Harrison, Cleveland (again),
and the Populists in 1892
AP US Unit 10 – Chapter 28.1
With help from Susan Pojer
1888 Presidential Election
Benjamin Harrison
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•
Harrison (R) was elected in 1888.
The Republicans were quite happy and put
Blaine in as secretary of state and a young
Teddy Roosevelt as part of the Civil Service
Commission.
Republicans did have a slim lead of only 3
votes.
•
–
Democrats kept filibustering and calling for
quorum votes
•
Until Speaker of the House, Thomas B. Reed, the
Czar, began to ignore them
Dealing with the Surplus
•
Harrison wanted
to get rid of the
high tariff surplus
without getting rid
of the tariff
He increased
payments to
veterans
•
–
From $81 million
to $135 million
Consequences of Billion
Dollar Congress
• Paved the way for more government help
to the people in the 1900’s
• Secured GAR votes for the GOP (hah!)
• Helped secure the high tariff because the
money was necessary to pay the veterans
Dealing with Western Democrats
•
Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890
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•
Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890
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•
Did little, but was a first
Doubled minimum purchase of silver from
Blaine-Allison Law (to about all the silver that
was being mined)
Made farmers, who wanted inflation, happy
Eastern Gold Bugs supported silver to keep
the tariff and Western farmers supported
the tariff to get the silver!
The Tariff (it’s back!)
•
Increased the rate of the protective tariff with the
McKinley Tariff Bill of 1890
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–
48%!!!
Also gave American sugar growers a bounty of 2 cents a
pound
New duties saw an increase in prices of manufactured
goods for farmer
–
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Often from Democrats creating hype against the tariff
So much hatred rose against the Republicans that
there was a congressional turnaround in 1890 when
the Republicans went from 166 to 88 seats in the
house and the Democrats had 235.
–
9 of the Democrats were members of the Farmers’
Alliance
Populists and the Election of 1892
•
The farmers’ movement that began with the
Grange and the Farmers’ Alliances grew into a
strong political party called the Populists
•
In the election of 1892:
– The Republicans ran the much disliked
President Harrison
– The Democrats ran former President
Cleveland
– The Populists ran a Greenbacker – General
James B. Weaver
1892 Presidential Election
James Weaver Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison
Greenback / Populist
again! * (DEM)
(REP)
Price Indexes for Consumer &
Farm Products: 1865-1913
Populist platform:
•
Free and unlimited coinage of silver at a 16:1
ratio
Graduated income tax
Government ownership of telephone,
telegraph, and railroads
Direct election of Senators
One-term limit on the Presidency
Use of initiatives and referendums
8-hour workday
Immigration restrictions
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•
•
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–
(the last two were to attract labor votes)
Growth of Populism
•
Populist movement was fueled by two
large strikes in the summer of 1892
–
Homestead (Carnegie’s steel plant)
•
–
Brought in Pinkertons and then national troops to
put down the strike
Coeur d’Alene silver miner strike in Idaho
•
Also brought down by federal troops
1892 Presidential Election
Results of 1892
•
Cleveland won again – the only person to be REelected after defeat
Populists got over a million votes (22 electoral) from
the Midwest and west.
•
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•
Only 3rd party to be a MAJOR player
Didn’t get poor white vote in the South because the
Populists were trying to woo black farmers
Major blow to black voters in the South as this was
the year that the final Jim Crow nail was put into
black voting
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–
Grandfather laws exempted those who had ancestors that
voted in 1860 from poll taxes and literacy tests
Oddly enough the Populists became more racist after this
Depression of 1893
•
•
Lasted for approximately 4 years
Most devastating economic downturn of the
century
First large scale depression of the urban and
industrial age
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•
Caused by:
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Brought much hardship to the urban poor
Overbuilding
Overspeculation
Labor disorders
Agricultural depression
Reduced American dollar because of free-silver
Sound familiar?
