Download - Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
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Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
1869 - 1896
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Republicans & GrantElection of 1868
GrantActed as if the Republic owed him for the warAlmost no political experience500,000 former slaves voted him in office“Waving the Bloody Shirt” & “Vote as You Shot”
Republican platform Called for continued Reconstruction (military)
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Democrats & Seymour
Democratic PlatformDenounced military Reconstruction (could agree on little else)Candidate – NY governor Horatio SeymourReceived most of the white vote
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Era of Good Stealings
Population by 1870 – 39 million3rd largest nation
Waste, Extravagance, Speculation, GraftCorruption was common
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CorruptionJim Frisk & Jay Gould
1869Tried to corner the gold marketResult: “Black Friday” price of gold went upTreasury started releasing gold
Boss Tweed – 1871Milked NYC for $200 million(Tammany Hall)Fraudulent electionsThomas Nast – published in NY TimesProsecuted by Samuel J. Tilden
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More CorruptionCredit Mobilier Scandal – 1867 – 1868
Railroad construction company formed by Union PacificOver paid themselvesPaid off members of congressExposed by NY newspaper
2 congressmen censoredVP accepted stock
Whiskey Ring – 1875Robbed treasury of millions in excise taxGrant’s private sec was involved
Sec of War William Belknap – 1876
Pocketed money from selling Indians junk
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Liberal Republican Revolt1872
Liberal Republican PartyUrged purification of the Washington administration & end military Reconstruction
Horace Greeley – Presidential candidateEditor of NY TribuneLater endorsed by the Democrats
“ate crow”
Republicans renominated Grant Grant won the election of 1872
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Depression & Demands for Inflation
Panic of 1873Caused by unbridled capitalist expansion
Produced too much – price goes down, businesses collapseBanks – loans were not being repaid
Jay Cooke & Company – NY banking firm / first to collapse
15,000 businesses went bankrupt; including The Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company
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Money PoliciesHard-money vs. cheap-money
Hard-money -- get battle-born currency out of circulation & produce no new moneyCheap-money – supported the production of greenbacks, make more money
Hard-money supporters won outResumption Act of 1875 – by 1879, no greenbacks & gold for all paper money
Some supported money based on silver Congress stopped production of silver dollars in 1873 (Crime of ’73)Call for inflation
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Politics in the Gilded Age
Close elections, indecisive politiciansHigher voter interest – 80% voter turnoutParty Loyalists enjoyed successful political careers as a result of patronage & the Spoils system
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Fighting within the Republican Party – 1870s & 1880s
“Stalwart” fractionRoscoe Conkling – US Senator from NY
Believed in swapping civil-service jobs for voters
“Half-Breeds” fractionJames G. Blaine – Congressmen from Maine
Civil-service reform
Succeeded in stalemating each other & deadlocking the party
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The Hayes – Tilden StandoffGrant was urged not to run for reelection
Congress passed a resolution warning of the dictator implications
Republicans selected Rutherford B. Hayes“The Great Unknown”
Democrats selected Samuel J. Tilden Tilden received 184 electoral votes – he needed 185
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Constitution & Votes Specifies that the electoral returns shall be sent to Congress & opened by president of the Senate
Who should count the votes? Constitution doesn’t say
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Compromise of 1877Created to solve the election deadlockElectoral Count Act - passed by Congress
Set up electoral commission consisting of 15 men selected from the Senate, the House, & the Supreme CourtNot successful in solving the problem because there were 8 –R and 7-D
Democrats agreed to elect Hayes in exchange for:
Removal of all federal troops in the SouthSubsidizing of a southern transcontinental railroad line – not kept
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Results of the CompromiseOfficially ended Reconstruction Violence was averted by sacrificing the black freedmen in the South
Republicans abandoned its commitment to black equality
Civil Rights Act of 1875 – last try by RepublicansSupposedly guaranteed equal accommodations in public places & prohibited racial discrimination in jury selections
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Supreme CourtDeclared Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional Declared that the 14th Amendment prohibited only government violations of civil rights, not the denial of civil rights by individuals
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The Democratic SouthSuppressed blacks
Blacks who tried to vote faced unemployment, eviction, & physical harm
1890s – required literacy test, voter registration laws, & poll taxesBlacks became economically dependant
Sharecropping & tenant farmingCrop-lien system
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Jim Crow Laws1890s – state level legal codesValidated by Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Ruled that “separate by equal” facilities were constitutional under the “equal protection” clause of the 14th Amendment
Southern blacks were treated harshly for challenging the South’s racial code of conduct
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Railroad Strike 1877Presidents of the nation’s 4 largest railroad companies cut employee’s salaries Pres Hayes called in federal troops to quell the unrest
Backfired on him, caused support from working-class
Workers stoppages spread100 deadShowed the weakness of the labor movement
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ChineseMade up 9% of population by 1880 in CAMostly poor, uneducated, single males cameCame for gold & railroad work
Many returned when work disappeared
Worked menial jobsDenis Kearney of San Francisco
Incited his followers (Kearneyites) to violent abuse of Chinese Resented the competition for labor
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Stopping Chinese Immigration 1879 – bill passed severely restricting immigration of Chinese
Vetoed by Hayes – violated treaty with China
1882 – Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act Stopped Chinese immigration until 1943
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The Garfield InterludeRepublicans nominated dark-horse James A. Garfield
VP – Chester Arthur
Republican platform- protective tariff & reform of civil service Democrats – nominated Winfield S. HancockDemocratic platform – civil service reform & a “tariff for revenue only”
