AP/IB American History
Mr. Blackmon
Politics in the Gilded Age
I.
II.
Political sterility in the Gilded Age
A.
Rapid changes left no one with clear answers
B.
Parties therefore avoided the major issues.
1.
Voters had a choice of Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
2.
The two parties were closely balanced; although the Republicans held the
White House most often, they did not usually control both houses of
Congress.
3.
Politics tended to center around the hope of office, getting office, and keeping
office.
The American Commonwealth
A.
Congress dominated the government
1.
The Senate controlled by Congress by virtue of long tenure in office, smaller
size, and cohesiveness.
2.
Congressional elections were determined by local rather than national issues.
B.
The characteristics of the Republicans
1.
"Waving the bloody shirt"--legitimating their government by constant
reference to the Civil War; The Democratic Party, they say, is the party of
treason.
a.
The Republicans consistently nominated Union war veterans for
office.
2.
The Grand Army of the Republic: an organization of Union war veterans
largely concerned with securing generous pensions
3.
The Freedmen voted overwhelmingly Republican
4.
The Republicans were (and still are) the party of Big Business to whom they
offered
a.
high protective tariffs
b.
conservative monetary policies
c.
transportation subsidies
5.
The party attracted skilled workers with the argument that the tariff protected
wages and jobs.
6.
The party attracted people who were Protestant and Northern European in
cultural background.
C.
The characteristics of the Democratic Party:
1.
Southern whites were committed to one party rule
a.
My family have always been "yaller dawg Democrats." That is
someone who will vote for an old yaller dawg, as long as he is a
Democrat!
b.
It is within my life-time that the Solid South was lost to the
Democratic Party. The reason is basically social policy, especially
civil rights, although Southern whites are certainly conservative on
AP/IB American History
Politics in the Gilded Age
III.
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Page 2
a wide range of issues (cf my discussion of the Circle of Honor
earlier). Strom Thurmond began his career as a conservative
Democrat. He has not changed much in his views. It is the
Democratic Party which changed.
2.
The "Bourbon Democrats" who ruled the South were very conservative
indeed.
a.
They do not derive their name from Jack Daniels' favorite beverage.
They derive it from the ruling family of France, noted for their
reactionary policies.
(1)
They talked about a revenue tariff rather than a protective
tariff.
(2)
Their monetary policies were essentially the same as the
Republicans, as you will see with Grover Cleveland.
3.
The political legacy of Jefferson and Jackson holds many workers.
4.
Almost all Catholics and almost all immigrants were Democrats.
D.
The political stance of the Farmers:
1.
They split sectionally but tended to vote together on common issues,
especially Southern Democrats and Western Republicans
Political Issues of the Gilded Age
A.
"Waving the bloody shirt."
1.
Democrats are branded the party of treason
2.
The Republicans used the bloody shirt when trying to build up party
organization among Southern blacks.
3.
They also used it to obtain pensions for virtually every Union soldier.
B.
The Tariff
1.
There was widespread agreement on the need for a high tariff.
2.
High tariffs fostered the growth of industry and thus the creation of jobs.
3.
American quality and technology no longer needed protection in many areas
however
4.
Logrolling, politicking and lobbying characterized every tariff. It gets down
and dirty as deals are cut in smoke-filled rooms.
C.
Currency Reform
1.
There is steady deflation of the currency supply due to the expansion of the
economy at a rate much greater than the expansion of the money supply.
a.
Deflation hurts debtors badly, especially farmers.
b.
Deflation increases the real income of bondholders and other
creditors.
2.
This leads to pressure to keep the Greenbacks in circulation in order to
inflate the currency.
3.
The Greenback-Labor Party polled 1,000,000 votes for President in 1876.
4.
Western Republicans and some Southern Democrats favored expansion of the
currency.
AP/IB American History
Politics in the Gilded Age
5.
IV.
V.
Mr. Blackmon
Page 3
Resumption Act of 1875 resumed specie payments and ordered the recall of
greenbacks.
a.
A compromise in the bill agreed to keep $300,000,000 in circulation.
6.
Silver
a.
Miners and inflationists demanded coinage of silver to increase the
supply.
b.
Few leaders saw fiscal policy as a means of influencing economic
development.
D.
Civil Service Reform
1.
The increasing size of the federal bureaucracy
required a professional administration.
2.
