Election of 1868

• Population continued to grow, as census of 1870 showed an increase of 26.6 percent in the population (39 million total and 3rd largest nation in the Western world)

• But civic health was not as robust– Post-War years are marred by waste,

extravagance, speculation, and graft

• Ulysses S. Grant is a great soldier, but an inept politician.

Election of 1868• Republican Platform:

– Reconstruction of South under the bayonet– Grant said, “Let us have peace,” in his

acceptance speech.

• Democratic Platform:– Denounced on military reconstruction but

could agree on little else– Monetary policy divided the party:

Greenbacks v. Gold for war bonds– Nominated Horatio Seymour

Waving the Bloody Shirt

• Republicans recalled Grant’s military success as a means to gain support and urged ex-soldiers to “Vote as You Shot.”

Era of Good Stealings

• Post-war period marred by rampant corruption.– A good politician is one who when bought

would stay bought

• Businessmen and railroad promoters also known for their rancid ethics

Fisk and Gould

• Both concocted a plan to corner the Gold market in 1869.

• Encouraged, through bribes and influence to convince the treasury to refrain from selling Gold

• They drove prices up on Gold by bidding the price skyward

• However, the Treasury eventually sold Gold and caused the bubble to burst.

• Grant was not guilty of crimes, just stupidity

Boss Tweed• As head of Tammany

Hall, he used his influence through bribery, graft, and fraudulent elections to milk NYC of 200 million dollars.

• Thomas Nast makes a name for himself by attacking Tweed in the papers

Grant and Corruption• Graft and political

favors were common under Grant’s administration

• Favors and positions given to unqualified family members and friends.

• People showered him with cigars, wines, and horses.

Credit Mobilier • Union Pacific Railroad formed the

Credit Mobilier construction company secretly– Hired themselves at inflated prices to build

the railroad– Gained handsome dividends and money– Bribed Congress by giving them shares of

the stock– Even the Vice President was proven to

have taken bribes

Whiskey Ring

• Robbed the Federal government of millions in excise taxes.

• Grant’s private secretary was implicated as apart of the scheme and Grant had him exonerated

• Other examples was Secretary of War William Belknap receiving bribes, and had to resign.

Election of 1872

• Liberal Republican party formed with the agenda to purify Washington and to “Turn the rascals Out.”

• Basically, they were sick of Grantism and corruption

• Liberal Republicans nominated Horace Greeley for the presidency

• However, the Democrats choose Greeley also.

Election of 1872

This cartoon by Thomas Nast is a Republican gibe at the forced alliance between these former foes. General W. T. Sherman wrote from Paris to his brother, “I feel amazed to see the turn things have taken. Grant who never was a Republican is your candidate; and Greeley who never was a Democrat, but quite the reverse, is the Democratic candidate.”

Hard Money v Cheap Money• Hard Money

– Wanted to avoid depreciation of Currency so supported Gold

• Cheap Money– Wanted paper money or silver issued to increase

money supply, thus causing inflation. This would cheapen their debts owed to creditors

• So, creditors vs. debtors• Resumption Act of 1875

– Reduce greenbacks and paper money and buy back paper money in Gold

Characteristics of Party Politics in the Gilded Age

1. A Two-Party 1. A Two-Party StalemateStalemate

1. A Two-Party 1. A Two-Party StalemateStalemate

Two-Party “Balance”Two-Party “Balance”Two-Party “Balance”Two-Party “Balance”

2. 2. Intense Intense

Voter Voter Loyalty Loyalty to theto the

Two MajorTwo MajorPolitical Political PartiesParties

2. 2. Intense Intense

Voter Voter Loyalty Loyalty to theto the

Two MajorTwo MajorPolitical Political PartiesParties

3. Well-Defined Voting 3. Well-Defined Voting BlocsBlocs

3. Well-Defined Voting 3. Well-Defined Voting BlocsBlocs

DemocraticBloc

DemocraticBloc

RepublicanBloc

RepublicanBloc

White southerners(preservation ofwhite supremacy)

Catholics

Recent immigrants(esp. Jews)

Urban working poor (pro-labor)

Most farmers

Northern whites(pro-business)

African Americans

Northern Protestants

Old WASPs (supportfor anti-immigrant laws)

Most of the middleclass

4. Very Laissez Faire 4. Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt.Federal Govt.

4. Very Laissez Faire 4. Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt.Federal Govt. From 1870-1900 Govt. did

verylittle domestically.

