Chapter Introduction
Section 1 Stalemate in Washington
Section 2 Populism
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Guide to Reading
Main Idea
From 1877 to 1896, the Republicans and
Democrats were so evenly matched that only a
few reforms were possible at the national level. 
Key Terms and Names
• patronage 
• rebate 
• Stalwart 
• Interstate Commerce
Commission
• Pendleton Act 
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A Campaign to Clean Up Politics
• Under the spoils system, or patronage,
government jobs went to supporters of
the winning party in an election. 
• By the late 1870s, many Americans
believed that patronage corrupted those
who worked for the government. 
• They began a movement to reform the
civil service. 
• President Rutherford B. Hayes attacked
the practice of patronage.
(pages 364–365)
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A Campaign to Clean Up Politics
(cont.)
• The “Stalwarts”–a group of Republican
machine politicians who strongly opposed
civil service reform–accused Hayes of
backing civil service reform to create
openings for his own supporters. 
• Civil service reformers were called
“Halfbreeds.” 
• The Republican candidates for the
election of 1880 were a Halfbreed, James
Garfield for president, and the Stalwart,
Chester Arthur for vice president. 
• They won the election.
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(pages 364–365)
A Campaign to Clean Up Politics
(cont.)
• President Garfield was assassinated a
few months into his presidency. 
• He was killed by a Stalwart who wanted
a civil service job through the spoils
system. 
• In 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton
Act. 
• This civil service reform act allowed the
president to decide which federal jobs
would be filled according to rules set up
by a bipartisan Civil Service Commission.
(pages 364–365)
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A Campaign to Clean Up Politics
(cont.)
• Candidates competed for federal jobs
through examinations. 
• Appointments could be made only from
the list of those who took the exams. 
• Once appointed to a job, a civil service
official could not be removed for political
reasons.
(pages 364–365)
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A Campaign to Clean Up Politics
(cont.)
How did the Pendleton Act help reform the civil
service?
This civil service reform act allowed the
president to decide which federal jobs would
be filled according to rules set up by a
bipartisan Civil Service Commission.
Candidates competed for federal jobs through
examinations. Appointments could be made
only from the list of those who took the exams.
Once appointed to a job, a civil service official
could not be removed for political reasons.
(pages 364–365)
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Two Parties, Neck and Neck
• A major reason that few new policies
were introduced in the 1870s and 1880s
was because the Democrats had control
of the House of Representatives and the
Republicans had the control of the
Senate. 
• Both the Republicans and the Democrats
were well organized in the late 1800s. 
• The presidential elections were won with
narrow margins between 1876 and 1896.
(pages 365–366)
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Two Parties, Neck and Neck (cont.)
• In 1876 and 1888, the presidential
candidate lost the popular vote but
won the electoral vote and the election. 
• The Republicans won four of the six
presidential elections between 1876
and 1896. 
• The Democrats controlled the House
of Representatives, however, and the
Senate was controlled by Republicans
who did not necessarily agree with the
president on issues.
(pages 365–366)
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Two Parties, Neck and Neck (cont.)
Why were few new policies introduced in
the 1870s and 1880s?
(pages 365–366)
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Two Parties, Neck and Neck (cont.)
Both the Republicans and the Democrats were
well organized in the late 1800s. The presidential
elections were won with narrow margins between
1876 and 1896. The Republicans won four of the
six presidential elections between 1876 and
1896. The Democrats controlled the House of
Representatives, however, and the Senate was
controlled by Republicans who did not
necessarily agree with the president on issues.
This created a nearly even division of power
between Republicans and Democrats that
produced political deadlock at the federal level.
(pages 365–366)
Democrats Reclaim the White
House
• In the presidential election of 1884,
Republicans remained divided over
reform. 
• Democrats nominated Governor Grover
Cleveland of New York, a reformer who
opposed Tammany Hall. 
• Republicans nominated James G. Blaine,
a former Speaker of the House of
Representatives. 
• Blaine was popular among Republican
Party workers.
(pages 366–367)
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Democrats Reclaim the White
House (cont.)
• A major issue in the campaign was
corruption in American government. 
