ELECTION OF 1896

William Jennings Bryan (D, Pop)

William McKinley (R)

155 ELECTORAL

VOTES

292ELECTORAL

VOTES

MCKINLEY WINS!Populists Fail Again

What does the story of the Election of 1896 illustrate about the POLITICS, LEADERSHIP, and GOVERNMENT of the Gilded Age?

Brainstorm a list of inferences based on the story.

POLITICAL CHARACTERISTICS• Voter turnout was incredibly high (80-95%).

• Elections were usually very close.

• The parties focused on winning elections, not governing the country.

• The ideologies of both parties were very similar with differences on just a few issues (i.e. the tariff).

• Many blacks and almost all women could not vote.

• The government largely ignored the social consequences of industrialization.

• DEMOCRATS: “Solid South”, Major Northern cities with large immigrant populations.

• REPUBLICANS: Small towns and rural areas in the North and Midwest; native middle class, businessmen, white collar workers in Northern cities; Grand Army of the Republic.

• Dirty Tactics: “Waving the Bloody Shirt”, “329”, The Illegitimate Son, “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion”, Murchison Letter, War Chests

LEADERSHIP

• Many candidates were veterans of the Civil War, from the Midwest, and not very dynamic or colorful.

• Few candidates campaigned.

• Many were touched by scandal though they were presented as “honest”.

• Laissez-faire was the dominant style regardless of party.

• Handouts were only given to veterans of the Civil War in the form of generous pensions.

• Decisive action was only taken on matters of internal security (i.e. suppressing strikes) as presidents usually deferred to Congress.

CIVIL SERVICE REFORM

• Spoils System

• Patronage vs. Merit?

THE ISSUES

Assassination ofJames A. Garfield“I am a Stalwart and

Arthur will be President.”

Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)

NYC Customs HouseRoscoe Conkling*Chester Arthur

Half-Breeds vs. Stalwarts

MONEY SUPPLY

• Limit or Expand?

• Bland-Allison Act (1878)

• Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890)

• Coxey’s Army (1894)

• Free Silver!

• William Jennings Bryan and the “Cross of Gold”

• Currency Act (1900)

THE ISSUES

TARIFFS

• The main source of revenue for the federal government. (No income tax until 1916).

• DEMOCRATS: Low

• REPUBLICANS: High

• Why???

THE ISSUES

HIGH LOW

Protection Freer Trade

CORPORATE REGULATION?

• Interstate Commerce Act and the ICC (1887)

• Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)

• The influence of big business on politics.

THE ISSUES

ICC

FORGOTTEN OR IGNORED…• Women (The Vote, Lemonade Lucy)

• Farmers (No Handouts, The Alliance Movement, The Populist Party)

• Blacks (Sharecropping, Jim Crow Laws, Plessy v. Ferguson)

• The Poor (Local Efforts, Intellectuals: Henry George, Edward Bellamy)

• Immigrants (Chinese Exclusion Act)

• Labor

• The Environment

THE ISSUES