Main duties of the federal govt.:

Deliver the mail.

Maintain a national military.

Collect taxes & tariffs.

Conduct a foreign policy.

Exception administer the annual Civil War veterans’ pension.

5. The Presidency as a 5. The Presidency as a Symbolic OfficeSymbolic Office

5. The Presidency as a 5. The Presidency as a Symbolic OfficeSymbolic Office

Party bosses ruled.

Presidents should avoid offending anyfactions within theirown party.

The President justdoled out federal jobs.

1865 53,000 people worked for the federal govt.

1890 166,000 “ “ “ “ “ “

Senator Roscoe Conkling

• Then, as now, the parties printed voting instructions to encourage citizens to vote the straight party line.

Paper Broadsides for the 1876 Election

Collection of Janice L. and David J. Frent

• Nineteen of the twenty disputed votes composed the total electoral count of Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. The twentieth was one of Oregon’s three votes, cast by an elector who turned out to be ineligible because he was a federal officeholder (a postmaster), contrary to the Constitution (see Art. II, Sec. I, para. 2).

Hayes-Tilden Disputed Election of 1876 (with electoral vote by state)

Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.

Compromise of 1877• Results of 1876 election:

– Tilden had 184 of needed 185 electoral votes with 19 of the remaining 20 coming from irregular returns (1 republican and 1 Democrat) from 3 southern states (Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida)

– Tilden also won popular vote

• But who would count the irregular returns a Republican or a Democrat?

Compromise of 1877

• Electoral Count Act– A commission consisted of 15 men who would

count the ballots from the states– But 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats, who vote to

read/count the Republican returns– Democrats angry, so they only agree if the

following conditions are met:• Withdraw federal troops still in Louisiana and South

Carolina• Support in constructing a Southern Transcontinental

Railroad

– 1877 is noteworthy as the end of Reconstruction

Jim Crow Laws• As Radical Reconstruction ended, the

South quickly took back control and suppressed blacks– Blacks who tried to assert their authority

faced unemployment, eviction, and physical harm

– Most were essentially forced to be sharecroppers and tenant farmers

• At mercy of former masters, who became landlords and creditors

• Crop-Lien system- store loans you supplies and food in exchange for a lien on your harvest

Jim Crow Laws

• Jim Crow Laws- Legal segregation of the blacks and whites in the South

• Southern States– Enacted literacy

requirements, voter-registration laws, and poll taxes, along with intimidation to disenfranchise blacks in the South

• Plessey V Ferguson– Historic Supreme Court case

in 1896 that ruled “separate but equal” is constitutional under the “equal protection” clause of the 14th amendment

• However, there was no equality in the two spheres, blacks were treated as second rate citizens.

• Often extreme violence was used to deter blacks from trying to gain equality (KKK, lynching, murders etc)

Class Conflicts and Social Strife• 1877, the four major railroads decided to cut

workers pay by 10%– Most laborers and workers already harshly

impacted by Panic of 1873– Consequently, the railroad workers decided to

strike in response to the pay cut• President hates responds by sending in federal troops to

stop the striking railroad workers

– An outpouring of support for the workers occurred in Baltimore and St. Louis and other US cities as work stoppages were organized

– After several weeks and over 100 dead, the social unrest ended

Class Conflicts and Social Strife

• Significance– Exposes weakness of the labor movement– Shows the willingness of the federal

government and courts to intervene on the side of Big Business, along with the police, Army, state militias etc.

