Chapter 17Politics in an Industrializing Age 1877-1900

Introduction This chapter covers:

national politics between 1877 and 1900 U.S. participation in the Spanish-American War the race for empire

Introduction What were the issues and the political spoils that the

Democrats and Republicans fought over? What caused the rise of the Grange, Farmers’ Alliances, and

the Populist Party? What was at stake in the election of 1896, and what was its

outcome? Why did the United States go to war with Spain in 1898 and

what resulted from the American victory?

Party Politics in an Era of Upheaval, 1877-1884Contested Political Visions

The Republicans and Democrats differed on tariffs and money supply

The majority of politicians of both parties held that the federal govt. had no right to regulate business or protect workers’ welfare They were willing to subsidize and in other ways encourage

corporate growth People looked to state and local govts. to address

their economic and social problems

Patterns of Party Strength Male voter turnouts were high Democratic and Republican parties were closely matched in

strength Democratic support was:

Solid South States that bordered the South Recent immigrants in the big cities Most Catholics

Patterns of Party Strength Republican support was:

Rural areasSmall-town New EnglandPAUpper MidwestNative-born Protestants

Regulating the Money SupplyThe nation split on the questions of how much money the govt. should issue and what should back it

Those that supported limiting the money supply to what the govt. could back with its holding of gold: Bankers Creditors Most businessmen Economists politicians

Regulating the Money Supply Debt-ridden southern and western farmers wanted: Larger money supply Retention of the unbacked Civil War currency

(greenbacks) The issuing of notes backed by silver and gold The minting of silver coins

They believed this larger money supply would raise falling farm prices and make it easier to pay off debts

Regulating the Money SupplyIn the 1870’s, the Greenback Party tried to further the increased money supply ideaEven after the Party’s demise, debtor groups

continued to demand a larger money supply

1890 Sherman Silver Purchase ActCalled for the U.S. Govt. to purchase silver and

issue noted redeemable in gold or silver

Civil-Service Reform The spoils system had operated since the days of Andrew

Jackson A group of reformers saw its defects and demanded a

“professional civil service based on merit” After a crazed job seeker assassinated President James A.

Garfield in 1881, Congress acted

Civil-Service Reform Pendleton Act

1883Created a civil-service commission to prepare

competitive examinations for federal jobs It prohibited politicians form asking govt.

employees for campaign contributions

Gradually it began to raise the honesty and competence of the federal bureaucracy

Politics of Privilege, Politics of Exclusion, 1884-1892A Democrat in the White House: Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889 Republicans nominated James G. Blaine

Tainted by corruption of the Grant era Identified with the spoils system

Democrats nominated Cleveland Reputation for fighting the spoilsmen A number of Republican civil-service reformers bolted their

party to support him The Mugwump switch helped Cleveland win

1st Democrat elected after the Civil War

A Democrat in the White House: Grover Cleveland

Cleveland believed in laissez-faire govt.

Had little understanding of the social problems caused by industrialization

A Democrat in the White House: Grover ClevelandHe attempted to lower the tariffHe argued that reduced rates would remove a potentially corrupting govt. surplus of funds---reduce prices for consumers---slow the growth of trusts

Lower tariffs appealed to: farmers and many Democrats from the West and South

Lower tariffs alarmed: Manufacturers Those Republicans who looked out for their own

interestsCleveland also angered Civil War veterans when he halted wholesale granting of disability pensions to them

Big Business Strikes Back, Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893

The tariff became a major issue in the election of 1888

Democrats renominated ClevelandRepublicans nominated Benjamin Harrison

High protective tariffs Industrialists contributed heavily to the

RepublicansCleveland received more popular votes than

Harrison (48.6% to 47.8%)Harrison won the Electoral College (233 to 168)

Big Business Strikes Back, Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893McKinley Tariff

1890Passed by RepublicansRaised the tariff rates to an all-time high

They also rewarded Civil War veterans with generous pensions

Agrarian Protest and the Rise of the People’s Party

When prices of wheat and other agricultural products dropped in the 1870’s, debt-burdened farmers fell on hard times

They responded by forming the first nationwide agricultural organizationThe Patrons of HusbandryA.k.a. GrangeLed by Oliver H. Kelley

Agrarian Protest and the Rise of the People’s Party

The Grange tried to help farmers economically by organizing cooperatives to market their crops and buy supplies

It also lobbied state legislatures to regulate the railroadsStop the overcharging of farmers, giving of

discounts to large shippers, and bribing state officials

A number of states did pass Granger LawsThey were bitterly attacked by the railroads as

unconstitutional

Agrarian Protest and the Rise of the People’s Party

At first federal courts upheld state regulations

1886 Wabash caseThe Supreme Court ruled that states could not

regulate interstate railroadsCongress stepped into the void by passing the Interstate Commerce Act (ICA) in 1887

ICA created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to investigate and oversee railroad practices

Agrarian Protest and the Rise of the People’s Party The ICA did little to curb railroad abusesThe law and the ICC set a precedent for future federal regulation of interstate commerce

