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Michael Chiu

AP US History
Period 2
1/11/10

Outline of Chapter 19: From Stalemate to Crisis

The Politics of Equilibrium


The Party System
-most striking feature of late 1800’s party system was stability
-from end of Reconstruction until late 1890s, electorate was divided almost evenly between
-Republicans and Democrats, loyalties fluctuated almost not at all
-in five presidential elections beginning in 1876, popular-vote margin separating D. and R.
candidates was 1.5%. Republicans generally control Senate and Democrats generally control
House.
-intense public loyalty to parties
-white southerners - loyal to D.
-northerners (white and black) – R.
Catholics, poorer workers – D.
northern Protestants, middle class – R.
R. favored immigration restrictions, temperance legislation (believed to help discipline
immigrants)-Catholics and immigrants viewed proposals as attacks on them and their cultures
and opposed them, D. also oppose
party id. was more a reflection of cultural inclinations than calculation of economic interest
party loyalties b/c parents, region, church, or ethnic group
The National Government
-federal government did relatively little-two parties managed to avoid substantive issues
-fed. gov. had to deliver mail, maintain national military, conduct foreign policy, collect tariffs
and taxes, few other responsibilities and few institutions with which it could have undertaken
additional responsibilities even if it had chosen to do so
-fed. gov. could provide subsidies to industries (ex. railroad), and use military power to protect
capitalists from challenges from their workers
-from end of Civil War to early 1900’s, fed. gov. administer annual pensions for Union Civil
War veterans who had retired from work and for their widows
-Civil War pension system paid majority of male citizens (black and white) of N and to many
women
-Some reformers wanted make system permanent and universal, they pressured government to
create system of old-age pensions for all Americans, but efforts failed, partly b/c system awash
in party patronage and corruption
-US in late 1800s was without a modern, national government - most powerful national political
institutions were D. and R. and fed. Courts - office-winning elections and controlling patronage
Presidents and Patronage
-presidents had limited latitude b/c had to avoid offending various factions within own parties
and not many jobs to do
Rutherford Hayes – by end of his term: two groups – the Stalwarts and Half-Breeds were
competing for control of R. Party and threatening to split it
-Stalwarts favored trade., profess. mach. politics. Half-Breeds favored reform. But both groups
mainly interested in larger share of patronage
-Hayes tried to satisfy both but ended up satisfying neither
-battle over patronage overshadowed all else during Hayes’s presidency-Hayes unpopular with
politicians
-Election of 1880: R. matched Stalwart president Garfield and Half-Breed v.p. Arthur
D.: Hancock as pres. (minor Civil War commander with no national following)
-Garfield wins and R. capture both houses of Congress
-Garfield began presidency trying to defy Stalwarts in his appointments and by showing support
for civil service reform
-involved in ugly public quarrel with both Conkling and other Stalwarts. Garfield assassinated by
Stalwart who wanted Arthur as president - Arthur succeeded Garfield
-tried to promote civil service reform and follow independent course
-kept most of Garfield’s appointees in office
-Congress passed first national civil service measure in 1883, the Pendleton Act, required that
some federal jobs be filled by competitive written examinations rather than by patronage.
Cleveland, Harrison, and the Tariff
-election of 1884 – R. candidate for president was James G. Blaine of Maine – liberal
Republicans announced that they would bolt the party and support an honest Democrat. D. rose
to bait and nominated Cleveland (the reform governor of New York) - enemy of corruption
-religious controversy may have decided the election
-Cleveland aka “veto governor” – an official not afraid to say no
-opposed protective tariffs: existing high rates were responsible for annual surplus in federal
revenues - he frequently vetoed reckless and extravagant legislation by Congress
-asked in 1887 Congress to reduce tariff rates: D. in House approved tariff reduction but Senate
R. passed bill of their own actually raising the rates. Resulting deadlock made tariff an issue in
1888 election
-Democrats renominated Cleveland. R. nominated former senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana,
who was obscure but respectable - wanted protective tariff.