• Voters focused on the morals of each
candidate. 
• Some Republican reformers, called
“Mugwumps,” disliked Blaine so much
that they left the party to support the
Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland.

• The Mugwumps did not like Blaine’s
connection with the Crédit Mobilier
scandal.
(pages 366–367)
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Democrats Reclaim the White
House (cont.)
• Cleveland admitted to having fathered
a child ten years earlier and retained
the support of the Mugwumps for his
honesty. 
• Blaine tried to persuade Roman
Catholics to vote Republican because
his mother was an Irish Catholic. 
• His tactic failed, and Cleveland was
elected president.
(pages 366–367)
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Democrats Reclaim the White
House (cont.)
Why did Grover Cleveland win the
presidential election of 1884?
Some Republican reformers, called
Mugwumps, disliked Blaine and supported
Grover Cleveland instead. They disliked
Blaine because they did not like his
personal morals and his connection with
the Crédit Mobilier scandal.
(pages 366–367)
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A President Besieged by Problems
• Many supporters of President Grover
Cleveland sought patronage jobs after
his election to office. 
• Many strikes occurred during Cleveland’s
administration. 
• Police and paid guards sometimes
attacked the strikers. 
• A bomb exploded at a labor
demonstration in Haymarket Square
in Chicago.
(pages 367–368)
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A President Besieged by Problems
(cont.)
• Small businesses and farmers became
angry at railroads because they paid
high rates for shipping goods, but large
corporations were given rebates, or
partial refunds, and lower rates for
shipping goods. 
• Both Democrats and Republicans
believed that government should not
interfere with corporations’ property
rights.
(pages 367–368)
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A President Besieged by Problems
(cont.)
• In 1886 the Supreme Court ruled in the
case of Wabash v. Illinois that the state
of Illinois could not restrict the rates that
the Wabash Railroad charged for traffic
between states because only the federal
government could regulate interstate
commerce. 
• In 1887 a bill was signed creating the
Interstate Commerce Commission. 
• This was the first law to regulate
interstate commerce.
(pages 367–368)
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A President Besieged by Problems
(cont.)
• Many Americans wanted to do away with
high tariffs because they felt that large
American companies could compete
internationally. 
• They wanted Congress to cut tariffs
because these taxes caused an increase
in the price of manufactured goods. 
• President Cleveland proposed lowering
tariffs, but Congress was deadlocked
over the issue. 
• Tariff reduction became a major issue in
the election of 1888.
(pages 367–368)
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A President Besieged by Problems
(cont.)
What was the purpose of the Interstate
Commerce Commission?
The commission was created to regulate
interstate commerce. The commission
limited railroad rates to what was
“reasonable and just,” forbade rebates to
high-volume users, and made it illegal to
charge higher rates for shorter hauls.
(pages 367–368)
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Republicans Regain Power
• The Republican candidate in the 1888
election was Benjamin Harrison. 
• His campaign was given large
contributions by industrialists who
wanted tariff protection. 
• The Democratic candidate was
Cleveland. 
• He was against high tariff rates. 
• Harrison won the election by winning
the electoral vote, but not the popular
vote.
(pages 368–369)
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Republicans Regain Power (cont.)
• As a result of the election of 1888,
Republicans gained control of both
houses of Congress and the White
House. 
• The Republicans were able to pass
legislation on issues of national
concern. 
• The McKinley Tariff cut tariff rates on
some goods, but increased the rates of
others. 
• It lowered federal revenue and left the
nation with a budget deficit.
(pages 368–369)
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Republicans Regain Power (cont.)
• A new pension law passed in 1890 for
veterans furthered worsened the federal
deficit. 
• The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890
made trusts illegal, although the courts
did little to enforce the law.
(pages 368–369)
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Republicans Regain Power (cont.)
What were the results of the Sherman
Antitrust Act?
The courts did little to enforce the Sherman
Antitrust Act. The legislative act was
important for establishing a precedent
in the regulation of big business.
(pages 368–369)
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Checking for Understanding
Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on
the left.