Corruption,
massive
waste,
and
enormous
inefficiency were rampant. The Spoils System was an
open invitation to bribery and corruption.
a.
The biggest plum was chief of New York City
Customs
3.
Politicians resisted attacks on the Spoils System
since patronage was the heart of their power.
Political Strategy and Tactics
A.
No effective solutions to complex problems were devised
1.
How can one run the parties without the Spoils
System?
2.
Social Sciences were in embryonic stage and
statistical tools to analyze problems for social
management were just developing.
B.
Inertia plays into the hands of "Conservatives"
1.
These Conservatives were, however, changing society
by manipulating agrarian, legal, religious, and
economic traditions.
C.
Most national elections were either won or lost in a few
closely matched states:
New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
D.
Mudslinging, lying, corruption, bribery were commonplace.
The Presidents of the Gilded Age
A.
We have a string of mediocre (at best) Presidents from
Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt
B.
Andrew Johnson falls within Reconstruction rather than the
Gilded Age. We have already seen that his Presidency was
disastrous. He is completely ineffective.
C.
Ulysses S. Grant can be classed under Reconstruction or under
the Gilded Age.
1.
Grant was an honest and well-meaning man who made
poor choices in advisers and cabinet officers, was
loyal to men who were not loyal to him, and who had
little comprehension of political complexities.
2.
His administration is one of the three most corrupt
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Politics in the Gilded Age
D.
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administrations in history.
a.
The other two are Warren G. Harding and
Richard Nixon.
b.
All three are Republican administrations. The
first two come immediately after a major war;
the third during a very unpopular war. All
three are characterized by high degrees of
cynicism and materialism.
Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-81) Republican
1.
The Hayes-Tilden election is the most fraudulent in
US history. The weight of evidence seems to point
to the fact that Tilden should have been President,
not
Hayes.
This
was
discussed
under
Reconstruction.
2.
Part of the political deal that enabled Hayes to
govern was the Compromise of 1877, which brought
Reconstruction to an end and abandoned Southern
African Americans to their fate at the hands of
Bourbon (Redemptionist) state governments.
3.
Hayes was personally honest, serious, conservative,
well-meaning.
4.
His wife was disliked owing to her decision to ban
liquor from the White House; she was dubbed
Lemonade Lucy.
5.
Hayes saw himself as a civil service reformer.
a.
He appointed the notably honest and dedicated
Carl Schurz Secretary of the Interior
b.
He opposed collecting political donations from
office-holders (one reason why he is a one
term President)
6.
Hayes tried to balance deep divisions within his
party:
a.
The Stalwarts, led by Roscoe Conkling, who believed
in machine politics and the allocation of the
spoils to the victor with no apologies. In my
admittedly jaundiced view, their only virtue
was that, although they were crooks, they at
least were not hypocrites.
(1) Hayes caused a party crisis by firing the
notably corrupt Chester A. Arthur, who
was Conkling's protégé, as chief of the
New York Customs House.
b.
The Halfbreeds, led by the despicable James G.
Blaine, who gave lip service to civil service
reform but otherwise were indistinguishable
from the Stalwarts.
AP/IB American History
Politics in the Gilded Age
7.
E.
F.
G.
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Hayes viewed the Presidency in the Whig tradition
as a caretaker rather than a leader. He conceded
national leadership to Congress.
James A. Garfield (1880) Republican
1.
Garfield was a compromise candidate between the
Stalwarts and Halfbreeds. Chester A. Arthur became
his Vice President.
2.
He was assasinated by Charles Guiteau in 1881. Guiteau
was a disappointed office-seeker, who shouted "I am
a Stalwart and Arthur is President now!" after he
shot him.
3.
Garfield's murder demonstrated the need for Civil
Service reform even to the most obtuse.
Chester A. Arthur (1881-1884) Republican
1.
Arthur was an unabashed spoilsman and Stalwart.
2.
When he became President, one Senator cried, "Chet
Arthur President of the United States? Good God!"
3.
Arthur was however sobered by Garfield's murder and
used considerable restraint in using his patronage,
to Conkling's irritation.
4.
Arthur supported the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883,
which classified 10% of government jobs as falling
under Civil Service and creating a Civil Service
Commission to administer examinations from which to
fill the posts.
a.
Every succeeding President extended the list
of classified jobs until we had an entirely
merit-based system.
b.