• Also important to note that labor movement was weakened internally with ethnic struggles– Irish v Chinese in California

Chinese Immigration• Started when Chinese males came to the U.S to dig

for gold or work on transcontinental railroad, by 1880, California had 75,000 Chinese ((% of total population)

• Many stayed behind as work dried up, but had worse jobs– Menials jobs– Cooks– Laundrymen– Domestic servants

• No families, so the assimilation process was difficult• Also, the Kearneyites in San Francisco openly

attacked Chinese immigrants

Chinese Immigration• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

– Congress slammed the door shut on Chinese immigration in 1882.

– Remained shut until 1943– U.S v Won Kim Ark in 1898

• Using 14th amendment, guaranteed citizenship to all persons born in the United States

• Jus soli v jus sanguinis

1880 1880 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

1880 1880 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

1880 Presidential 1880 Presidential Election: RepublicansElection: Republicans

1880 Presidential 1880 Presidential Election: RepublicansElection: Republicans

Half BreedsHalf Breeds StalwartsStalwarts

Sen. James G. Blaine Sen. Roscoe Conkling (Maine) (New York)

James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur (VP)

compromise

1880 Presidential 1880 Presidential Election: DemocratsElection: Democrats1880 Presidential 1880 Presidential

Election: DemocratsElection: Democrats

Inspecting the Inspecting the Democratic Curiosity Democratic Curiosity

ShopShop

Inspecting the Inspecting the Democratic Curiosity Democratic Curiosity

ShopShop

1881: Garfield 1881: Garfield Assassinated!Assassinated!1881: Garfield 1881: Garfield Assassinated!Assassinated!

Charles Guiteau:I Am a Stalwart, and Arthur is President now!

Defense usedInsanity defense.But charged with Murder and hanged

Chester A. Arthur:Chester A. Arthur:The Fox in the Chicken The Fox in the Chicken

Coop?Coop?

Chester A. Arthur:Chester A. Arthur:The Fox in the Chicken The Fox in the Chicken

Coop?Coop?

Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883) Chester Arthur unlikely

man to pursue civil service reform due to his record of cronyism and fondness of the fine things in life

Civil Service Act.

The “Magna Carta” of civil service reform.

1883 14,000 out of117,000 federal govt.jobs became civilservice exam positions.

1900 100,000 out of 200,000 civil service federal govt. jobs.

Also made compulsory campaign Contributions illegal for federal employees

Impact of Pendleton Act

• Federal jobs were earned by merit as opposed to “pull.”

• However, it helped put Big Business and Politicians in bed together as the patronage game dried up. Politicians needed to find their money elsewhere

Republican Republican “Mugwumps”“Mugwumps”

Republican Republican “Mugwumps”“Mugwumps” Reformers who wouldn’t re-

nominateChester A. Arthur.

Reform to them create a disinterested, impartial govt. run by an educated elite like themselves.

Social Darwinists.

Laissez faire government to them:

Favoritism & the spoils system seen as govt. intervention in society.

Their target was political corruption, not social or economic reform!

TheTheMugwuMugwu

mpsmps

TheTheMugwuMugwu

mpsmpsMen may come and men may go, but the work of reform shall go on forever. Will support

Cleveland in the1884 election.

1884 Presidential 1884 Presidential ElectionElection

1884 Presidential 1884 Presidential ElectionElection

Grover Cleveland James Blaine * (DEM) (REP)

A Dirty A Dirty CampaignCampaign

A Dirty A Dirty CampaignCampaign

Ma, Ma…where’s my pa?He’s going to the White House, ha… ha… ha…!

Rum, Romanism & Rum, Romanism & Rebellion!Rebellion!

Rum, Romanism & Rum, Romanism & Rebellion!Rebellion! Led a delegation of

ministers to Blaine inNYC.

Reference to the Democratic Party and Irish Americans

Blaine was slow torepudiate the remark.

Narrow victory forCleveland [he wins NYby only 1149 votes!].

Dr. Samuel Burchard

1884 1884 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

1884 1884 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

Cleveland’s First Cleveland’s First TermTerm

Cleveland’s First Cleveland’s First TermTerm The “Veto Governor” from New

York.