-election of 1888 campaign was first since Civil War to involve a clear question of economic
difference between the parties. one of the most corrupt and one of the closest elections in
American history. Harrison won electoral majority of 233 to 168, but Cleveland’s popular vote
exceeded Harrison’s by 100,000
Harrison made no effort to influence Congress, but public opinion beginning to force
government to confront pressing social and economic issues of the day, most notably: curbing
power of trusts
Sherman Antitrust Act-passed by both houses of Congress without dissent: enforced and steadily
weakened by the courts, so virtually had no effect on corporate power
R. Representative McKinley and Senator Aldrich drafted highest protective measure even
proposed to Congress: McKinley Tariff, became law in October 1890
-R. leaders apparently misinterpreted public sentiment b/c party suffered stunning reversal in
1890 congressional election: R. Senate majority slashed to 8 and in House, party retained only 88
of 323 seats. McKinley himself was among those who went down in defeat. R. unable to recover
in course of next 2 years
1892 election: Harrison once again supported protection and Cleveland once again opposed it.
Third party was People’s Party, candidate James B. Weaver, advocated more substantial
economic reform
-Cleveland won 277 electoral votes to Harrison’s 145 and had popular margin 380,000. Weaver
showed some strength, but still ran far behind. For first time since 1878, Democrats won
majority of both houses of Congress
Cleveland devoted to minimal government and hostile to active efforts to deal with social or
economic problems, again supported tariff reduction
-Wilson-Gorman Tariff included only a few, very modest reductions
the Grangers was one of the farm organizations in Midwest who had persuaded several state
legislatures to pass regulatory legislation in early 1870s. But in Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific
Railway Co. v. Illinois (known as Wabash case)-Supreme Court ruled one of the Granger Laws
in Illinois unconstitutional: Court said Granger law was attempt to control interstate commerce
and thus infringe on power of Congress
Interstate Commerce Act- banned discrimination in rates between long and short hauls, required
that railroads publish rate schedules and file them with government, and declared that all
interstate rail rates must be “reasonable and just” although the act did not define what that meant.
five-person agency: Interstate Commerce Commission(ICC) was to administer act, but had to
rely on courts to enforce its rulings. for almost 20 years after its passage, the act (similar to
Sherman Act) not really enforced and narrowly interpreted by courts, didn’t have much effect
The Agrarian Revolt
American farmers was group that watched performance of federal gov. in 1880s with most
dismay
-isolated from urban-industrial society that was beginning to dominate national life, suffering
from long economic decline, afflicted with painful sense of obsolescence, so keenly aware of
economic problems and eager for gov. assistance in dealing with problems.
-result of their frustrations was emergence of one of the most powerful movements of political
protest in American history: populism
The Grangers
the Grange was first major farm organization
-appeared in 1860s
-had origins shortly after Civil War in a tour through South by Kelley, who was appalled by
isolation of rural life
Kelley and others founded National Grange of Patrons of Husbandry
-devoted years of labor as secretary and from which emerged network of local organizations
-attempted to bring farmers together to learn new scientific agricultural techniques
-hoped to create feeling of community, to relieve loneliness of rural life
-strongest in staple-producing regions of South and Midwest
1873 depression increased Grange membership rapidly (over 800,000 members total in org.)
-began to focus more on economic possibilities: attempted to organize marketing cooperatives to
allow farmers to circumvent the hated middlemen, urged cooperative political action to curb
monopolistic practices of railroads and warehouses
-“The Farmers’ Declaration of Independence” – read by Grangers, proclaimed that the time had
come for farmers to use all lawful and peaceful means to free themselves from tyranny of
monopoly
Grangers set up cooperative stores, creameries, elevators, warehouses, insurance companies, and
factories that produced machines, stoves, other items
-one corporation emerged specifically to meet needs of Grangers: the first mail-order business,
Montgomery Ward and Company-founded in 1872
-eventually most of Grange enterprises failed (inexperience of operators and middlemen
opposition whose businesses Grangers were challenging)
Grangers operated through existing parties, although occasionally ran candidates under
independent party labels: “Antimonopoly,” “Reform,” etc.