Much of the motivation was to protect one's
own political appointees
5.
Arthur was unable or unwilling to push his own
programs through Congress.
Grover Cleveland (1884-1888) Democrat
1.
Cleveland is the best President of a poor lot
between Lincoln and Roosevelt.
2.
He is the only President to be elected to split
terms in office.
3.
His first election is also pretty entertaining.
a.
The Republicans nominated James G. Blaine, which
split the party.
b.
Blaine had just been embarrassed by the
publication of the Mulligan Letters, which had
not been burned as he had directed.
c.
When asked if he would support Blaine,
Conkling snarled, "I do not engage in criminal
practice."
AP/IB American History
Politics in the Gilded Age
d.
4.
5.
6.
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Eastern, reform-minded Republicans called
Mugwumps bolt the party and support Cleveland.
e.
There were no real party issues in the
campaign.
f.
The Democrats went after Blaine by singing a
little ditty that went: Blaine, Blaine, James
G. Blaine/The continental liar from the state
of Maine!"
g.
The Republicans retaliated by dredging up an
old paternity suit against Cleveland (as a
young man, he had fathered [and financially
supported] an illegitimate child; or at least,
acknowledged the child, since there are
legitimate questions as to who, precisely, the
father was) and singing: "Ma, Ma, where's my
pa?/ Gone to the White House! Ha! ha! ha!"
Cleveland shocked his supporters by admitting
the affair, saying "The American people do not
want
a
eunuch
in
the
White
House."
Cleveland's
private
life
was
a
bit
unconventional:
a long time bachelor, he
married his god-daughter [he sponsored her at
infant baptism]; there is every indication
that they were very happy together.
h.
The election turned on a speech in New York
City by the Rev. Samuel Burchard, which Blaine
failed to repudiate, attacking the Democrats
as the party of "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion!" Note
the clash of cultural values and nativism
implicit in that statement.
It angered New
York immigrants and cost Blaine New York.
i.
Cleveland won in a very close race.
Cleveland was rigid, self-righteous, haughty,
possessed strong character, courage, and integrity.
a.
He had the strength to veto popular measures,
but could not bend.
he tried to steer a middle course between civil
service reform and satisfying his own, officehungry party.
a.
He believed in the validity of office
rotation.
b.
In the end, he disappointed his own party
regulars and disappointed the Mugwumps as
well.
He sincerely opposed a paternalistic and positive
government that extended special favors to any
AP/IB American History
Politics in the Gilded Age
VI.
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Page 7
group.
a.
He therefore vetoed aid to drought stricken
farmers, writing "though the people support
the government, the government should not
support the people."
b.
He vetoed veteran's pension bills.
c.
He ordered the Secretary of the Interior to
re-acquire
land
given
the
railroads
fraudulently (this amounted eventually to
81,000,000 acres)
d.
He was completely unable to see that his
intervention in the Pullman Strike (during his
second term) constituted a special favor
granted to Big Business.
7.
Cleveland precipitated a serious political fight
over a recommendation to lower the tariff, which
was piling up a substantial governmental surplus.
a.
The House passed a lower tariff, but the
Senate killed it.
8.
The election of 1888 was fought over a clear-cut
issue: the tariff.
a.
The election was also flagrantly corrupt.
H.
Benjamin Harrison (1888-1892) Republican
1.
Harrison, like Hayes, lost the popular vote but won
the electoral vote.
2.
He was called "The Human Iceberg"
3.
He was an enthusiastic waver of the bloody shirt.
4.
He was very generous with his pensions
5.
Otherwise, he was conservative fiscally.
6.
His civil service reform record was unimpressive,
although he did nominate Theodore Roosevelt to the Civil
Service Commission.
7.
The
Sherman
Anti-Trust
Act
(cf
handout
on
Industrialization) was passed.
8.
The tariff was raised to an all-time high with the
McKinley Tariff in 1890.
a.
We will see that the sugar provisions of this
tariff have devastating effects on Hawaii and
Cuba, and cause a crisis in each.
As a
President,
McKinley
will
inherit
these
problems.
9.
The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was also passed.
My
discussion of this will be under the Farmer's
Revolt and the Silver Issue.
Congressional Leaders of the Gilded Age
A.
James G. Blaine
AP/IB American History
Politics in the Gilded Age
1.
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Page 8
A man of genuine leadership qualities, but also
reckless.
