Politics – 1860-1900

Reform, Segregation, Populism and Imperialism

Election of 1880• Republicans – James Garfield and

Chester A. Arthur• Democrats – Winfield Hancock and

William English

Garfield Assassination

• July 2, 1881

• By disgruntled and unbalanced office seeker – Charles Guiteau

• Arthur became president

1. Civil Service Reform

• Motivated by incompetence and corruption of Grant Administration

• 1877 – Hayes removed Chester A Arthur from NYC customs House

• 1883 – Arthur signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act

Pendleton Civil Service Act

• Standards and competitive examinations of positions

• No soliciting of contributions from government workers **

– ** Forced political parties to look elsewhere for campaign funds. Big Business will gain a controlling hand in national politics

The Election of 1884• Republicans: James G. Blaine and

Thomas Hendricks

• Democrats: Grover Cleveland and John Logan

Blaine Cleveland-A referendum on the spoils system

-Cleveland supported by reform minded Republicans – “mugwumps”

- “Rum, Romanism and Rebellion” – led to high immigrant turnout

Election of 1888• Republicans: Benjamin Harrison

and Levi Morton• Democrats: Grover Cleveland

and Allen ThurmanHarrison Cleveland

Harrison lost popular vote, but won electoral vote

Harrison had massive support from big business and The Grand Army of the Republic

2. Racial Discrimination• Black disfranchisement

– Literacy test, poll taxes, property requirements

• The Convict-lease system– Cheap labor for mines, railroad construction, cotton

farmers– Kept white labor from protest or strike

• Lynchings• Civil Rights Cases – declared Civil Rights Act of 1875

unconstitutional• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – “separate but equal

facilities are constitutional”

Black Response• Booker T. Washington –

“accommodation”– Blacks must acquire skills and

prove their economic worth

• Bishop Henry M. Turner – return to Africa

• Frederick Douglas – press for full equality

• T. Thomas Fortune – violence

• Emigration to northern cities and the Great Plains

3. Tariffs, Money, and Agrarian Distress

• A. Tariffs and Currency– Tariffs

• Republicans favored high protectionist tariffs–Harrison: McKinley Tariff (1890)

• Democrats (i.e. Cleveland) sought lower tariffs– To prevent eliminate the surplus and its use for veteran

pension expansion– Wilson-Gorman Tariff (still very protectionist)

» Included a small income tax» Pollack v. Farmers Loan and Trust – declared the income

tax as unconstitutional

3. Tariffs, Money, and Agrarian Distress

-Currency• Big Business, creditors, most politicians supported the

gold standard; limited money supply

• Farmers and other debtors – supported an expanding money supply

– Pushed for bi-metalism– (i.e. currency backed by both gold and silver

– Bland-Allison Act (1878) – required gov’t to buy and mint up to $ 4 million of silver each month

– Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 -- $4.5 million of sliver each month and to issue notes equal to this amount.

3. Tariffs, Money, and Agrarian Distress

• B. Agrarian Distress and Action

– Farmers’ problems:

• Tight money supply

• Low prices for crops

• Debt

3. Tariffs, Money, and Agrarian Distress

• Farmers organized– The Grange

• Began as a social and informational organization• Sought to farmers “self-sufficiency” through cooperatives

– Failed for lack of capital

• Pressured states to regulate railroads -- Granger Laws– Most repealed through railroad lobbying

– Farmers Alliances• Sought tariff reduction, graduated income tax, public ownership of

railroads, federal funds of research, ban on alien land ownership, and “free coinage of silver”

– Populist Party• Sought Alliance goals plus direct election of senators

Election of 1892

• Republicans: Benjamin Harrison and Whitelaw Reid• Democrats: Grover Cleveland and Adlai Stevenson• Populists: James Weaver and James Field

Harrison

Cleveland Weaver

Populists “stole” states from RepublicansRepublican campaign ignored farm and labor unrest; and hurt by the McKinley TariffCleveland came out in favor of the gold standard

The Panic of 1893• Farm troubles led to a decline in Railroad business, which

affected many industries

• Confidence in gold standard waned:– Financial Crisis in London l– Veterans benefits– Sherman Silver Purchase Act –– Gold reserves dropped

• Bankruptcy of Philadelphia and Reading Railroad

• Stock market crash Depression

Reactions to Panic/Depression• Strikes (e.g., Pullman Strike

of 1894)• Coxey’s “army” • Government borrowed $62

million • Democratic party split

between “gold” and “silver”

Election of 1896

• Republicans: William McKinley and Garret Hobart

• Democrats: William Jennings Bryan and Arthur Sewall

• Populists; William Jennings Bryan and Thomas Watson

McKinley Bryan Bryan

Bryan campaigned on the free and unlimited coinage of silver at a ratio of 16:1

-“Cross of Gold Speech”

McKinley supported the gold standard and protective tariff

-Had massive funding from big business-Mark Hanna managed McKinley’s “front porch campaign

Bryan’s campaign did not appeal to urban workers or stable farmers or many immigrantsA victory for big business and tight money

-Dingley Tariff (1897)-The Currency Act of 1900

American Imperialism

• Revival of Manifest Destiny– European imperialism– Corporate pressure for new markets– Alfred Mahan: sea power = national greatness– The Christian missionary movement– Social Darwinism

American Imperialism• 1852 – Commodore Mathew Perry used the American fleet

to force Japan to open itself to western trade

• 1889 – joint protectorate over the Samoan Islands

• Hawaii– 1887 – new constitution imposed on Hawaiian monarch

and U.S. naval base constructed– 1890 – McKinley Tariff on sugar– 1893 – Liliuokalani deposed; annexation requested– 1898 – Hawaii annexed by the U.S.

American Imperialism• Cuba

– Rebellion against Spanish organized by José Martí

– Popular support in U.S.• Atrocities of “Butcher” Weyler• Yellow Journalism (Hearst and Pulitzer)

– Feb. 8 1898 – the Journal published an insult of President Mckinley by Spanish minister (de Lome letter)

– Feb. 15, 1898 -- the U.S.S. Maine sunk in Havana harbor

– April 11, 1898 – Congressional resolution to recognized Cuban independence and to support it by force

• Teller Amendment --U.S. would not seek to “control” Cuba

American Imperialism• Spanish-American War, 1898

– May 1 – Dewey captured Manila– July 1 – Battle of San Juan Hill (Roosevelt)– July 3 – Spanish fleet destroyed – July 17 – Spain requested an armistice– December – Treaty:

• Cuban Independence• U.S. received Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam

– 1901 Platt Amendment• U.S. retained U.S. naval base and the right to intervene

• Philippine Rebellion – 1898-1902