From Stalemate to Crisis
Chapter 19
The Party System
• Characteristics of Politics of the late 1800’s
▫ Strong, stable political party, system with very loyal
voters
▫ Politicians did not address the problems caused by
rapid social and economic change
• Most Americans engaged in political activity
(voting, donating money) because of regional,
ethnic, or religious sentiments (peer pressure)
▫ Woman, blacks, poor Southern women, were potential
voters who were disenfranchised by the political
system
The National Government
• Federal government was weak with few
responsibilities
• Parties were more powerful then the national
government
• The National Government had a reputation that
they did very little to help ease the growing
problems of the people.
 What types of problems were afflicting the American
People?
 What problems were afflicting the National
Government?
The National Government
• The Federal Government and the President did
little to help everyday people except retired
veterans by paying their pension—Civil War
Pension System
• Public Officials were thought to be concerned
only with
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Winning elections
Controlling patronage
Giving out jobs
Maintaining their basis of support among voters
Presidents and Patronage
• The President’s main
power was to appoint
people to government
positions
▫ 100,000 appointments
to the post office alone
Presidents and Patronage
• The Stalwarts and the Half Breeds—two rival
sub-parties within the republican party
▫ Stalwarts—lead by New York boss Roscoe
Conkling
 Favored traditional, machine politics
▫ Half Breeds—lead by James G. Blaine of Maine
 Favored reform of the system
▫ Competed over control of the Republican Party
▫ Battle fought between Hayes presidency
Pendleton Civil Service Act
• An attempt to end Patronage by requiring all
Federal Government Employees to take an exam
before they could get a job with the government.
▫ Made sure people were competent and qualified
▫ It was meant to
 end the appointment of under qualified people to
government jobs
 Keep people from bribing officials to get gov jobs
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act 1890 was passed to
break up business trusts (monopolies)
• Declared illegal any contract or trade practice that
created a trust or monopoly within interstate trade.
▫ It was ineffective because:
 1) it was used against labor unions
 2) the courts limited the types of businesses that
could be sued
 3) government didn’t go after business monopolies
 4) government didn’t seem motivated to enforce the
act.
Interstate Commerce Act of 1887
• Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 created the
Interstate Commerce Commission a
government agency designed regulate the
railroads
• Law requiring rail rates to be “reasonable”, and
for railroads to file rates and schedules with the
national government
▫ For 20 years it was ineffective because it was
rarely enforced
▫ No one knew which government agency was
supposed to support it
The Grange (Granger) Movement
 An organization of rural farmers joining together for support
 First organized in the 1870s in the Midwest, the south, and
Texas.
 Set up cooperative associations.
 They worked to
 Help distant lonely farmers make connections with other farmers
 Get around the middle men in crop marketing and selling
 Regulate railroad rates
 Help farmers in need.
 Rapidly declined by the late 1870s.
 Would eventually become the Populists
Written by a Farmer in 1898
• When the banker says he's broke
And the merchant’s up in smoke,
They forget that it's the farmer
who feeds them all.
It would put them to the test
If the farmer took a rest;
Then they'd know that it's the farmer
feeds them all.
The Populist Movement
• Political movement in the west that supported
the free coinage of silver and the regulation of
business
• American Issues 19.1—Populist Party Platform
• Supported by small farmers
Causes of the Panic of 1893

Begun 10 days after President 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 Govt.
continued its laissez faire (doesn’t care) policies!!
Study Slam
Chapters 19-20
Review Question 1
• Following the Civil War, the leaders of both
political parties seemed most concerned with:
A) resolving the dispute between protectionists
and advocates of free trade.
B) providing inflation of the money supply.
C) curbing the growing power of big business.
D) winning elections and controlling patronage.
Review Question 2
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was:
A) passed by a narrow margin after a long and
bitter debate in Congress.
B) immediately successful in halting the trend
toward business monopolization.
C) intended by Congress to restructure the
economy.
D) virtually emasculated by hostile court
decisions.
Review Question 3
The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 provided for:
A) nominal government supervision of the railroads,
designed principally to satisfy the popular clamor
for reform.
B) discrimination in railroad rates between long and
short hauls.
C) an objective standard to determine the extent to
which railroad rates were "reasonable and just."
D) an Interstate Commerce Commission with a clear
authority to fix railroad rates.
Review Question 4
• Which of the following groups of the latter
nineteenth century would not have favored an
inflationary policy of "free silver" by the
government?
A)Bankers
B) Silver miners
C) Farmers
D) Debtors
Review Question 5
• In politics, "patronage" generally refers to:
A)the tendency of politicians to talk down to the
voters.
B) the system of fixed bids, kickbacks, and bribes
that officeholders took from constituents.
C) the way that wealthy industrialists controlled
the legislators.
D) the process of awarding government jobs to
supporters of the winning party.
Review Question 6
The key issue debated in the 1888 presidential
election campaign was:
A) monopoly.
B) tariff.
C) civil service.
D) race.
Review Question 7
• The "ratio of 16 to 1," which was important to the
politics of the 1890s, referred to:
A) the number of poor people for every one middleclass person.
B) the way that southern states counted African
Americans for the purposes of determining
congressional representation.
C) the profit that railroads made for each ton
carried.
D) the value of silver compared to the value of gold.
Review Question 8
• The new "Manifest Destiny" contrasted with the preCivil War version in that the new:
A) was mostly free of the attitudes of racial and
ethnic superiority that had characterized the old.
B) concentrated on lands not geographically
adjacent to territory already controlled by the
United States.
C) was patriotically motivated whereas the old was
steeped in economic exploitation.
D) tended to involve use of military force whereas
such force had been avoided with the old.
Review Question 9
• The annexation of Hawaii by the United States
occurred as a result of:
A) the request of American missionaries in the
1820s.
B) negotiation of a treaty with King Kalakaua in
1887.
C) the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani by American
businessmen in 1893.
D) passage of a joint resolution by Congress in 1898.
Review Question 10
• All of the following arguments were made against
United States annexation of the Philippines except
that:
A) inferior" Asian races would "pollute" the
American population.
B) defense of the islands would prove costly and
entangle America in foreign alliances.
C) such a move would repudiate American
principles of independence and self-reliance.
D) control of the islands would necessitate American
involvement in the Oriental trade.
Things You Should Know for the Test
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Political activity of the late 1800’s
Political party system of the late 1800’s
Reputation of the Federal Government
Function of the President
Stalwarts vs. The Half-Breeds
Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883
Anti-Trust Regulation
Sherman Anti-trust Act of 1890
Grange Movement
Things you should know for the test
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Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Act of 1887
Farmers Alliance
Populist Party Platform
Crisis of the 1890’s
Panic of 1893
Bimetalism
Sherman Silver Purchase Act
William Jennings Bryan
Things you should know for the test
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American Imperialism
Reason for expansion
Criticism for expansion
Acquisition of Hawaii
Cuban Revolt
Spanish-American War
Causes for American involvement
Theodore Roosevelt
Annexation of the Philippines
Philippine War
Treaty of Paris