His honesty was long suspected; the
Mulligan Letters, in which he was caught in baldfaced lying, proved it. He has a long career in
the Senate that is devoid of any achievement.
B.
Roscoe Conkling
1.
Proud, handsome, wealthy, a venal pursuer of
political power.
Eventually, even his own
followers deserted him.
C.
William McKinley
1.
A skilled politician
2.
Devotee of protective tariffs, as indicated by the
McKinley Tariff
3.
Completely the creature of Big Business.
4.
He was fortunate to have the very capable Mark Hanna
as a supporter and adviser.
D.
John Sherman
1.
William Tecumseh Sherman's brother
2.
Considered the financial expert in the Senate.
3.
Was willing to compromise, which is why he lent his
name to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Sherman
Silver Purchase Acts.
E.
Thomas Reed
1.
Dictatorial Speaker of the House, nicknamed the
"Czar"
2.
Established absolute control over procedures. He
was powerful and vindictive.
F.
Richard P. "Silver Dick" Bland
1.
Bland advocated the free coinage of silver
2.
Fought monopolies and protective tariffs.
G.
Benjamin "Beast" Butler
1.
Immoral, venal, and brutal demagogue.
VII. Agrarian Discontent in the Gilded Age
A.
The volume of agricultural production rose steeply in the Gilded Age, but as a % of
the total economy, it declined.
B.
There is a steady price decline during the time period due to two causes:
1.
Overproduction
2.
Deflation of the currency
3.
examples:
a.
1865 wheat
$1.50 / bushel
b.
1895 wheat
$ .60 / bushel
c.
1866 cotton
$ .30 / lb
d.
1875 cotton
$ .15 / lb
e.
1890 cotton
$ .06 / lb
4.
Farmers also faced international competition for world markets, especially
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Politics in the Gilded Age
VIII.
Mr. Blackmon
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from
a.
Australia
b.
Canada
c.
Argentina
d.
Russia
5.
Domestic marketing seemed to have the middle men gobble up all the profits.
6.
Credit seemed limited (it was; bankers viewed lending money to farmers as
a higher risk [which it was] with less potential profit [also true] than
investing in manufacturing concerns. As a result, most of the available
money, which was less than the economy really needed anyway, went into
manufacturing. In order to compete for credit, farmers had to pay higher rates
of interest.
7.
Farmers blamed the middle-men such as brokers and grain elevator operators,
but especially the railroad.
8.
Farmers blamed the banks and the Eastern money establishment
9.
Farmers blamed the protective tariff.
C.
Loss of status
1.
From the yeoman farmers, close to God, of Jefferson, to "rubes," "hicks' and
"hayseeds."
2.
The farmers retained their religious fundamentalism and conservative values,
rejecting ideas like evolution
D.
Agrarian radicalism
1.
The source of the radicalism is severe and intense suffering economically
2.
Their social and economic experiments help break the idea of laissez-faire.
3.
The Farmers' Revolt is very productive source of ideas for our democracy.
E.
The Granger Movement of the 1870s
1.
The official name was the Patrons of Husbandry, founded by Oliver Hudson
Kelly.
2.
Originally a social organization but it quickly developed a political agenda.
3.
They proposed cooperative experiments in marketing and purchase of
equipment and fertilizers.
F.
Mid-Western farmers suffered the most:
1.
They had invested in new machinery and were more heavily in debt.
2.
Their type of farming was less diversified
G.
Southern farmers struggled with the crop lien system, which left many of them
sharecroppers or tenant farmers.
H.
Hamlin Garland wrote Main Travelled Roads in 1891 detailing the bleak life style
and loneliness of the farmers, especially the women.
I.
Depression in the 1870s, led to the boom in the 1880s, when problems eased up
some. The decade of the 1890s began with a serious depression and brought Farmers'
protest to a boil.
The Populist Movement, or the Farmers Revolt, or the People's Party
AP/IB American History
Politics in the Gilded Age
A.
Mr. Blackmon
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The Farmers' Alliance Movement
1.
These began as farmers' cubs founded in Texas and spreading through the
South.
2.
They stressed cooperation and mutual responsibility, not collectivism
a.
Bought fertilizer and supplies in bulk to save money
b.
Tried to establish cooperative banks, stores, processing facilities
c.
Tried to sell their crops cooperatively in order to cut out brokers
d.