Causes of the 1893 Panic
 Began 10 days after Cleveland took office.
1. Several major corporations went bankrupt.
 Over 16,000 businesses disappeared.
 Triggered a stock market crash.
 Over-extended investments.
2. Bank failures followed causing a contraction
of credit (nearly 500 banks closed)
3. By 1895, unemployment reached 3 million.
 Americans cried out for relief, but the government
continued its laissez faire policies!!
Here Lies Prosperity
The Government and the Depression of 1893
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•
Government took the typical “wait and see approach” of
the time
Cleveland did have to act to staunch the bleeding of
gold from the Treasury
– Under the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, the Treasury
had to issue notes for the silver it bought. Owners of
the paper currency would exchange it for gold. But
then the notes had to be reissued and the process
would begin again.
– The Treasury dipped below $100 million of gold – the
safe line
– Cleveland called for an extra session of Congress in
the summer of 1893 to repeal the Sherman Silver
Purchase Act
•
Even though silverites like 33-year-old congressman
from Nebraska, William Jennings Bryan, spoke against
it – the repeal passed
The Government and the Depression
of 1893
•
Also it was good Cleveland didn’t die when
having emergency surgery to remove a
mouth tumor because his VP (Adlai
Stevenson) was a soft money guy
By February of 1894, the US was on the
verge of going off the gold standard as gold
reserves sank to $41 million
•
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Because other currency was still being exchanged
Would cause an unstable economy
What could Cleveland do to stop
the flood?
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Sold government bonds for more than $100
million in gold
Worked out a deal with JP Morgan for a $65
million loan
•
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½ of the gold would be from abroad
Would take the “necessary steps” to fill the holes in the
Treasury
Paid Morgan $7 million commission
These measures reassured the economy but
freaked out the silverites and those who thought
the government was selling out
Coxey’s Army
•
Marched on Washington DC demanding relief for
unemployment through a federal works program
financed by $500 million in legal tender notes
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–
Got arrested for walking on the grass
Like the Great Depression
Pullman Strike
•
Pullman’s workers struck over huge
wage cuts without rent cuts
Governor of Illionis felt that the paralysis
caused by Debs’ American Railway
Union’s support of the strike, and
therefore lack of use of Pullman Cars,
was acceptable
•
–
Obviously Governor Atgeld (who had
pardoned the remaining Haymarket
prisoners) was a friend of labor.
Pullman Strike
•
Attorney General Olney
was anti-labor and brought
out federal troops against
the strikers because they
were interfering with mail
delivery
–
•
Cleveland supported this
First OBVIOUS use of
government and business
collaboration against
unions
–
Imprisonment helped Debs
become a socialist
The Tariff…gets worse!
•
The McKinley Tariff of 1890 had been
designed, and did, keep the protection high
and the surplus low.
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Too high and too low – the Treasury was
running out of funds
By 1894 Congress was trying to create a
new tariff, but because of pork it ended up:
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Bringing the tariff only from 48% to 41%
Sugar benefits worth $20 million a year
Income tax on incomes over $4000 – appeal to
the masses
The Tariff…gets worse!
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Cleveland thought it was too little, but was
better than McKinley Tariff – at least it had the
income tax
The Supreme Court overturned the income
tax in 1895 saying it violated Article 1 Section
9 paragraph 4 – no direct tax
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Changed with the 16th amendment in 1913
allowing an income tax
People were angry and though the courts only
supported big business
1894 Mid-Term Elections
 Populist vote
increased by
40% in the
mid term-election
year,1894.
 Democratic
party losses in
the West were
catastrophic!
 But, Republicans
won control of
the House.
The Tariff…gets worse!
•
The midterm elections went to the
Republicans because so much
frustration was put on the Democrats for
the lame tariff
• Republicans thought they could
nominate a nobody and still win the 1896
election
• Silverites were gaining ground and
followers
– Especially with propaganda like Coin’s
Financial School (1894)