I.
Chapter 11 Politics and Reform (1877-1896
Chapter 11 Section 1---Stalemate in Washington
A Campaign to Clean Up Politics (pp. 364-365)
A. Spoils System (Patronage)---government jobs went to supporters of the
winning party in an election
1. Americans believed that patronage corrupted those who worked
for the government
B. Republican Politics:
1. “Stalwarts”—Republicans who were against civil service reform
2. “Halfbreeds”—Republicans who wanted civil service reform
C. Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)
1. Allowed the President to decide which federal jobs would be
filled according to rules set up by a bipartisan Civil Service
Commission
2. Candidates competed for federal jobs through examinations
(exams)
3. Once appointed to a job, a civil service official could not be
removed for political reasons
4. 10% of the jobs came under the control of the civil service
II.
Two Parties, Neck and Neck (pp. 365-366)
A. Democrats controlled the House of Reps. & the Republicans controlled
the Senate
B. Few new policies were introduced in the 1870s & 1880s because of the
political situation in the Congress
III.
Democrats Reclaim the White House (pp. 366-367)
A. Presidential Election of 1884
1. Democrats—Grover Cleveland
2. Republicans—James Blaine
3. Main Issue: Corruption in American government
B. “Mugwumps”—Republican reformers who disliked Blaine
because they did not like his personal morals & his
connection with the Credit Mobilier Scandal
C. Cleveland defeated Blaine in the Election
IV.
A President Besieged by Problems (pp. 367-368)
A. Many strikes occurred during President Cleveland’s
Administration
1. Haymarket Square Riot, etc
B. Small businesses & farmers were angry at railroads because
they paid high rates for shipping goods, but large
corporations were given rebates & lower rates for shipping
goods
V.
C. 1887-Wabash v. Illinois---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
1. 1887-Interstate Commerce Commission---1st federal
law designed to regulate interstate commerce
a. charge “reasonable & just” rates
b. forbade rebates to high volume users
c. made it illegal to charge a higher rate for
shorter hauls
D. Tariff Issue
1. Major issue in the Presidential Election of 1888
2. Debate was to lower the tariff or to keep the tariffs
high
Republicans Regain Power (pp. 368-369)
A. Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland & the
Republicans gained control of both Houses of Congress
B. Issues of National Concern:
1. McKinley Tariff—cut tariff on some goods, but
increased the rates of others
a. lowered federal revenue & left the nation with a
budget deficit
2. Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)---made trusts illegal,
although the courts did little to enforce the law
I.
Chapter 11 Section 2---Populism
Unrest in Rural America (pp. 372-374)
A. Populism—a political movement to increase the political
power of farmers & to work for legislation for farmers’
interests
1. Deflation—increase in the value of money & a
decrease in the general level of prices (Hurt the
Farmers)
a. Farmers wanted more greenbacks printed or to
mint silver coins to increase the money supply
B. Grange—National Farmers’ Organization
1. Created cooperatives to benefit farmers
a. Pooled members crops & held them off the market
to raise prices
b. Could negotiate better shipping rates from
railroads
2. Grange failed to improve economic conditions of farmers
& many left to join other organizations
II.
The Farmers’ Alliance (pp.374-375)
A. Farmers’ Alliance (1877)
1. Exchanges—large cooperatives for the purpose of
forcing farm prices up & making loans to farmers at
low interest rates
a. Failed---because most exchanges overextended
themselves by loaning too much money at a low
interest rate
B. Populist Party (People’s Party)--1. Goal: political reforms that would help farmers
solve their problems
III.
The Rise of Populism (pp. 375-378)
A. 1892—Populist Party (People’s Party)—1st National Convention Held
1. James Weaver---Populist Candidate for President
2. Populist Party platform:
a. unlimited coinage of silver
b. federal ownership of railroads
c. graduated income tax—taxes higher earnings more
d. 8 hour workday
e. restriction of immigration
f. denounced the use of strikebreakers
3. Populist lost the election but did receive over a 1 million popular
votes & 22 electoral votes
B. President Grover Cleveland’s Problems:
1. Panic of 1893— economic crisis which led to a depression in
1894
2. Sherman Silver Purchase Act repealed (Democrats split)
a. Goldbugs—American currency based only on gold
b. Silverites—coin silver in unlimited amounts
IV.
The Election of 1896 (pp. 378-379)
A. Democrat---William Jennings Bryan---supported the unlimited coinage
of silver
B. Republican—William McKinley---against coining of silver
***McKinley defeated Bryan & new gold strikes in Alaska & Canada’s
Yukon Territory help increase the money supply without needing to use
silver.***
***Populist Party died out as the Silver issue died out***
Chapter 11 Section 3—The Rise of Segregation
I. Resistance and Repression (pp. 380-381)
A. Most Blacks were sharecroppers—give large share of crop to landlord to
cover their costs for rent & farming supplies
B. Exodusters—Mass migration of Blacks from the rural South to Kansas
C. Many Blacks joined the Populist Party
D. Threatened by the Populist Party, Democrats began using race to try to win
back the poor white vote in the South
1. 1890—harder for Blacks to vote in the South
II. Disfranchising African Americans (page 382)
A. Voting Restrictions in South:
1. Pay a poll tax to vote ---too high for Blacks to pay
2. Voters must pass a literacy test---Blacks had no education & failed the
test
3. Grandfather Clause—allowed any man to vote if he had an ancestor on
the voting rolls in 1867 (Helped poor whites)
III. Legalizing Segregation (pp. 382-383)
A. Both the North & South discriminated against Blacks
B. Segregation—separation of the races
1. South---enforced by the Jim Crow laws
2. 1883—U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Civil Rights act of 1875
a. ruling allowed private organizations or businesses to practice
segregation
3. Plessy v. Ferguson(1896)—endorsed “separate but equal” facilities for
Blacks
a. established the legal basis for discrimination in the South
C. Mob violence increased in the U.S.
1. Lynchings of Blacks occurred mainly in the South
IV. The African American Response (pp. 383-384)
A. Booker T. Washington—Atlanta Compromise
1. Urged Blacks to concentrate on achieving economic goals rather than
legal/political goals
2. W.E.B. Du Bois (challenged the Atlanta Compromise)
a. Believed that Blacks had to demand their rights, especially voting
rights, to gain full equality