-managed to gain control of legislatures in most of the Midwestern states at their peak
-Granger laws made many states impose strict regulations on railroad rates and practices, but
regulations eventually destroyed by courts, which combined with political inexperience of many
Grange leaders and above all, the temporary return of agricultural prosperity in late 1870s,
produced dramatic decline in Grange power
The Farmers’ Alliances
successor of Grange was Farmers’ Alliances-farmers in parts of South (most notably in Texas) in
1875
-by 1880 Southern Alliance had more than 4 million members and comparable Northwestern
Alliance was growing in plains states and Midwest
-concerned with local problems, similar to Granges
-est. stores, banks, etc. to free farmers from dependence on merchants who kept so many farmers
in debt
-argued for mutual, neighborly responsibility (hoped economic competition might give way to
cooperation) that would enable farmers to resist oppressive outside forces
Alliances were notable for prominent role women played within them
-women were full voting members in most local Alliances, many held offices, and served as
lecturers
-a few, most notably Mary Lease, went on to become fiery Populist orators. Lease was famous
for urging farmers to “raise less corn and more hell”
-most other women emphasized temperance: stability in rural society
-Alliances advocated extending vote to women in many areas of country
Alliances cooperatives did not always work well, partly b/c market forces operating against them
were sometimes too strong to overcome, partly b/c cooperatives themselves were often
mismanaged
-economic frustrations helped push movement into new phase at end of 1880s: creation of
national political organization
sentiment for third party was strongest among Northwestern Alliance
-several southern leaders supported ideas: Tom Watson of Georgia, the only southern
congressman elected in 1890 openly to identify with Alliance
-People’s Party emerge: members known as Populists
election of 1892: Populist presidential candidate was James B. Weaver of Iowa, a former
Greenbacker
-polled more than 1 million votes, 8.5% of total, carried 6 mountain and plain states for 22
electoral votes.
-Weaver significant b/c showed emergence of People’s Party, demonstrated its potential power
The Populist Constituency
Populists dreamed of creating broad political coalition, but always appealed principally to
farmers
most Populists was engaged in type of farming that was becoming less viable in face of modern,
commercial agriculture
endorsed “free silver” – permitting silver to become, along with gold, the basis of currency so as
to expand money supply
in South (and to lesser degree elsewhere), white Populists struggled with accepting African
Americans into party.
-black farmer numbers and poverty made them possibly valuable allies
-“Colored Alliances” – black component of Populist movement, by 1890, numbered over one
and a quarter million members. But most white populists were willing to accept the assistance of
African Americans only as long as it was clear that whites would remain indisputable in control
-when southern conservatives began to attack Populists for undermining white supremacy, the
interracial character of movement quickly faded
most Populist leaders were members of rural middle class, many were women, almost all were
Protestants
particularly in South, Populism produced first generation of what was to become distinctive and
enduring political breed-the southern demagogue-ex. Tom Watson attracted widespread popular
support by arousing resentment of poor southerners against entrenched planter aristocracy aka
“Bourbons” after traditional royal family of France
Populist Ideas
proposed system of “subtreasuries” – which would replace and strengthen cooperatives.
government would est. warehouses, where farmers could deposit their crops. using crops as
collateral, growers could then borrow money from gov. at low rates of interest and wait for price
of goods to go up before selling them
Populists called for abolition of national banks, which they believed were dangerous institutions
of concentrated power, end of absentee ownership of land, direct election of US senators (which
would weaken power of conservative state legislatures) and other devices to improve ability of
people to influence political process
Tom Watson, once a champion of interracial harmony, ended his career baiting blacks and Jews
Populists rejected laissez-faire orthodoxies of their time
The Crisis of the 1890s
Panic of 1893
precipitated the most severe depression nation had yet experienced
began in March when Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, unable to meet payments on loans it
had secured from British banks, declared bankruptcy and National Cordage Company failed as
well
-triggered collapse of stock market
-since many major NY banks were heavy investors in stock market, wave of bank failures soon
began that caused a contraction of credit, which meant that many of the new, aggressive, and
loan-dependent businesses soon went bankrupt
depressed prices in agriculture since 1887 had weakened purchasing power of farmers, the
largest group in population, depressed conditions that had begun earlier in Europe were resulting
in a loss of American markets abroad and a withdrawal by foreign investors of gold invested in
US, railroads and other major industries had expanded too rapidly, well beyond market demand
slight improvement beginning in 1895, but prosperity did not fully return until 1901
depression caused social unrest, esp. among enormous numbers of unemployed workers
-1894, Coxey, an Ohio business man and Populist, began advocating a massive public works
program to create jobs for unemployed and an inflation of the currency. when it became clear
that his proposals were making no progress in Congress, Coxey announced that he would lead a
march of the unemployed to the capital to present their demands to the government
-Coxey’s Army: numbered only about 500 when it reached Washington after having marched on
foot from Masillon, Ohion. armed police barred them from the Capitol and arrested Coxey. he
and his followers were herded into camps because their presence supposedly endangered public
health. Congress took no action on their demands
The Silver Question
financial panic weakened government’s monetary system
many believed instability of currency was primary cause of depression
official ratio of value of silver to value of gold was 16 ounces of silver equaled one ounce of
gold (mint ratio), but actual commercial value of silver (market ratio) was much higher than that.
