Politics and Reform1877 – 1896Chapter 11

Politics and Reform – Learning Targets• Students will be able to trace the reforms made to the American

government in response to demands for change in the late 1800’s• Students will be able to explain what populism was and how it

impacted American society Is there a populist trend today?

• Students will be able to analyze the rise of segregation: what were the reasons behind it and what were the responses to it

Are there any traces of segregation left today? What current government policies are in place today due to the history of

segregation?

Politics and Reform

• Traditionally, when a president won the election, he would place his supporters in government jobs. This is called patronage, or the Spoils System• President Hayes 1877 –

attempted to end practice Angered Republican political

machine called Stalwarts led by Sen. Conkling

Conkling labeled Republican reformers Halfbreeds

Politics and Reform

• 1880 – President Garfield assassinated by insane office-seeker, Charles Guiteau• 1883 Pendleton Act – civil

service jobs filled using exams; government workers could not be fired for political reasons• Act signed by President Chester

Arthur – himself a one-time political appointee

Politics and Reform

• Party Politics Political parties did not take a stand on issues b/c they did not

want to make enemies and they did not know how to fix the problems anyway

Republicans dominated the Northeast and upper mid-West Democrats owned the South Former Union soldiers, farmers, reformers, and businessmen

supported the Republicans

Politics and Reform

Republicans were mostly Protestant Democrats were supported by immigrants especially Catholic Irish Between 1877 – 1896 Democrats dominated the House and

Republicans dominated the Senate Presidential elections were fought in just four states: NY, OH, IN

and IL Between 1868 – 1900 all the presidents came from those four

states

Politics and Reform

• Election of 1884 Democrats saw chance of winning

White House by nominating reformer Grover Cleveland

Campaign was known for mud-slinging

Mugwumps - Republicans who broke from the party to vote for Cleveland

Cleveland won the election

Politics and Reform

• Growing industrialization = growing labor unrest = more strikes• Strikes were often violent• Many railroads negotiated lower rates

for big customers (corporations) called rebates but small business/individuals paid higher rates• Public clamored for government

intervention• SCOTUS case Wabash v. Illinois gave

authority to federal government to regulate

Politics and Reform

• 1887 Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) created• Commission acted to regulate

railroad rates, forbid rebates• Democrats wanted lower tariffs

but Republican senate blocked law

Politics and Reform

• Republicans gained presidency with election of Benjamin Harrison• Republican Congress passed

McKinley Tariff • Tariff lowered federal revenue so

budget went into deficit• Congress also passed pensions

for Civil War veterans which made deficit worse

Politics and Reform

• The Sherman Anti-Trust Act Congress pressured by public to

act against trusts The law had no teeth – did not

have any real effect on trusts People felt betrayed by both

parties, especially farmers

Populism

• Populism – movement to increase political power of farmers• Crop prices dropping but prices

of manufactured good rising due to tariffs• Farmers felt victimized by banks• Farmers felt railroad shipping

rates too high – favored big corporations

Populism

• Greenback controversy – US government printed paper money that could not be exchanged for gold/silver – caused inflation (decline in the value of money and rise in prices)

• US stopped printing greenbacks but also stopped making silver coins – caused drop in money supply

• Crime of ‘73 – decision to stop minting silver coins

• Deflation – value of money increases along with decrease in prices

Populism

• Deflation hit farmers hard• Farmers had to borrow money

for seed and equipment – interest rates rose causing rise in farmers’ debt• Banks wanted their money but

prices for crops falling• Farmers demanded the minting

of silver coins to increase money supply

Populism

• Farmers needed a more powerful political voice

• The Grange (Patrons of Husbandry) – founded by Oliver Kelly, national farm organization

• Grangers pressured government to regulate railroad rates, wanted the printing of more greenbacks

• Grangers formed cooperatives – marketing organizations that benefitted the farmer members

