The Gilded Age
AP United States History
Unit 6
Gilded Age Politics
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close national elections – lackluster policies
Congress more powerful than presidents
both parties supported a limited federal gov’t
political corruption at all levels (machines)
key national issues:
– civil service reform (reform of spoils system)
– tariff issue
– money question
Strong
Voter
Turnout
Roscoe Conkling
U.S. Customs House
(New York City)
Blaine,
Blaine,
James G. Blaine,
continental liar
from the
State of Maine!
Election of 1880
Garfield Assassination
Charles
Guiteau
“I am a Stalwart
of the Stalwarts…
Arthur is
President now!”
Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)
• Required that government jobs be awarded on the
basis of merit, through competitive exams (“civil
service tests”)
• Prohibited the firing or demotion of federal
employees for political reasons or to require them
to give political service or payment
• Created Civil Service Commission to enforce
• Initially, only 10% of 130,000 government jobs
were covered by the law
• Today, over 90% of 3,000,000 government jobs
are awarded on merit system
Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa?
Election of 1884
Election of 1888
The Plight of the Farmers
• What problems plagued farmers in the late 19c?
How did their situation contrast with the
traditional ideal of the farmer in America?
• How did the farmers plight compare/contrast
with the plight of industrial labor?
• How did the farmers organize: the Grange
movement/Alliances/Populism?
• Why did the farmers choose to organize a third
party? What obstacles did they face in the South?
• What were the basic principles/goals of the
Populist party?
Price Indexes for Consumer and
Farm Products: 1865-1913
Farmer Organization
Founded
Goals
Accomplishments
Grange
Oliver Kelley
1868
(peak: 1870s)
social/fraternal
educational
Granger laws
(state regulation of RR rates,
grain elevators);
cooperatives;
Rural Free Delivery (RFD);
Munn v. Illinois (1877)
Alliances
originated in
South
1880
(peak: 1880s)
supported
candidates that
favored farmers’
interests
Ocala Demands would be
embraced by the Populist
party, which emerged out of
the Alliance movement
to win elections
and usher in
serious reforms
Omaha Platform
(silver; income tax; gov’t
regulation of RRs and
telegraph; 8-hour workday;
democratic reforms)
Populism
1891
(peak: 1892-1896)
Percent of U.S. Workforce
Engaged in Farm Labor, 1870 - 1950
Alliance/Populist Leaders
Tom Watson
Leonidas Polk
Mary Elizabeth Lease
Populist Platform
Demand
Purpose
Result
Direct popular election of To make Senate responsible
U.S. senators
to the people
17th Amendment (1913)
Initiative, referendum,
recall; secret ballot
To allow people to make laws
if legislature does not
Many states created these
in Progressive Era
Unlimited silver coinage
To inflate the currency,
increase crop prices
Never happened; new
gold finds in 1890s helped
Graduated income tax
To shift tax burden to wealthy
and away from farmers
16th Amendment (1913)
Government-owned
railroads, telegraph
To reduce rates
Never happened, although
regulation increased;
trusts “busted” by TR, Taft
Easy government loans
to farmers
To make farmers less
dependent on bankers
8-hour industrial workday To attract unban workers
Achieved by labor unions
in early 20c; New Deal
Platform
of
Lunacy
Populist Party was a
coalition of Alliances,
Grangers, Greenback Party,
Knights of Labor, Silverites,
Prohibitionists, Socialists,
and Anarchists
Election of 1892
Peak of Western Populism
Coxey’s Army (1894)
Massillon (OH) City Cemetery
“Gold Bugs” and “Silver Bugs”
William
Jennings
Bryan
The “Great
Commoner”
The Veteran
Politician
vs.
the Boy Orator
Bryan on the Stump
Bryan’s “Whistle-stop” Campaign
Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech
“You come to us and tell us that the great
cities are in favor of the gold standard. I tell
you that the great cities rest upon these
broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your
cities and leave our farms, and your cities
will spring up again as if by magic. But
destroy our farms and the grass will grow in
the streets of every city in this country.
Cross of Gold (American Rhetoric)
Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech
Having behind us the commercial interests
and the laboring interests and all the toiling
masses, we shall answer their demands for
a gold standard by saying to them: you shall
not press down upon the brow of labor this
crown of thorns. You shall not crucify
mankind upon a cross of gold.”
Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech
You shall not
press down upon
the brow of labor
this crown of
thorns; you shall
not crucify
mankind upon a
cross of gold!
Democratic
Party taken
over by the
Agrarian Left
Mark Hanna
McKinley’s “Front Porch” Campaign
Election of 1896
Why did Bryan lose?
• Bryan’s focus on silver undermined his
efforts to build bridges to urban voters
• Bryan failed to form alliances with other
groups (particularly labor)
• McKinley’s campaign was well-organized
and well-funded
McKinley Assassination