They were denied capital by the bankers, and failed.
3.
Western Alliance develops to stand by the Southern Alliance.
a.
Both alliances agreed that prices were too low, transportation costs
too high, and there were radical problems with the financial system.
4.
Factors which discouraged cooperation
a.
Northerners were Republican, Southerners were Democrats
b.
Northerners were generally pro tariff, Southerners generally anti-tariff
c.
Northerners regarded railroad regulation and land policy as the most
vital issues, Southerners regarded financial reform as most important.
5.
The Ocala Demands 1890
a.
The Alliances nevertheless achieved a loose merger at Ocala, FL, and
produced a party platform.
b.
The alliances achieve partial or complete control of 12 legislatures,
6 governorships, 3 Senators, 50 Congressmen in the election of 1890.
6.
The Omaha Platform 1892
a.
The Populist Party is formally organized in 1892. Their platform
forms the basis of much of the reform of the next 40 years.
b.
A graduated income tax [fulfilled with the XVI Amendment]
c.
National ownership of telephone, telegraph
lines [like Europe; the federal government increased regulation
rather than nationalization]
d.
A "subtreasury plan", warehouses where crops cold be deposited;
the farmers could use the crops as collateral for loans; they could hold
the crops in the warehouses until prices rose and sell at a better price.
[this is achieved eventually during the New Deal]
e.
Abolition of national banks [a truly radical proposal that,
obviously, is never achieved]
f.
An end to absentee ownership [also very radical, and also
never achieved]
g.
Direct election of Senators, [achieved by the XVII Amendment]
h.
Initiative, which allows the people to initiate legislation by petition.
[widely practiced at the state level today; achieved during the
Progressive Movement; the placing of an amendment to the Florida
constitution to permit casino gambling on the ballot is an example]
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Politics in the Gilded Age
i.
7.
Mr. Blackmon
Page 11
Referendum, whereby important issues would be voted on by the
people instead of the legislature [also widely practiced at the state
level today; achieved during the Progressive Movement; the Florida
constitutional amendment to permit casino gambling is an example]
j.
Recall, whereby an elected official through a petition, may be forced
to face a special election in order to remain in office. [also
widely practiced at the state level today;
achieved during the Progressive Movement; a
governor of Arizona was recently removed through recall]
k.
Denounced the use of Pinkerton detectives in
labor disputes [an attempt to broaden their appeal beyond
farmers]
l.
Support for the 8 hour day [also an attempt to broaden
support; historically, farmers had not supported an 8 hour day,
working themselves every day from sun up to sundown.]
m.
Supported
restriction
of
undesirable
immigration, by which they meant the New Immigration
[achieved through literacy test and by immigration quotas in the
1920s; there is a real element of cultural conflict here: the farmers
were overwhelmingly rural, Protestant, fundamentalist, and North
European; the New Immigrants appeared "unAmerican" to them; an
analog today is the fear of non-white immigrants to the US so evident
in California, Florida, and in Congress]
n.
Increase in the money supply to $50 / capita--ie inflation of
the currency.
o.
The free and unlimited coinage of silver at a
ratio of 16:1 to gold.
Ideology
a.
They saw themselves as victims of conspiracies to subvert the
American system. There is a distinct element of paranoia in the
Populists.
b.
Sometimes had a hysterical tone.
c.
Sometimes anti-Semitic as well as nativist and xenophobic.
d.
They asked for a new social morality
(1)
Believed that society must protect the well-being of all its
members
(2)
Property rights were secondary to the needs of the community
(3)
The laissez-faire orthodoxy that the rights of property are
absolute is rejected.
e.
The Populists do not challenge growth and progress per se, nor do
they challenge capitalism in any fundamental way, but they thought
that it should be controlled by the needs of the community.
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8.
9.
Mr. Blackmon
Page 12
Leaders
a.
Tom Watson of Georgia--first of a new breed of Southern demagogue
that reaches an apogee with Huey Long and culminates (I hope) with
George Corley Wallace.
b.
Pitchfork Ben Tillman of South Carolina
c.
Sockless Jerry Simpson of Kansas, uneducated, a Greenbacker and
Single-Taxer.
d.
Ignatius Donnelly, the "Minnesota Sage" who also wrote futurist
novels like The Golden Bottle, and Caesar's Column, sometimes a
ridiculous figure.
e.
