support the people."
4. Attempts to bridge divisions between N/S
appoints 2 former Confederates to the cabinet
b) Troubling issues for Cleveland
1. Reform v. Rewards for Democrats
mugwumps demand reforms (and he owes them)
Democrats want the perks of regaining office
Cleveland caves to Democratic demands: ousts 2/3 of all federal employees
2. Military pensions
by 1880 much abuse of the military pensions for Union soldiers
Cleveland personally vetoes hundreds of applications
puts Cleveland in opposition with the politically powerful GAR
3. The Tariff question
Civil War tariffs had been raised to bring in money
by 1881, the annual surplus at the Treasury was $145 million dollars, mostly from tariff revenue
c) Cleveland takes on the Tariff
1. Many groups were committed to maintaining the Tariff:
extra revenues used by Congress for "pork barrel" spending to please constituent groups
industry and manufactures enjoy protection
2. Cleveland makes the Tariff an issue for the 1888 election by assailing it publicly
XIII. The Election of 1888
a) The Candidates
1. Democrats: reluctantly select Cleveland
2. Republicans: Benjamin Harrison
grandson of William Henry Harrison
"Little Ben" ; "Young Tippecanoe"
b) The issues and the campaign:
1. The Tariff -- 10 million pamphlets on the issue circulated by both parties
2. the Sir Lionel Sackville-West controversy
Brit diplomat in Washington, who encouraged an English-born California man to vote for
Cleveland, saying "a vote for Cleveland was a vote for England"
The Republicans reprint the letter to sway the Irish electorate in NY
3. Tactics
Republicans ally with big business (fighting for keeping the tariff)
votes purchased in Indiana to corral "voting cattle"
4. Outcome
Cleveland wins the popular vote but loses the Presidency
c) Assessing the Cleveland presidency
1. legislative landmarks
Dawes Severalty Act (1887) - an attempt to "civilize" the Indians by dissolving many tribes as legal
entities, removing tribal ownership of land, and establishing private landholding among Indians
by granting 160 acres to each Indian head of household.
The Interstate Commerce Act (1887) - an attempt curb unfair practices of railroads; requires all
fares be published, made it illegal for RR's to give special "rebates" and cut-fares to manufacturers
who used their lines, establishes the Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce this.
returns about 81 million acres of public domain land in the west to federal control, after it had
improperly been given to railroad companies.
XVI. Harrison & Cleveland (II) Adminstrations
a) The Billion Dollar Congress
1. Surpluses distributed to GOP faithful
2. House Speaker Thomas Reed
- GOP has only a 163 members (3 more than quorum)
- Dems threaten to delay / block actions by parliamentary procedures (calling roll to see if quorum
is present, debate, etc.)
- “Czar” Reed uses questionable tactics, such as counting members as present who aren’t there, etc.
3. GOP Actions in Billion Dollar Congress
- 1st Congress to spend 1 billion…
-
b)
Pensions to veterans
Silver Purchases increased
McKinley Tariff – 1890 – highest peacetime tariff yet – 48%
1. Angers rural agricultural voters who must buy expensive manufactured goods while
selling on a competitive world market.
1892 Eection – Emergence of the Populists
1. Populist Party emerges
- Party Platform aims to bring about inflation, increase voice of common man in politics
- James B. Weaver runs
2. Alliance with industrial workers?
- Platform attempts to lure workers
- Homestead Steel Strike – 1892 (put down by Pinkerton Agency and troops; 10 dead/ 60
wounded)
3. Alliance with Southern farmers?
- Colored Farmers Alliance
- Tom Watson – reaches out to black voters
- Reaction of Democratic Party in south play race card and disenfranchise black voters
1. Jim Crow
2. Lynchings
3. Poll taxes, grandfather clause
4. Reese v. United States
4. Populist gains…
- Poll over 1 million votes and 22 electoral votes
- Governorships, congressmen elected
c)
Cleveland Presidency, Part Deux
1. Panic of 1893
- Worst depression of 19th century
- Causes: overspeculation, agricultural depression, free-silver agitation hurts American credit
abroad.
- 8000 business collapse in 6 months
- Gov’t response = laissez faire
2. Gold drain
- Sherman Silver Purchase act required Treasury to buy silver and issue legal tender notes
(redeemable in gold or silver)
- Holders of silver certificates trade in for gold.
- Gold reserves drop below $100 million, below safe level to support outstanding currency of $350
million
3. Cleveland calls for repeal of Sherman Silver Purchase Act
- Opposed by westerners, especially William Jennings Bryan (D-NE), but passes
- Gold reserves continue to drop to $41 million
4. JP Morgan bails out the US Gov’t
- Organizes a bank loan of $65 million to the US
- Suggests Wall Street is more powerful than US Gov’t – favors?
5. Wilson-Gorman Tariff, 1894
- Fails to substantially lower the McKinley Tariff (the reason why Dems were elected)
- Contains a 2% income tax on incomes over $4000, but is struck down in 1895 as unconstitutional
1. Courts = friends of the wealthy
6. Discontent with Cleveland and hard times set the stage for a Republican victory in 1896.
d)
Assessing the Gilded Age presidents
1. "The Forgettable Presidents"
Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, and Harrison
left either blanks or blots on the political record
2. Why such little vitality in politics?
the industrial economy lures away talented men
- loss in political leadership was inversely related to the surge in economic growth