6.1 NotesThe Gilded Age•1877-1900•A term coined by Mark Twain in 1873 that referred to the superficial glitter of the new wealth so prominently displayed in the late 19th century•It was the era of forgettable presidents, none of whom served 2 consecutive terms, and politicians who largely ignored problems arising from the growth of industry and cities•The 2 major parties often avoided taking stands on controversial issues

Causes of StalemateFactors accounting the complacency and conservatism of the era included1.The prevailing political ideology of the time2.Campaign tactics of the 2 parties3.Party patronage

The prevailing political ideology during the Gilded Age• A belief in limited government• Laissez-faire economics• Social Darwinism

Campaign Strategy• The closeness of elections between 1876 and 1892 was one reason

that Republicans and Democrats avoided taking strong positions on issues• The Democrats won only 2 presidential contests in the electoral

college. They nevertheless controlled the House of Representatives after 8 of the 10 general elections. The result was divided government in Washington. With elections so evenly matched, the objective was to not alienate voters.• Election campaigns were characterized by brass bands, flags,

campaign buttons, picnics..• Issue-free campaigns led to high voter turnout – 80%

Republicans• In the North, Republican politicians kept memories of the Civil War

alive during the Gilded Age by “waving the bloody shirt” in every campaign – reminding millions of veterans of the Union army that their wounds had been caused by southern Democrats and that Lincoln had been murdered by a Democrat.• Reformers and African Americans supported the Republican Party

along with men in business, middle-class, Anglo-Saxon Protestants.• Like Hamilton and the Whigs, Republicans were pro-business, pro-

high protective tariffs• Supported temperance or prohibition

Democrats• The “Solid” South – from 1877, voted Democratic until the mid-20th

century• Immigrants, political machines, Catholics, Lutherans supported this

party• Objected to temperance and prohibition crusades conducted by

Protestants/Republicans• Argued for states’ rights and limiting powers for the federal

government (Jefferson)

Party Patronage• Since neither party had an active legislative agenda, politics was a game of

winning elections, holding office, and providing government jobs to the party faithful.• Ex: NY – Republican Senator Roscoe Conkling became a powerful leader of

his party by dictating who in the RepublicanS ranks would be appointed to lucrative jobs in the NY Customs House. Conkling and his supporters were known as STALWARTS, while their rivals for patronage were the HALFBREEDS, led by James G. Blaine.• Who got the patronage jobs within the party became a more important

issue than any policy• Republicans who did not play the patronage game were ridiculed as

MUGWUMPS for sitting on the fence – their “mugs” on one side of the fence and “wumps” on the other. Historians generally consider this era a low point in American politics.

Imperialism• Since the mid-1800s, American missionaries and entrepreneurs had

settled in the Pacific islands of Hawaii.• Expansionists coveted the islands and in 1893, American settlers

aided in the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarch, Queen Liliuokalani.• The president at the time, Grover Cleveland, opposed imperialism

and blocked Republican efforts to annex Hawaii.• The outbreak of war in the Philippines (after the Spanish-American

War) gave Congress and President McKinley (elected in 1896) the pretext to complete annexation in July 1898. The Hawaiian islands became a territory of the US in 1900 and the 50th state in August 1959.

Imperialism continued…• The US gained the Philippines after the Spanish-American War.• Controversy over the Philippine question took time to resolve.• Imperialists favored annexing the Philippines and anti-imperialists opposed it

because for the first time, the US would be taking possession of a heavily populated area whose people were of a different culture and race. They thought this violated the principles of the Declaration of Independence by depriving Filipinos of the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and would entangle the US in the political conflicts in Asia.• The Treaty of Paris, 1898, which ended the war was approved with the US

gaining the Philippines. The Filipinos were outraged that the hope for national independence from Spain was now being denied by the US. It took the US 3 years and cost thousands of lives on both sides before the insurrection (American-Philippine War) was ended in 1902.

More on Imperialism• Open Door Policy – trade between the US and China, negotiated by

Secretary of State, John Hay• Latin America – American-owned sugar plantations in Puerto Rico,

acquired after the Spanish American War, as a protectorate (under the protection of the US)

Life during the Gilded Age• Wide gap between the rich and poor; conspicuous consumption

(obvious wealth) v. poverty (tenements)• Jacob Riis, reformer and author, who wrote about life in the

tenements (huge, overcrowded apartments for immigrants); wrote “How the Other Half Lives”

The New South• Some southerners promoted a new vision for a self-sufficient

southern economy built on modern capitalist values, industrial growth, and improved transportation such as Henry Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution. Grady spread the gospel of the New South with editorials that argued for economic diversity and laissez-faire capitalism. To attract businesses, local governments offered tax exemptions to investors and the promise of low-wage labor.