First Democratic elected since 1856 (28 years earlier)

His laissez-faire presidency:

Opposed bills to assist the poor aswell as the rich.

Vetoed over 200 special pension billsfor Civil War veterans! (GAR)

Though the people should support the government, the government should not support the people

Cleveland’s First TermCleveland’s First Term

• Helped bring North-South together politically by naming two Confederates to his cabinet

• Embraced spoils system reform in the beginning to appease Mugwumps, but in the end, he fired 2/3rds of all federal employees to make way for Democrats

The Tariff IssueThe Tariff IssueThe Tariff IssueThe Tariff Issue After the Civil War, Congress raised

tariffs to protect new US industries.

Big business wanted to continue this;consumers did not.

1885 tariffs earned the US $100 mil. in surplus!

Mugwumps opposed it WHY???

President Cleveland’s view on tariffs????

Tariffs became a major issue in the 1888presidential election.

Filing the Rough Filing the Rough EdgesEdges

Filing the Rough Filing the Rough EdgesEdges

Tariff of 1888

1888 Presidential 1888 Presidential ElectionElection

1888 Presidential 1888 Presidential ElectionElection

Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison (DEM) * (REP)

Coming Out for Coming Out for HarrisonHarrison

Coming Out for Coming Out for HarrisonHarrison

1888 1888 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

1888 1888 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

Disposing the Disposing the SurplusSurplus

Disposing the Disposing the SurplusSurplus

Million Dollar Congress• Republicans eager to reap the rewards of

victory with Harrison's win• But in Congress, the Democrats could

obstruct all House business by refusing to answer roll calls and not allowing a quorum.

• But Tomas Reed of Maine as Speaker of the House ruled as a czar and whipped the Democrats into shape.

• Thus, his House became the Billion Dollar Congress as they doled out money to veterans and increased purchases of silver

Changing Public Changing Public OpinionOpinion

Changing Public Changing Public OpinionOpinion

Americans wanted the federal govt. to dealwith growing soc. & eco. problems & to curbthe power of the trusts:

Interstate Commerce Act – 1887

Sherman Antitrust Act – 1890

McKinley Tariff – 1890

Based on the theory that prosperityflowed directly from protectionism.

Increased already high rates another 4%!

But farmers hurt by it, why?

Rep. Party suffered big losses in 1890 (evenMcKinley lost his House seat!).

Populists• Formed out of the farmers’ Alliance• Demanded the following

– Inflation through the coinage of silver– Graduated income tax– Government ownership of the railroads, telegraph,

and telephone– Direct election of Senators– One-term limit to the presidency– Shorter workday– And immigration restriction

• In 1892, they nominated old Greenbac party candidate James B. Weaver

Populists• 1892 was replete with many railroad

strikes, in particular, the Homestead Strike in Pittsburgh at Carnegie Steel– Pinkertons attacked striking steel workers

and 10 were killed and 60 wounded– Federal troops eventually called in to end

the strike and the union

• But the social unrest helped the Populists in the 1892 election (22 electoral votes and over a million popular votes

Populists

• Did well in the Midwest and western states• Did not poll well in the east• And the South was reluctant because the

Populists reached out to black voters in the South

• This led to the Grandfather Clause- exempted people from poll taxes, literacy tests etc to vote if their forbearers voted in the 1860 election– Essentially making it impossible for any blacks to

vote as the poll tax and literacy tests were unfair.

1892 Presidential 1892 Presidential ElectionElection

1892 Presidential 1892 Presidential ElectionElection

Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison again! * (DEM) (REP)

1892 1892 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

1892 1892 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

Cleveland faced with Turmoil• Panic of 1893 was worst in 19th century. • Gold reserves also being depleted as people

turned in their silver legal tender notes for Gold

• Cleveland appeals Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890– Williams Jennings Bryan comes to the scene as

a silverite– J.P Morgan has to bail out the government and

gives 65 million in Gold

Forgettable Presidents

• Grant

• Hayes

• Garfield

• Arthur

• Harrison

• Cleveland