Mary Elizabeth Lease, the Kansas Pythoness, who exhorted the
crowd to "raise less corn and more hell" and who made 160 speeches
in 1890 alone; my favorite of the Populist leaders.
Tactics
a.
In the South, they attempt to wean black voters from the Republicans,
opposed the disfranchisement of blacks, tried to wean poor white
farmers from the Bourbon Democrats, and supported civil rights for
blacks.
(1)
This demonstrates how complex historical phenomena can be.
Their xenophobia seems at variance with an enlightened view
of race relations. Southern demagogues have not been noted
as believers in racial equality.
(2)
The Populists make a genuine effort to bridge the gap
between black and white in the South, by appealing to a
common state: poverty. They were a voice for real reform.
(3)
Ultimately, the strategy was a disaster. The Bourbon
Democrats, fighting to save their position of dominance,
played the race card ruthlessly. Racial baiting heats up
appreciably--correlate the growth the Jim Crow laws in the
South with the Populist Revolt, and you will see how interrelated they are. The tragedy of the South at the turn of the
century is that the poor white farmer, when pushed to decide
whether it was more important that he was poor or that he was
white, decided that it was more important to be white. They
would not abandon white supremacy.
b.
Urban workers remained largely unmoved
(1)
The Populists failed to consistently identify areas of common
interest
(2)
Labor organizations were weak
(3)
The Populists' xenophobia clashed with the immigrant makeup of the industrial urban worker. The cultural gap was too
great to cross. This proves a very serious weakness in the
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Page 13
Populist Movement, and, later, the Progressive Movement.
10.
Success in 1892
a.
Grover Cleveland ran for President again in 1892. His conservative
financial views attracted Republican support.
b.
James B. Weaver runs for the Populists and wins 22 electoral votes-a very respectable showing.
c.
The Democrats sweep the White House and both Houses of Congress.
Showdown on Silver
A.
The real issue behind silver was deflation
1.
Deflation benefitted bond holders, persons on fixed incomes, industrial
workers during good times, and bankers.
2.
Deflation hurt Southern and plains farmers
B.
Gold vs Silver Standard
1.
The US had traditionally had a bimetallic currency
a.
The ratio of the value of silver to gold was set in 1792 at 371.25
grains to 24.75 (presumably to $1.00)
b.
This was changed in 1834 to 16:1 that is, 16 oz of silver was worth
1 oz of gold.
c.
This was changed again in 1854 into 14.8:1, which undervalued
silver. Silver was relatively scarce at this time.
2.
Massive silver strikes in Nevada and Colorado depressed the value of silver
on the open market.
3.
In 1874, it once more became profitable to mint silver into money rather than
sell it for jewelry, etc.
a.
Unfortunately for the mine owners, no one had sold silver to the
government for a long time (it was more profitable to sell on the open
market rather than sell at the official price)
b.
Congress demonetized silver in the Coinage Act of 1873
c.
Anyone who wished to inflate the currency, such as farmers or mine
owners, called this the Crime of '73
(1)
Their real objective was to inflate the currency.
4.
The Bland-Allison Act was passed in 1878 as a result of Silverite pressure:
a.
The US would buy $2 million to $4 million /month of silver at the
market price. This was supposed to elevate the price, but had little
effect since the government always bought the minimum.
5.
The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 reflects growing Populist
strength.
a.
The US was to buy 4.5 million oz monthly.
b.
This also has no effect on the price of silver since increasing supply
led to a further decline of the market price to 26:1 in 1893 and 32:1
in 1894.
6.
Gold Bugs vs. Silverites
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Politics in the Gilded Age
a.
b.
C.
Mr. Blackmon
Page 14
Silverites noted that the dollar had doubled buying power since 1865.
Gold Bugs argued that Silverites threatened to destroy the value of the
dollar.
c.
The severe economic that hit the country in 1893 makes the issue redhot and emotional.
Cleveland and the Panic of 1893
1.
Cleveland erroneously blamed the Silver Purchase Act for the Panic by
eroding the confidence in business.
2.
He called a special session of Congress and bludgeoned a repeal of the act.
a.
Southern and Western Democrats abandoned him.
3.
The Depression of 1893
a.
Worst depression up to this point in our history.
b.
It is estimated that unemployment reached 20%
c.
