Chapter 20 – Political Realignment in the 1890’s
Americans were fascinated by politics in the 1890’s, seeing it as a form of entertainment. However, this was limited to
white males.
African-American men were excluded from voting by the KKK, literacy tests and poll taxes, and grandfather clauses
which allowed white men who did not pass such tests to vote anyhow.
Republican Party chose to use the power of government to further American business and promote morality. Their
platform included high protective tariffs, the gold standard in currency, railroad subsidies, and civil rights legislation.
Their power was concentrated in the northeast, dating all the way back to the Radical Republicans of the Civil War.
Democratic Party was the party of small government. The platform included lower tariffs, railroad regulation and states
rights. Also dating back to the Civil War, the Democrats controlled the South (Solid South), though were a national party
that also tried to exert influence in the north. Elections between the two parties were close, and depended on the
“doubtful states” of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
The movement to regulate railroads began as the local and state level, with commissions that operated on an advisory
basis. Illinois produced one of the most important regulatory laws, and had the law upheld by the Supreme Court in
Munn v. Illinois. However, the ensuing decision, Wabash v. Illinois, stated that only intrastate commerce was a state
right and interstate commerce would have to be regulated by the federal government. This led to Congress passing the
Interstate Commerce Act which established the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The period between 1870 and 1890 saw a weakened Presidency and an empowered Congress, due to the impeachment
of Andrew Johnson, the scandals of the Grant Administration, and the distrust over the 1876 recounted election victory
of Rutherford B. Hayes over Samuel Tilden. Between 1860 and 1900, three presidents were assassinated (Lincoln,
Garfied, McKinley)
One area where the presidents looked to gain some power back, was Civil Service Reform, attempting to reduce the
power of the political machine and patronage and created a professional bureaucracy. This culminated with the passage
of the Pendleton Act.
Another bipartisan venture was the beginning of regulations of growing business combinations creating monopolies.
The first law dealing with these was the Sherman Anti-trust Act. However, the act was very vague and thus at the mercy
of the courts for interpretation. The ensuing United States v. E.C. Knight decision differentiated between manufacturing
and commerce, thus weakening the law tremendously and little anti-trust action was taken until the 1900’s.
Beginning with Granges in 1867, famers began to come together for a common cause and ask for their issues to be
heard. The three big issues for farmers were railroad regulations, elimination of protective tariffs, and the silver
standard. Farmers were also frustrated with their perceived lack of status in society, their inability to control drops in
commodity prices and the power exerted over them by restrictive mortgages. When the Granges became too political,
Farmer Alliances were formed in the Midwest and the South.
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Northwestern Alliance
Southern Alliance
Colored Farmers Alliance
Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union
Out of the Farmer Alliances came the Populist Party as a 3rd party to represent the interests of farmers. Issues
demanded by the Populists included:
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silver standard – free coinage and purchase
creation of a subtreasury system to store crops until prices came up
an end to protective tariffs and national banks
establishment of a federal income tax
railroad regulation
The Populists ran their first candidate for President in 1892 (James Weaver) and played a significant role in the Election
of 1896. In 1896, silver was adopted by the Democratic Party in their platform, leading to the nomination of William
Jennings Bryan as the Democratic candidate. Bryan stepped forward at the convention, giving his famous Cross of Gold
Speech, comparing the “burden” the gold standard placed on citizens to the burden Jesus carried. Bryan was to be the
Populist candidate, so they seconded the nomination of Bryan. Thus, the Populist platform began the transformation of
the Democratic Party. Currency (silver v. gold) became the major issue of the 1896 campaign. In the general election,
Bryan was defeated by Republican William McKinley.
Proponents of silver, whether it be for free coinage of silver or government purchase of silver to back currency, hoped
that silver would inflate prices in the economy and help those who were doing badly. Laws such as the Bland -Allison
Act and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, promoted a bimetal policy. Silver was the core issue of the Populist Party that
was adopted by the Democrats in 1896. With the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and the passage of the Gold
Standard Act in 1900, the gold standard would eventually win the day.
In 1888, the Republicans gained control of both the Congress and the Presidency. By 1890, they were ready to push
their agenda through Congress, even though the Democrats were able to “stall” through obstructionist techniques for a
while. When they did so, they became known as the “Billion Dollar Congress”, greatly increasing the government’s role
in the economy and moral life, as well as the cost of government. The nation fought back in the in the 1890 midterm
elections, putting the Democrats back in power in the House.
The Panic of 1893 and the resulting crisis/recession dominated the 1890’s and touched all aspects of society. Aspects of
the economy that contributes to the panic included:
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Failure of leading railroads (Philadelphia and Reading Railroad) and subsequent railroad failures
stock market runs and investors got scared and sold off stocks – dropping prices
depletion of the countries gold reserve as investors panicked and bought up gold
bank failures and the contraction of bank loans – slowing economic growth
Consequences of the recession were widespread and included:
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Unemployment which reach 20% at the height of hard times. Jacob Coxey actually led an “army” to march to
Washington demanding jobs building roads.
The 1894 Pullman Strike was indicative of strikes as George Pullman cut wages and increased rents on company
owned housing to cut costs and maximize profits. The strike very quickly spread across the country along the
railroads, paralyzing the western half of the United States. President Cleveland used a court injunction to break
the strike, using the excuse that mail delivery was being disrupted.
Eugene Debs, leader of the American Railway Union, came to the forefront during the strike and ended up
being jailed. In jail, Debs turned to socialism and worked to build the American socialist Party upon his release.
Miners experienced tough times and cutbacks, leading to several violent strikes. In particular, miners were
affected by the growing number of “new immigrants” (eastern and southern Europe) who were replacing the
older Irish and German immigrants. The newer immigrant didn’t have the history with the mine owners, thus
strikes became more violent in nature and caused rifts between newer and older immigrants, leading to the
growing nativist movement in the nation.