Brad Sears
Mr. Hamilton
APUSH
25 January 2009
Reading Outline Pp. 581-589
I. Toward a National Governing Class
A. The Growth of Government
1. An Unprecedented Rise in Federal Responsibilities
a. Bigger cities provide professional police & fire forces, public schooling
b. Common municipal ownership of basic services
c. Huge increase in taxation; more govt. workers
d. Skyrocketing federal revenues; Civil War promotes large nat’l govt.
2. Modern Departments, Bureaus, and Cabinets
a. Dept. of Agriculture, Interior, Post Office, Treasury
b. Indian Affairs, Geological Survey, Territorial/International Affairs
c. Pension Act sparks largest bureau worldwide (Veterans)
d. ICC= “positive govt.”; shift from state to federal power
B. The Machinery of Politics
1. Gradual Adaptation to Government Expansion
a. Republicans focus on reform legislation; Democrats reduce influence of
federal government; neither party commands a clear majority
b. Presidents Hayes--Cleveland endorse unclear govt. philosophies;
neither party has sufficient strength to govern effectively; little legislation
c. Tariff: N. Republican support (protect infant industries, manufacturing);
S. Democrat opposition (rural economy; high imports)
d. Both parties operate as state/local organizations
2. Vigorous Political Power and Campaigning
a. Candidates urge “regulars” and swing voters to turn out
b. Election paraphernalia=major expense; 80% voter turnout
c. Larger expenses=larger sources of revenue (spoils system, cash bribes
between legislators and RR corporations)
d. Tammany Hall & other political machines reward loyal voters w/
“boodle” and personal favors; attract immigrants
e. Federal jobs rotate w/ patronage
f. Motives for political power shift from principal to money
C. One Politician’s Story
1. James Garfield’s Journey to the Nat’l Political Arena
a. Humble origins-canal boat driver, Civil War hero
b. Originally committed to social reform; Department of Education;
denounces corruption & seeks to weaken corporations
c. Embraces more conservative views after the failure of Reconstruction
2. An Idealist to a Machine Politician and Lackluster President
a. Probusiness platform; narrowly wins in 1880 in a mediocre race
b. Indecisive and indifferent to governing; killed by patronage seeker
c. Assumed that Chief Executive has merely a ceremonial role in office
D. The Spoils System and Civil Service Reform
1. Early Efforts of Civil Service Reform
a. Congress fails to universally support reform (it would hamper
candidates in their pursuit of votes)
b. Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act: executive/legislative guidelines
for appointments; open competitive examinations; limits patronage
c. Federal govt. departments follow suit of doctors, lawyers, and scholars
in establishing a professional character
d. Circuit Courts of Appeals Act: Supreme Court can review any case
2. Influence of Lawyers
a. Civil Service Reform Association (professors, editors, lawyers, etc.)
b. City/statewide societies, admission examining board, dominate Senate
c. Public opinion still feared “insiders” controlling the govt.; politicians
fail to address the needs of ordinary citizens
II. Farmers and Workers Organize Their Communities
A. The Grange
1. Culture of the Grange
a. Patrons of Husbandry resembles Masonic order; headquarters (called
the Grange) becomes center of social activity
b. Economic hardship, Panic of 1873, harsh weather and foreign
competition put farmers in debt and motivate them to join the local Grange
c. Blame hard times on big business fees (farm equipment manufacturers,
land companies, railroads)
2. Granger Legislation
a. Grangers react to railroad corporations and unfair shipping prices;
“Granger Laws” establish maximum shipping rates
b. Warehouse Act creates maximum rates for storing grains; upheld by
Supreme Court in Munn v. Illinois (state can regulate private property)
c. Cooperative enterprises: grain elevators, retail stores, manufacturing,
banks, insurance companies (life and fire)
d. 1870’s depression and court rulings overturn key Granger legislation
B. The Farmer’s Alliance
1. Platform of the Farmer’s Alliance
a. Organizes in communities w/ poverty and the crop-lien system prevails
b. Extremely low household budgets and shipping $ motivates TX farmers
to organize; “Equal Rights to All, Special Privileges to None”
c. 3 million whites join N.F.A/I.U.; 1 million blacks join C.F.A/C.U.
d. Overthrow impoverishment/bondage w/ agitation/education/cooperation
2. Various Successes and Failures
a. Southern farmers translate anger into alliance loyalty, resulting in
alternative to capitalist market place
b. TX Cotton Exchange fails when banks won’t accept vouchers
c. Skilled Kansas agitators play upon hardships (blizzards, ice storms,
locusts, falling prices) to build Alliance membership
d. Campaign platforms demanding RR state ownership, income tax, low
tariffs, restriction of land ownership, free coinage of silver
C. Workers Search for Power
1. The Tompkins Square Riot and the Great Uprising of 1877
a. Economic depression is a catalyst for labor organization
b. NYC worker petition is rejected; 7,000 working class men/women
protest and are stricken down by 1,600 police men
c. Frustrated workers spell out their grievances directly and dramatically at
the railroad industry
d. Great Uprising: workers protest 10% wage cut in Martinsburg, WV;
uncoupling engines, halting traffic, pillaging food spreads nationwide
e. Law & Order leagues break up union meetings; President Hayes calls
on US Army to repel the strike; troops kill more than 20 people @ Pitt
2. Worker Representation in Politics
a. National Guard and armories are created after the uprising
b. Workers launch labor parties in dozens of industrial cities
c. Henry George develops United Labor Party ticket for NY mayor
(sweeping property tax gains immigrant support)
d. 31% of vote; warning to entrenched politicians & encouragement to
labor groups in other cities
e. Labor parties thrive in small industrial towns (Rochester, Milwaukee)
D. Women Build Alliances
1. The Mark of Women
a. Built labor and agrarian protest movements while campaigning for their
own rights as citizens
b. Knights of Labor elect to investigate abuses towards women, run
daycare centers, set up baker cooperatives
c. Patrons of Husbandry and Farmer’s Alliance requires women to be well
represented; ¼ of membership in N. and S. Alliances
2. Influential Women Leaders and Organizations
a. Francis E. Willard presides over Women’s Christian Temperance Union
b. Encourages abstinence from alcohol, reforming prisons, eliminating
prostitution & the wage system, endorses Farmer’s Alliance and K o L
c. Major force behind campaign for woman suffrage extending into the
Plains states; agitation for suffrage provides political bridge b/tw women
d. Nat’l Women’s Alliance promotes “full equality of the sexes”
e. Most political parties refuse to endorse women’s suffrage, but the
campaign places voteless women on the sidelines
E. Farmer-Labor Unity