Jacob Coxey's Army of unemployed marched on Washington DC
(1)
They demanded a program of public works
(2)
They demanded an exchange of non-interest bearing bonds
with the Treasury for $500 million in greenbacks to ire
unemployed workers to build roads.
(3)
They wanted to pump money into the economy and improve
transportation
(4)
Coxey's Army was dispersed by club-wielding policemen.
(5)
It seemed to be the same attitude as that shown in the
Pullman Strike and in US v. E.C. Knight Co (1895), Pollack
v. Farmers Loan and Trust Co. 1895, and the denial of a writ
of habeas corpus by the courts to Eugene V. Debs.
Government appeared to many Americans to be government
by Big Business, for Big Business, of Big Business.
4.
Financial Crisis
a.
The Resumption Act of 1875 set $100,000,000 in gold reserves as a
minimum to redeem paper and silver dollars.
b.
The McKinley Tariff reduced imports and thus reduced income for
the government.
c.
The Sherman Silver Purchase required steady purchases of
silver.
d.
Generous pensions and internal improvements under Harrison ate up
the $190,000,000 in reserve which he inherited.
e.
Fearful holders of greenbacks and silver began demanding gold after
the Panic of 1893
f.
The reserve was $100,000,000 when Cleveland took office, or the
absolute minimum set by law and held by all responsible observers.
g.
Level of the reserve drops to $41,000,000 by 1895
h.
Cleveland pushed for repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase act (cf
AP/IB American History
Politics in the Gilded Age
D.
Mr. Blackmon
Page 15
above), but this did not halt the hemorrhage.
i.
Cleveland approached J.P. Morgan to underwrite a $61,000,000
bond issue (cf handout on Industrialism). Morgan complies.
j.
The gold reserve situation was stabilized, but there are cries that
Cleveland is a stooge of Wall Street.
(1)
There was in fact no deal and no corruption
(2)
There was however a healthy profit for Morgan.
The Conventions of 1896
1.
The Republicans were forced to face the silver issue squarely
a.
The party chose gold and nominates William McKinley.
b.
Henry Teller, a founding member of the Republican Party, walks out
along with Western Republicans.
c.
McKinley is a strong pro-business proponent.
2.
The Democratic Convention in Chicago
a.
Cleveland's forces are swept aside.
b.
A fierce debate erupts over silver v. gold.
c.
Speakers alternated gold/silver. The last silver speaker (by design)
was a relative unknown, William Jennings Bryan.
(1)
Bryan has been accused of being ignorant; he was not; he had
studied both the tariff and money question carefully;
unfortunately, the people he studied were in error, and Bryan
was not enough of an economist to understand those errors.
d.
"The Cross of Gold" Speech was a stunning tour de force.
(1)
Bryan had a beautiful, powerful voice, flexible as an organ,
capable of projecting without strain to thousands of people.
(2)
He possessed a wide range of emotion, skilled at playing a
crowd, like a choirmaster.
(3)
He was called the "Great Commoner." a man who spoke
from the heart, not the brain, "but his heart was great"
(4)
He began by stating that his "cause is holy and righteous,"
his "cause is the cause of humanity."
(5)
"When you come before us and tell us that we shall disturb
your business interests, we reply that you have disturbed
our business interests by your action . . . . The man who
is employed for wages is just as much a businessman as
his employer."
(6)
"We are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families,
and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have
been scorned. We have entreated, and our entreaties have
been disregarded. We have begged, and they have mocked
when our calamity came.
(7)
"We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no
AP/IB American History
Politics in the Gilded Age
Mr. Blackmon
Page 16
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
X.
more. We defy them!"
he refers to Andrew Jackson and Thomas Hart Benton who
fought "against the encroachments of aggregated wealth."
referring to the Bank War.
He refers to Thomas Jefferson, "Those who are opposed to
this proposition tell us that the issue of paper money is a
function of the bank and that the government ought to go
out of the banking business. I stand with Jefferson rather
than with them and tell them, as he did, that the issue of
money is a function of the government, and that the banks
should go out of the governing business."
"There are two ideas of government. There are those who
believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do
prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those
below. The Democratic idea ha been that if you legislate
to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find
its way up and through every class that rests upon it."
"You come and tell us that the great cities are in favor of
the gold standard. I tell you that the great cities rest upon
those broad and fertile plains. Burn down your cities and
leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if
by magic. But destroy our farms, and the grass will grow
in the streets of every city in this country."
