Chapter 23-AP Notes
39 million by 1870-26.6% increase
Many were upset by waste and extravagance of America
Grant
Hero of war-received big $ from supporters all over
Only voted once yet a huge hero so Repubs nominated
Democrats could not agree-eastern delegates wanted war bonds
redeemed in gold, Mid Western delegates wanted redemption in
greenbacks, farmers wanted interest rates lowered-problem w/ $
policy
Nominee for Dems-Horatio Seymour
Grant and “Bloody Shirt” won 214-80 yet only 300,000
500,000 former slaves for Grant
Good Stealings
• Reconstruction brought great corruption
• Jay Gould(brother in law of Grant) and Jim Fisk attempted to
corner the gold market and although they failed Gould made a
huge profit
• “Boss” Tweed in New York controlled the city($200 million)
• Grant’s in laws received federal jobs
• Credit Mobilier(1872) Union Pacific insiders hired themselves at
inflated prices to build RR lines & bought off Congressman to
not investigate-VP Schuyler Colfax took $ too
• Whiskey Ring robbed treasury of millions in excise tax $
• Secretary of War Wllm. Belknap took bribes from suppliers of
whiskey to Indian Reservations and took bribes for sale of
Indian trading posts-impeached yet resigned
Revolt of 1872
• Liberal Wing of the Republican Party began to emerge with all
the scandal-wanted an end to Grant and Reconstruction-many
of the Radicals were now dead or out of office
• Liberal Wing and Dems chose Horace Greeley?
• Grant won 56% of vote-largest total between Jackson and TR
• Repubs removed political disabilities from all but a few
Confederate leaders and reduced high Civil War tariffs
Economic Woes
• Panic of 1873-Promoters had laid more track, sunk more
mines, built more factories, and grown more grains than the
markets could tolerate
• Bankers had made too many poor loans-profits faltered, so too
did loans-15,000 businesses went bankrupt
• War led to $450 million in greenbacks-by 1870s $356 million
remained in circulation-some supported the idea of allowing
them and others wanted a return to hard money
• In 1874 Congress passed a measure to allow a modest
reissuing of greenbacks-vetoed by Grant-hard $ won out
• Resumption Act of 1875 passed-treasury dropped silver
• Farmers and workers dumbfounded-$ per capita decreasedcontraction
• Greenback Party emerges!
Gilded Age(3 decades after Civil War)
• Politics were a gamble-House majorities switched 6 times from
1869-1891-rare to have complete branch control
• 80% of eligible voters participated-some bipartisanship on
issues such as tariffs, civil service reform and currency
• Sharp ethnic and cultural differences in the parties
• Repubs-puritanism, big government, single moral standard
• Dems-Lutheran or Catholic, professed toleration
• Dem-Solid South & Industrial North
• Repubs-Midwest & rural small town N’East
• Patronage was key to votes
• Repubs-Roscoe Conkling-swapping civil service jobs
• Opposing them were the Half-Breeds-James Blaine-deadlocked
party
Hayes vs. Tilden-1876
• Rep.-R.B. Hayes-gov. of Ohio
• Dem. S. Tilden-184 of 185 necessary votes-3 states unsure
returns: LA, SC, FL-all 3 sent 2 sets of returns
Compromise of 1877
• Electoral Count Act-Electoral Commission-8Repubs/7Dems
• Compromise: Hayes gets presidency, Remove Federal troops,
promised Democrats pork, & money for transcontinental RRsettled March 1
• Violence was averted by sacrificing freedom-running out of
steam anyway
• Civil Rights Act of 1875-guaranteed equal accommodations in
public places & prohibited racial discrimination in jury selections
• Supreme Court rulings on 14th?
Jim Crow
• Solid South returned: New South-Redeemers: Old South’s
ruling planters, middle class looking for commercial and
industrial development, professional politicians looking to
benefit with any group(laissez-faire & white supremacy)
• Blacks and poor whites lost rights-sharecropping and tenant
farming
• “Crop Lien” system
• Better than Slavery? Discrimination grew-legal codes of
discrimination-Many methods used to deny right to vote.
• Plessy v Ferguson (1896)
• Segregation created “Separate yet Not Equal”
• Whites dealt harshly with any blacks who challenged
Class Conflicts
• Regional Conflicts ended-class conflict took over
• Product of long years of depression & deflation
• RR-massive cuts-work stoppage brought fighting
• Strike failed-labor powerless
• Irish/Chinese fought in California-By 1880-10% of California’s
population was Asian-mostly men
• San Francisco-Violence vs. Chinese-resented competition
• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Garfield and Arthur
• 1880-Republican James Garfield vs. Dem. Winfield Hancock
• Greenback-Weaver---Garfield won close race
• Conflict brewed as James Blaine was chosen as Secretary of
State and Roscoe Conkling was upset-Garfield shot by a
deranged office seeker and eventually died-Chester Arthur took
over
• Attempt at reform of the Spoils System-Pendleton Act of 1883made compulsory campaign contributions from federal
employees illegal & established Civil Service Commission
• Now politicians looked to corporations for big $
Election of 1884
• Republican James Blaine (corrupt-Mulligan letters)-led to the
mugwumps
• Dem. Grover Cleveland(gov. of NY) father of an illegitimate
child?
• Cleveland barely won-laissez faire-eventually fell prey to spoils
Tariff
• High during war-now a huge surplus-Options-plunder on pork or
lower-Cleveland opposed lowering
• 1888 Presidential election Cleveland lost election to Benjamin
Harrison yet won the popular vote(Harrison raised $3 million)
Billion Dollar Congress
• Repubs ready for jobs-also enjoying surpluses-Democrats
planned stall tactics
• Thomas Reed-Maine-new speaker-ruled the House
• First Congress to appropriate $1 billion
• Congress showered pensions, increased government
purchases of silver-raised the tariff-McKinley Tariff of 1890
• Farmers hurt-buy expensive home products & sell grains in
unprotected world market
• 1890 Elections-Repubs lost majorities
Pg. 510-520 Quiz
1. What case set up the “Separate But Equal” doctrine?
2.
What two ethnic groups clashed in California over jobs and
opportunities?
3.
What was the answer to increase in population of the
Chinese in the United States?
4.
What was the solution to the spoils system after James
Garfield was assassinated?
5.
Who won the election 1888?
Discontent
• People’s Party emerged-Populists(Farmer’s Alliance)-wanted
govmnt reform, free & unlimited coinage of silver-16 oz. of silver
to 1 oz. of gold, graduated income tax, government ownership
of RR, telegraph, telephone, direct election of senators, 1 term
limit for president, allow citizens to shape laws, shorter
workday, immigrant restrictions
• Nominated James Weaver for president in 1892
• Strike at Pittsburgh
• Good showing for Populists in 1892 Election-South did not
support-Race Issue?
• Populists once supported & then turned backs on African
Americans
• Democrats and Cleveland return to office in 1892
Cleveland
• Panic of 1893-worst depression of 19th Century
• Causes: Overbuilding, overspeculation, labor disorders,
agricultural depression, pinch on US finances when European
banks called upon loans
• Businesses closed, unemployment grew and government did
little
• Deep Deficit
• Gold/Silver debate grew