__
B 1. a partial refund to lower the
rate of a good or commodity
__
A 2. another name for the spoils
system, in which government
jobs or favors are given out to
political allies and friends
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A. patronage
B. rebate
Guide to Reading
Main Idea
In the 1890s an independent political movement
called populism emerged to challenge the two
major parties. 
Key Terms and Names
•
•
•
•
•
•
populism 
greenback 
inflation 
deflation 
Grange 
cooperative 
•
•
•
•
•
People’s Party 
graduated income tax 
goldbug 
silverite 
William Jennings Bryan
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Unrest in Rural America
• In the 1890s, a political movement called
Populism emerged to increase the
political power of farmers and to work
for legislation for farmers’ interests. 
• The nation’s money supply concerned
farmers. 
• To help finance the Union in the Civil
War, the government issued millions
of dollars in greenbacks, or paper
currency that could not be exchanged
for gold or silver coins.
(pages 372–374)
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Unrest in Rural America (cont.)
• This rapid increase in the money supply
without a rapid increase in goods for sale
caused inflation–a decline in the value of
money. 
• The prices of goods greatly increased. 
• To get inflation under control, the federal
government stopped printing greenbacks
and started paying off bonds. 
• Congress also stopped making silver
into coins.
(pages 372–374)
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Unrest in Rural America (cont.)
• As a result, the country did not have a
large enough money supply to meet the
needs of the growing economy. 
• This led to deflation–or an increase in
the value of money and a decrease in
the general level of prices. 
• Deflation forced most farmers to borrow
money to plant their crops. 
• The short supply of money caused
an increase in interest rates that the
farmers owed.
(pages 372–374)
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Unrest in Rural America (cont.)
• Some farmers wanted more greenbacks
printed to expand the money supply. 
• Others wanted the government to mint
silver coins. 
• The Grange was a national farm
organization founded for social and
educational purposes. 
• When the country experienced a
recession, large numbers of farmers
joined the Grange for help. 
• The Grange changed its focus to
respond to the plight of farmers.
(pages 372–374)
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Unrest in Rural America (cont.)
• Grangers put their money together and
created cooperatives–marketing
organizations that worked to help its
members. 
• The cooperatives pooled members’
crops and held them off the market
to force the prices to rise. 
• Cooperatives could negotiate better
shipping rates from railroads.
(pages 372–374)
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Unrest in Rural America (cont.)
• The Grange was unable to improve the
economic conditions of farmers. 
• By the late 1870s, many farmers left
the Grange and joined other
organizations that offered to help
them solve their problems.
(pages 372–374)
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Unrest in Rural America (cont.)
How did the Grange try to help farmers?
Some Grangers pressured state
legislatures to regulate railroad and
warehouse rates. Others joined the
Independent National Party, or Greenback
Party, to pressure the government into
printing more greenbacks to increase the
money supply. Grangers also formed
cooperatives to help farmers market their
crops for higher prices and negotiate better
shipping rates.
(pages 372–374)
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The Farmers’ Alliance
• The Farmers’ Alliance was formed in
1877. 
• By 1890 it had between 1.5 and 3
million members with strength in the
South and on the Great Plains. 
• The Alliance organized large
cooperatives called exchanges for the
purpose of forcing farm prices up and
making loans to farmers at low interest
rates. 
• These exchanges mostly failed.
(pages 374–375)
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The Farmers’ Alliance (cont.)
• Many exchanges overextended
themselves by loaning too much money
at low interest rates that were not repaid. 
• Wholesalers, manufacturers, railroads,
and bankers discriminated against the
exchanges. 
• The exchanges were too small to
dramatically affect world prices for
farm products.
(pages 374–375)
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The Farmers’ Alliance (cont.)
• Members of the Kansas Alliance formed
the People’s Party, or Populists, to push
for political reforms that would help
farmers solve their problems. 
• Most Southern leaders of the Alliance
opposed the People’s Party because
they wanted the Democrats to retain
control of the South. 
• One Southern leader, Charles Macune,
came up with a subtreasury plan to set
up warehouses where farmers could
store their crops to force prices up. (pages 374–375)
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The Farmers’ Alliance (cont.)