Economic Progress:* The growth of cities, the textile industry, and improved railroads

symbolized efforts to create a “New South.”

The New South continuedEconomic Progress:•Birmingham, AL – developed into one of the nation’s leading steel producers•Memphis, TN – a center for the South’s growing lumber industry•Richmond, VA – became the capital of the nation’s tobacco industry•GA, NC, SC – chief producers of textiles (no longer the New England states)Continued Poverty:* The South still remained mostly an agricultural section and the poorest section in the country.

Continued poverty…• Northern investors controlled 3/4ths of the southern railroads and

steel industry• A large share of profits from these industries went to northern banks

and financiers• Industrial workers (94% white) earned half of the national average

and worked longer hours than elsewhere• Most were sharecroppers and tenant farmersTwo factors responsible for this poverty:1.The South’s late start at industrialization2.A poorly educated workforce

More on the New SouthAgriculture:•Mainly grew cotton which there to be too much cotton in world markets causing cotton prices to decline by more than 50% by 1890; many farmers lost their farms•A shortage of credit forced farmers to borrow supplies from local merchants in the spring with a lien or mortgage on their crops to be paid at harvest. Sharecropping and crop liens forced poor farmers to remain tenant farmers, tied to the land by debt.•George Washington Carver, an African American farmers at the Tuskegee Institute, promoted the growing of peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans (diversify farming).

Farmers’ Alliances• By 1890, the Farmers’ Southern Alliance claimed more than 1 million

members.• A separate organization for African Americans, the Colored Farmers’

National Alliance, had about 250,000 members.• Both organizations rallied behind political reforms to solve the

farmers’ economic problems.

Farmers’ complaints• High protective tariffs• No government regulation of big businesses – the railroads charged

farmers higher rates• Laissez-faire politics• Low crop prices• Panics of 1873 and 1893 hurt farmers

Populist Party or Peoples Party (farmers)

Omaha Platform•Demanded an increase in the power of common voters through direct election of senators (17th Amendment), the use of initiatives and referendums (ways citizens can vote directly on proposed laws).•Wanted unlimited coinage of silver to increase the money supply and cause inflation (crop prices would go up)•Wanted a graduated income tax (16th Amendment)•Public ownership of railroads by the US government•Telegraph and telephone systems owned and operated by the government•Loans and federal warehouses for farmers to enable them to stabilize prices for their crops•An 8-hour work day for industrial workers

Other problems in the “New South”Segregation – de jure segregation (legal) = Jim Crow LawsPlessy v. Ferguson, 1896 – upheld “separate but equal” accommodations

Loss of Civil Rights – literacy tests, property requirement, poll taxes to prevent southern African American men from votingThe Supreme Court upheld a states’ right to use literacy tests to determine citizens’ qualifications for voting. (disenfranchisement)African Americans were barred from serving on juries.Lynch mobs were common.

Responding to segregation• Ida B. Wells – African American editor of a black newspaper

campaigned against lynching and Jim Crow laws• Booker T. Washington – a former slave – advocated accommodation.

He established an industrial and agricultural schools for African Americans – the Tuskegee Institute – where African Americans learned skilled trades while Washington preached the virtues of hard work, moderation, and economic self-help. Speaking at an exposition in Atlanta in 1895, Washington argued that African Americans should not seek equality but should seek racial harmony and economic cooperation to win over whites, gaining praise from Andrew Carnegie and President Theodore Roosevelt.

W.E.B. Dubois• Disagreed with Washington, saying he was too willing to accept

discrimination• DuBois demanded an end to segregation and the grating of equal civil

rights to all Americans• Others praised Washington for paving the way for black self-reliance

because of his emphasis on starting and supporting black owned businesses.

Control over Natural ResourcesThe Conservation Movement•Concerns over deforestation sparked the conservation movement and the paintings and photographs of western landscapes helped to push Congress to preserve such western icons as Yosemite Valley (a national park) and to dedicate the Yellowstone areas as the first National Park in 1972.•Presidents Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland reserved 33 million acres of national timber•With the closing of the frontier era, Americans grew concerned about the loss of public lands and natural resources. The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 and the Forest Management Act of 1897 withdrew federal timberlands from development and regulated their use.

Control over Natural Resources continued…

The Preservation Movement•John Muir, a leading founder of the Sierra Club in 1892, aimed to preserve natural areas from human interference.•The education efforts of the Arbor Day, Audubon Society, and the Sierra Club were another sign of a growing conservation movement by 1900s.•National Reclamation Act (Newland’s Act) 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt, a law providing money from the sale of public land for irrigation projects in western states