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Election of 1880Candidates – turned their backs on problems of debt-burdened farmers & powerless laborersDemocrats harped on Garfield’s acceptance of stock dividends in the Credit Mobilier scandalGarfield won & rewarded James G. Blaine (Half-Breed) with Sec of State
Caused problems between Half-Breeds & Stalwarts
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Garfield’s AssassinationCharles J. Guiteau
shot Pres Garfield in the back in a Washington railroad station
Garfield died 11 weeks later – Sept. 19, 1881Stalwarts would all get good jobs now under ArthurGuiteau – found guilty & hanged
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Chester Arthur No qualifications for the presidencyGave his former Conklingite supporters (Stalwart) the cold shoulder Supported civil service reform
Pendleton Act of 1883Established a merit system based on aptitude and not “pull”Competitive exams were established
Pendleton Act partially divorced politics from patronage, but it helped drive politicians into “marriages of convenience” with big-business leaders
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Election of 1884Republican- James G. Blaine
“Mulligan letters” – connected Blaine to a corrupt deal involving federal favors to a southern railroadMugwumps – reformers who joined the Democrats
Democrats – Grover Cleveland Illegitimate son
Mudslinging campaignFew fundamental differences between candidates
Cleveland won election
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“Old Grover” Takes Over
Grover Cleveland1st Democratic President since Buchanan Known for all of his vetoesLaissez-faire“Though the people support the gov’t, the gov’t should not support the people.”Named 2 Confederates to officeBelieved in the merit system but eventually cavedVetoed military pensions
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Cleveland & the Tariff
Tariffs were raised during the warResulted in gov’t surplus1887 - Cleveland appealed to Congress for lower tariffsFor the first time in years, there was a real issue that divided the parties
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Election of 1888
Democrat – ClevelandRepublican – Benjamin HarrisonRepublicans were against lowering tariffs
Low-tariff policies was a vote for England
Republicans raised $3 million to fight against a lower tariffCleveland – 1st sitting president voted out of his chair since Van Buren in 1840
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Benjamin Harrison Elec ted i n 1888Sele cted James G. Blain e as Sec o f Sta teNam ed Th eodore Roos evel t – head of t he Civ il Se rvic e Com mis sion
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Problems in the House Republicans – only 3 votes more than the necessary quorum of 163 membersDemocrats – delaying motions – roll call Republicans wanted to squandered money to safeguard the high tariff that was producing a surplus
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Thomas B. ReedRepublican Speaker of the HouseWanted to change House rulesBelieved majority should legislate in accordance with democratic policies
No filibustering
“Billion Dollar” Congress Gave birth to a bumper crop of expensive legislative babies
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McKinley Tariff Bill of 1890
Boosted tariff rates to their highest peacetime level Disposed of the troublesome surplus by giving a bounty of 2 cents per pound to US sugar planters Raised tariffs on agricultural products
Actually brought new woes to farmers as manufacturers raised prices Farmers hated it
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Pension Act of 1890
Pensions for all Union CW veterans who had served for 90 days & who were now unable to do manual laborHelped solve the problem for the Treasury surplus
Secured Rep votes GAR grateful to the GOP
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Silver Problems Bland-Allison Law-1878
Ordered the purchase and coining of $2-4 million worth of silver a monthProvided little relief to debtors or miners
Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890
Required the purchase of 4.5 million ounces of silver every monthTreasury had to issue new notes to pay for it Believed that the addition of immense amount of metallic money would inflate the currency and make for higher prices and easier debt payment
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Populist Party – 1892The People’s Party
Rooted in the Farmer’s Alliance of frustrated farmers in the West & the South Platform:
Free & unlimited coinage of silverIncome taxGov’t ownership of telephone, telegraph, & railroadsDirect election of senators1 term for presidentUse of initiative & referendum to allow citizens to propose & review legislationShorter workday & immigration restriction
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Problems for Labor
Homestead Strike 1892 – PittsburghSteel plant owned by Andrew CarnegieWorkers were angry over pay cutsStrikers used rifles & dynamite Troops were called inStrike & union of steelworkers was broken
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Coming Election of 1892
Discontent gave Democrats high hopes Democrat – Grover ClevelandRepublican – Benjamin HarrisonPopulist Party – James B. Weaver
One of the few 3rd parties in history to break into the electoral column
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Populist PartyWanted to bring labor & farmers togetherColored Farmers’ National Alliance
1 million southern black farmersHoped that their economic goals would overcome their racial differences
Populists appealed for interracial solidarityAppealing to blacks didn’t work because blacks couldn’t vote
Literacy test, poll tax, & grandfather clausePopulist leader Tom Watson abandoned his interracial appeals
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Old Grover Cleveland Again 2nd term 1893—only pres to serve 2 nonconsecutive terms Depression of 1893
Lasted for about 4 years Most devastating economic downturn of the century
Causes Overbuilding and overspeculation Labor disorderAgricultural depressionEuropean banks began to call in loans
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Cleveland and Depression Wanted to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act
Gold reserve in the Treasury dropped ($100 million) Called Congress into extra session
William Jennings Bryan Championed the cause of free silver in Congress
Cleveland broke the filibuster & Sherman Silver Purchase Act repealed
Alienated the silveritesDisrupted the party
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Gold & Job Shortages
Gold reserve sank even lower ($41 million)Cleveland decided to sell gov’t bonds for gold & deposit the proceeds in the Treasury Cleveland turned to J.P. Morgan & other bankers
Bankers loaned the gov’t $65 million in goldCharged commission $7 millionHelped restore confidence in nation’s finance
Deal angered many
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Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894
Included a tax of 2% on incomes over $4000In the Senate, 630 amendments were added
Benefits for sugar trust were added
Did not establish a low tariff / did reduce the rateIncome tax lasted only 1 year
Struck down by the Supreme Court
Result: Republicans won congressional elections in 1894 by a landslide / now a majority