Why did the exchanges set up by the
Farmers’ Alliance fail?
Many exchanges overextended themselves
by loaning too much money at low interest
rates that were not repaid. Wholesalers,
manufacturers, railroads, and bankers
discriminated against the exchanges. The
exchanges were too small to dramatically
affect world prices for farm products.
(pages 374–375)
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The Rise of Populism
• In 1890 the Farmers’ Alliance issued the
Ocala Demands to help farmers choose
candidates in the 1890 elections. 
• The demands included the adoption of
the subtreasury plan, the free coinage
of silver, an end to protective tariffs
and national banks, tighter regulation
of the railroads, and direct election of
senators by voters. 
• Many pro-Alliance Democrats were
elected to office in the South.
(pages 375–378)
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The Rise of Populism (cont.)
• By early 1892, Southern members of the
Alliance began to realize that Democrats
were not going to keep their promises to
the Alliance and they were ready to leave
the Democratic Party and join the
People’s Party. 
• In July 1892, the People’s Party held
its first national convention where it
nominated James B. Weaver to run
for president.
(pages 375–378)
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The Rise of Populism (cont.)
• The People’s Party platform called for
unlimited coinage of silver, federal
ownership of railroads, and a graduated
income tax, one that taxes higher
earnings more heavily. 
• It also called for an eight-hour workday,
restriction of immigration, and denounced
the use of strikebreakers. 
• Democrats nominated New Yorker Grover
Cleveland for the 1892 presidential
election. 
• Cleveland won the election.
(pages 375–378)
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The Rise of Populism (cont.)
• The Panic of 1893 was caused by the
bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and
Reading Railroads. 
• It resulted in the stock market crash
and the closing of many banks. 
• By 1894 the country was in a deep
depression.
(pages 375–378)
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The Rise of Populism (cont.)
• President Cleveland wanted to stop the
flow of gold and make it the sole basis
for the country’s currency, so he had
Congress repeal of the Sherman Silver
Purchase Act. 
• This caused the Democratic Party to split
into the goldbugs and the silverites. 
• Goldbugs believed the American
currency should be based only on gold. 
• Silverites believed coining silver in
unlimited amounts was the answer to
the nation’s economic crisis.
(pages 375–378)
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The Rise of Populism (cont.)
What was the People’s Party platform in
the election of 1892?
The People’s Party platform called for
unlimited coinage of silver, federal ownership
of railroads, and a graduated income tax, or
one that taxes higher earnings more heavily.
It also called
for an eight-hour workday, restriction
of immigration, and denounced the
use of strikebreakers.
(pages 375–378)
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The Election of 1896
• The Democrats nominated William
Jennings Bryan for the presidential
election of 1896. 
• He strongly supported the unlimited
coinage of silver. 
• Populists also supported Bryan for
president. 
• The Republicans nominated William
McKinley of Ohio for president. 
• He promised workers a “full dinner pail.”
(pages 378–379)
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The Election of 1896 (cont.)
• Most business leaders liked McKinley
because they thought that unlimited
silver coinage would ruin the country’s
economy. 
• McKinley won the election of 1896. 
• New gold strikes in Alaska and Canada’s
Yukon Territory and in other parts of the
world increased the money supply
without needing to use silver. 
• As the silver issue died out, so did the
Populist Party.
(pages 378–379)
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The Election of 1896 (cont.)
Why did William McKinley appeal to
workers and business leaders?
McKinley promised workers a “full dinner
pail.” Most business leaders liked him
because they thought that unlimited silver
coinage would ruin the country’s economy.
(pages 378–379)
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Checking for Understanding
Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on
the left.
__
C 1. the loss of value of money
__
B 2. a piece of U.S. paper money first
issued by the North during the Civil
War
__
D 3. a person who believes that
American currency should be
based on a gold standard
__
A 4. a decline in the volume of
available money or credit that
results in lower prices, and,
therefore, increases the buying
power of money
__
E 5. a person who believes that coining
silver in unlimited quantities would
solve the nation’s economic crisis
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A. deflation
B. greenback
C. inflation
D. goldbug
E. silverite