people stopped taking silver to mint and mint stopped coining silver
1873, Congress passed law that discontinued silver coinage, few objected at the time
-in course of 1870s, market value of silver fell well below official mint ratio
-silver was available for coinage again (meaning law was retracted or there’s just a silver
supply?)
-Congress foreclosed potential method of expanding currency and had eliminated a potential
market for silver miners
-many Americans concluded that a conspiracy of big bankers had been responsible for the
demonetization of silver and referred to the law as the Crime of 1873
two groups of Americans determined to undo Crime of ’73. one consisted of silver-mine owners,
now understandably eager to have government take their surplus silver and pay them much more
than the market price. other group consisted of discontented farmers, who wanted increase in
quantity of money-an inflation of currency-as a means of raising the prices of farm products and
easing payment of farmers’ debts. The inflationists demanded that the government return at once
to “free silver”-that is, to the free and unlimited coinage of silver at the old ratio of 16 to 1
-but by the time the depression of 1893 began, Congress had made no more than a token
response to their demands
nation’s gold reserves steadily dropping
-President Cleveland believed chief cause of weakening gold reserves was the Sherman Silver
Purchase Act of 1890, which had required gov. to purchase (but not to coin) silver, and to pay for
it in gold
-his request was satisfied as the Sherman Act was repealed, although only after a bitter and
divisive battle that helped create a permanent split in the D. Party. President’s gold policy had
aligned the s and w D. in a solid alliance against him and his eastern followers
presidential election 1896-supporters of the gold standard considered its survival essential to
honor and stability of nation. supporters of free silver considered gold standard an instrument of
tyranny
-“free silver” became to them a symbol of liberation. silver would be a “people’s money” as
opposed to gold, the money of oppression and exploitation
“A Cross of Gold”
The Emergence of Bryan
R. nominate McKinley for president
R. opposed free coinage of silver, mountain and plains states joined Democratic Party
Democratic convention of 1896: congressman Bryan gave “Cross of Gold” speech-in support of
free silver, very eloquent and effective
-convention voted to adopt pro-silver platform and Bryan nominated for president (supporters
called him the Great Commoner)
Populists thought both major parties would adopt conservative programs and nominate
conservative candidates, leaving Populists to represent the growing forces of protes
-but Democrats stolen much of their thunder
-Populists could either name their own candidate and split protest vote or endorse Bryan and lose
their identity as a party (“fusion” with the Democrats, but Democrats ignored most of the other
Populist demands, would destroy Populist party)
-Populist ultimately chose to support Bryan
The Conservative Victory
campaign of 1896, business and financial community conservatives contributed lavishly to
Republican campaign b/c afraid of Bryan victory
Bryan became first presidential candidate in American history to travel around every section of
the country to speak to voters
-revivalistic, camp-meeting style pleased Protestants, but many immigrant Catholics and other
ethnics saw in Bryan the embodiment of rural, Protestant that had often been directed against
them
-Bryan violated tradition by which presidential candidates remained aloof from their own
campaigns, helped establish modern form of presidential politics
McKinley won election
Bryan carried only those areas of S and W where miners or farmers predominated. D. program,
like Populists, had been too narrow to win a national election
Populists gambled everything on their fusion with D. party and lost
-People’s Party dissolved
-never again would American farmers unite so militantly to demand economic reform, never
again would so large a group of Americans raise so forceful a protest against the nature of the
industrial economy
McKinley and Recovery
labor unrest had subsided when McKinley took office
McKinley administration was politically shrewd and committed to reassuring stability
McKinley and his allies committed themselves fully to only one issue, on which they knew
virtually all R. agreed: the need for high tariff rates
-Dingley Tariff-raised duties to highest point in American history
R. enacted Currency Act of 1900 (aka Gold Standard Act of 1900)
Currency/Gold Standard Act of 1900 confirmed the nation’s commitment to the gold standard by
assigning a specific gold value to the dollar and required all currency issued by US conform to
that value

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