The failure of the Granger Laws and the Grange’s other efforts to help farmers economically led to the organization’s decline after 1878

Agrarian Protest and the Rise of the People’s Party Farmers believed that the federal govt. was unresponsive to their needs

Western and southern farmers suffered from: falling agricultural prices A tight money supply High interest rates Heavy in debt Being overcharged by industrial trusts, grain elevator

operators, and railroads

Agrarian Protest and the Rise of the People’s Party Earlier, farmers had turned to the Grange and the Greenback Party to redress their grievances

When these failed, farmers joined the Southern Alliance, National Colored Farmers’, or the Northwestern Alliances

The alliances called for:Tariff reductionA graduated income taxPublic ownership of railroads “free silver”

Agrarian Protest and the Rise of the People’s Party In 1892, the alliances founded the People’s Party

(or the Populist Party)Developed a platform on their programThey also endorsed the direct election of senators

and other electoral reformsNominated James B. Weaver for president

The 1890’s: Politics in a Depression Decade1892: Populists Challenge the Status Quo

Democrats nominated Cleveland Republicans nominated Harrison Populist nominated Weaver

Won about million votes Few came from the urban Northeast Gained less than 1/4 of the votes of the agricultural South

Largely because of the race issue

Cleveland won

Capitalism in Crisis: The Depression of 1893-1897Soon after Cleveland was inaugurated, the nation suffered a financial panic that ushered in a severe depression

During the depression:Thousands of banks and businesses failed20-25% of the labor force was unemployedAgricultural prices fell more than 20% Completing the ruin of many farmers already in

economic difficulty

Capitalism in Crisis: The Depression of 1893-1897 Hard times increased the appeal of the Populists and spawned strikes and protests In 1894, Jacob Coxey led a march of the

unemployed on Washington to demand a public-works program to create jobs He was arrested and the demonstration was broken up

The heightened unrest frightened the middle class

Business Leaders RespondCleveland opposed govt. help for victims of the depression

His use of force against the Pullman strikers and Coxey’s marchers appeared heartless

He angered farmers when he induced Congress to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act In defense of the gold standard

Business Leaders Respond Cleveland’s actions split the party

Democrats from agricultural states began to favor free silver

Hard times also led many Americans to question the laissez-faire doctrine

1894: Protest Grows LouderThe voters repudiated Cleveland in the 1894 midterm electionsCongress went RepublicanThe vote for Populist candidates climbed more

than 40% above their 1892 tallies

1894: Protest Grows LouderThe issue of free silver came to symbolize the deep split between economic classesCreditors feared that abandonment of a strictly

gold standard would cause runaway inflation and ruin

Debt-ridden farmers saw silver as the cure that would rise farm prices and return prosperity

Silver Advocates Capture the Democratic PartyAt the 1896 Democratic convention, western and southern delegates gained controlThey wrote a platform calling for free silverNominated William Jennings Bryan

The Republicans nominated William McKinleyPromised to maintain the gold standardRaise the protective tariff

The Populists endorsed BryanFeared that if they ran their own candidate, they

would split the farm voteNominated one of their own, Tom Watson, for VP

1896: Republicans TriumphantMcKinley received huge campaign contributions from businessmen who feared Bryan

Bryan was also handicapped by the lack of appeal of free silver to factory workers and the urban middle classThey realized that it would probably bring about higher

food pricesMcKinley won the election

Carried the Northeast, Midwest,and most citiesThe Republicans also kept its majority in Congress

1896: Republicans TriumphantAs promised, McKinley and the Republicans maintained the gold standard and raised the tariff to an all-time high

These policies aroused little opposition because prosperity returnedMore gold became available with new discoveries farm prices began to rise

McKinley easily beat Bryan for a 2nd term in the 1900 election

1896: Republicans TriumphantThe elections of 1894 and 1896 ushered in a long period of Republican dominance in U.S. politics that lasted almost unbroken until the 1930’s

The Populist Party disintegrated after 1896Many of the reforms it had advocated were

enacted by Progressives after 1900

ConclusionBetween 1877 and 1896, the 2 major political parties (Democrats and Republicans) were closely matched in strength

Each party had loyal followers:Democrats: The South and new immigrants in cities

Republicans: Rural and small town native-born Americans in the Northeast

and Midwest

Conclusion Both parties ignored the pressing economic problems of the country’s farmers

The farmers turned successively to the Grange, the Farmers’ Alliance, and the Populist Party

In 1896, when the Populist joined the Democrats in backing William Jennings Bryan, big business used its financial might to turn back the Populist challenge and elect McKinley president

Conclusion McKinley’s victory marked the start of a long period of Republican dominance in national politics

The McKinley administration soon led the U.S. into the Spanish-American War and an imperialist foreign policy

Conclusion (cont.)However, this burst of expansionism in the late 19th century and early 20th century never fully diverted U.S. attention from domestic issues

The Populist Party, thought it was defeated in 1896, left behind the feeling that: govt. must free itself from business domination govt. must play a more active role in solving the

economic and social problems arising form industrialization

After the turn of the century, the Progressive movement would build on that new attitude