Pooled crops and kept them out of market to regulate prices

Could negotiate better shipping, seed, and equipment prices

Populism

• The Granges failed to improve farmers’ conditions: people too suspicious of paper money, banks and railroads equated granges with unions• Framers also saw drop in respect

as more people began living in towns / cities• Use of derogatory terms like

redneck and hayseed for farmers increased

Populism

• The Farmer’s Alliance Established in Lampasas County,

TX, 1877 Organized farmers in West, Mid-

West, and South Organized large cooperatives

called exchanges – did better than the Grange

Populism

• The People’s Party Alliance exchanges eventually failed Alliance members formed the People’s Party aka the Populists Alliance leaders shied away from third party – wanted Democrats

to take on Alliance platform (so South would remain Democratic) Developed Subtreasury Plan – farmers would put crops in

warehouses and use them to secure low-interest loans and keep prices up

Populism

• Rise of Populism Ocala Demands – Farmers Alliance

meeting in Florida came up with list of political demands

Subtreasury PlanFree coinage of silverEnd to protective tariffs and national

banksTighter regulation of railroadsDirect election of senators

Populism

• Sherman Silver Purchase Act 1890 – authorized US treasury to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver per month – done to pull farmers Republican• Populists did well in election –

many pro-Alliance officials elected• After Democrats broke promises

to farmers, Alliance now ready to push for third party

Populism

• Populist Party Nominated James Weaver for

president 1892 Wanted silver/gold ratio 16-1Federal ownership of railroadsGraduated income tax8-hour workdayImmigration restriction

Proposed laws to appeal to urban laborers

Had ties to Knights of Labor

Populism

• Panic of 1893 Worst economic crisis up to Great

Depression of 1930’s Sparked by bankruptcy of several railroads Stock market crashed and banks closed

doors Caused widespread unemployment and

labor strikes Drainage of government gold caused

Cleveland to repeal Sherman Silver Purchase Act

Action split Democrats in two: Goldbugs believed US currency should be based on gold, Silverites believed silver should be coined in unlimited amounts

Populism

• Election of 1896 Republican nominee – William McKinley Democrat and Populist nominee –

William Jennings Bryan Republicans backed gold / Democrats

supported silver Bryan waged energetic campaign, made

600 speeches in 14 weeks McKinley had the “Front Porch”

campaign Republicans blamed Democrats for crisis

of ’93 McKinley had backing of businesses –

won the election

Rise of Segregation

• After slavery, most blacks in South were sharecroppers – landless farmers who paid large portions of crops for rent, food, seed, tools, etc.• 1879 – Benjamin Singleton led

migration of blacks from South to Kansas to escape near-slavery conditions• Migrants called Exodusters

Rise of Segregation

• Many blacks who remained in South joined the Farmer’s Alliance• Blacks formed The Colored Farmers

National Alliance – hoped to challenge Democratic Party’s power in South• Democrats feared poor whites would

join with blacks• Democrats used racism to keep whites

in line• Democrats kept many blacks from

voting

Rise of Segregation

• Voting for blacks was guaranteed by the 15th Amendment• States used qualifications like property

requirements, literacy tests, and the poll tax to keep blacks from voting• Voting numbers dropped drastically• Poor whites were also disenfranchised

as they often supported Populist Party• Other poor whites could vote due to

grandfather clause

Rise of Segregation

• Segregation in many parts of US but legal in South• Laws enforcing segregation called

Jim Crow laws• SCOTUS overturned Civil Rights Act

of 1875 – encouraged Southern states to pass laws making segregation even more repressive• Plessy v. Ferguson – case endorsed

legal doctrine of “Separate but Equal”

Rise of Segregation

• Violence against blacks continued into the twentieth century • Lynching – hanging of people

without trial by mobs• 80% of lynchings occurred in

South; 70% of victims were black• Outraged black woman, Ida B.

Wells, led crusade against lynching. Due to her and others’ efforts lynching much in early 1900’s

Rise of Segregation

• Booker T. Washington – argued blacks better off if they spent their energy making themselves better rather than fighting racism• Atlanta Compromise – address by

Washington asked blacks to postpone fight for civil rights and pull themselves up• W. E. B. DuBois – rejected

accommodation of Washington; urged blacks to demand their rights; helped found NAACP