"Having behind us the commercial interests, and the
laboring interests, and all the toiling masses, we shall
answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to
them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this
crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a
cross of gold."
The convention went wild, and Bryan swept the nomination.
The farmers had their great spokesman.
The Election of 1896
A.
Clearcut choices were presented to the public.
1.
Democrats called for
a.
silver at 16:1
b.
tariff reduction
c.
an income tax
d.
denounced currency notes by banks
e.
denounced the use of injunctions in labor disputes
f.
stricter control of trusts and railroads.
2.
City vs. Countryside
3.
East vs. South and West
AP/IB American History
Politics in the Gilded Age
4.
5.
B.
C.
Mr. Blackmon
Page 17
20th Century vs. 19th Century
The campaign of 1896 unequaled in drama, intense excitement, and clear cut
issues.
Republican advantages
1.
McKinley's maturity and distinguished war and public service record
2.
McKinley's reputation for personal honesty
3.
The Depression was blamed on Cleveland, who was a Democrat
4.
Almost all the newspapers were fiercely pro-Republican
5.
Marcus Alonzo Hanna
a.
A businessman who responded to the Pendleton Civil Service Act by
dunning business for campaign contributions.
b.
he recognized the diminution of patronage and also that better
communications required superior organization and consistency.
c.
He saw money as the key to political power
(1)
Assessed businessmen a percentage of their assets, rasing and
spending $3.5 to $7,000,000
(2)
The Democrats by contrast spent $300,000 just over the
amount assessed Standard Oil alone.
d.
He flooded the nation with literature and speakers.
(1)
Teddy Roosevelt complained that "He has advertised
McKinley as if he were a patent medicine."
e.
He organized a Front Porch Campaign
(1)
McKinley stayed at home in Ohio
(2)
Hanna carefully orchestrated groups, their questions and
McKinley's answers, staging everything masterfully. He
provided a news story every day.
(3)
750,000 people saw McKinley
f.
Does this man seem very modern to you????? Hanna is really an
important figure in the evolution of political campaigns.
Bryan's Tactics
1.
he could not compete with the Republican's money and organization, and did
not try. Instead, he made his own contribution to the evolution of
Presidential campaigns.
2.
His assets were his personal sincerity and charm and his oratorical ability.
3.
He is the first candidate to actively and unabashedly campaign and cast off
the hypocritical tradition that a candidate should not be too eager to be
elected.
4.
Between June and November, Bryan travelled 18,000 miles, made 600
speeches, and addressed 5,000,000 Americans personally. He delivered
60,000 to 100,000 words / day.
5.
Businessmen were terrified of a Bryan victory.
a.
Workers were told that factories would close
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Politics in the Gilded Age
D.
E.
F.
Mr. Blackmon
Page 18
b.
Orders would be cancelled if the Democrats won
c.
Mortgages would not be granted if the Democrats won.
Decisive elements in McKinley's victory
1.
Bryan failed to win the urban worker
2.
McKinley had a moderate labor record
a.
He supported arbitration
b.
He supported a law to fine employers who did not permit employees
to join unions.
c.
He argued that tariffs protected jobs and wages (an argument that has
been resurrected in recent years).
3.
Hanna had a positive reputation of giving his employees a square deal: "The
man who don't treat his employees right is a damn' fool." There would be
fewer unions if more employers felt like Hanna.
4.
Wheat prices rose just before the election and Western discontent eased.
Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, where the farming was more diversified,
went Republican.
Results
1.
McKinley won 271 electoral votes and 7,036,000 popular votes
2.
Bryan won 176 electoral votes and 6,468,000 popular votes.
3.
The rural America of Jefferson and Jackson is beaten.
4.
Populist base of support was too narrow a part of society to take and hold
power on the national level.
Aftermath
1.
The Dingley Tariff was passed in 1897, at 57% the highest in our history up
to that time.
2.
The Gold Standard Act of 1900 enlarged the redemption fund and separated
it from the general treasury.
3.
World gold supply increased (which took a lot of pressure off for inflation of
the currency) as a result of
a.
the cyanide process of gold extraction, which made previously
uneconomically ores profitable.
b.
Gold strikes in Alaska
c.
Gold strikes in Australia
d.
Gold strikes in South Africa