rutherford b. hayes - madison county school district · rutherford b. hayes (oh)- repub. a....
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Rutherford B Hayes
1876-1881 19th President
VP: William Wheeler
Republican elected in 1877
Born: Fremont, Ohio in 1822
Died: at Spiegel Grove,
his home in
Fremont, Ohio, in 1893.
I. Political Issues (1877-1881)
The Gilded Age
ElEction of ’76/ compromisE of 1877
Stirrings of Reform
Labor Unrest
1.Gilding: coating a cheap substance
in a thin layer of gold.
2. The nickname “The Gilded Age” was
coined by Mark Twain and Charles
Dudley Warner in their fictional book
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today
(1873). It referred to the period of time
in American history stretching from
roughly 1870 – 1900…
WHY?!?!?!?
(9)The Gilded Age- The American
society, despite its appearance of
promise and prosperity, was plagued
with corruption and scandal.
b. Two themes caused dissention:
i. (11) Laissez Faire – “hands off”-
the government didn’t force
companies to be fair
ii. Government gained new authority and power
at all levels- especially local level.
What made America Gilded?
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture04.html
After the Civil War, neither
Republicans or Democrats were in
clear control… a. As city officials gained more power, they increased
taxes to pay for city up-keep. Competition among
groups for control of city government grew intense.
b. (10) Political machines: unofficial
city organizations (who want
control of all that tax $$$$$) try to
keep their political party or group
in power (arose due to clashing
interests among groups of politicians)
c. Most political machines were headed
by a powerful “boss” who may or may
not have actually held a public office.
d. Kickback: promising a job
contract to a company, hiking the
price of the job, and then receiving a
portion of the earnings, which would
be known as graft – funds illegally
acquired through dishonorable
behavior.
f. (10 cont)- William “Boss”
Tweed - NYC’s most
notoriously corrupt political
boss was
i. Led Tammany Hall in the
early 1870s (Democrats)
ii. Grew rich off kickbacks/graft
from the city’s construction
jobs, which were padded with
fake expenses (They kept the
extra money for themselves!)
iii. Tweed was arrested in 1873
and died in jail.
I don't care who does the
electing, so long as I get
to do the nominating.
-Boss Tweed
Political Machine Basics WHAT???
•Political parties that controlled local and state government in late 1800s
WHY??
•Cities were growing fast!
•City government disorganized with few reliable services (police, fire, welfare)
•Immigrants wanted protection, help
B. (1) Election of 1876 1. Rutherford B. Hayes (OH)- Repub.
a. Promised “home rule” in the South and civil/
political rights for all (contradictory).
2. Samuel Tilden (NY)- Democrat
3. Tilden won popular vote & possibly 185
electoral votes
4. CHEATING from SC, FL, & LA
5. Each party thinks/claims they won the
election.
(2) The Compromise of 1877 1. An electoral commission was set up to determine who
would be awarded the disputed votes; Congress must
also approve their decision.
2. Republicans and Democrats agreed that
if Hayes (the R) won the election he
would remove federal troops from the
South (ending Reconstruction) and
Democrats (aka: southern-white-racists)
would gain control of those Southern states
back. (so much for fighting the Civil War…)
What is Reconstruction? • At the end of the Civil War (1861-1865) the
South was forced to free the slaves… sooo,
Northern troops stayed in the South to make the South “become part of the Union again”-
(3) Hayes’ election meant the withdraw federal
troops from the South, where the army had protected the right of blacks to vote. Now that Hayes won, Reconstruction officially ended. For nearly a century afterward, Southern whites used violence to keep blacks from participating in elections.
The Kansas fever was in full bloom and migrants sought every opportunity to claim all or part of the 160-acre plots as defined in the 1862 Homestead Act.
(7) “exodusters”
the migrants were ex-slaves moving out of the South to Kansas to claim land hoping for freedom from the economic and social oppression that had always been a way of life in the south.
The full-fledged exodus out of the southeast
began in March 1879 and continued into
1881, transplanting 25,000 African-
Americans to Kansas.
3. As a result of the compromise, Democrats regained control of SC, LA, & FL and Reconstruction in the South officially ended on May 1, 1877.
4. A political cartoon
by Thomas Nast of Harper’s Weekly used a football analogy for the Compromise of 1877. (Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia had just established the
Intercollegiate Football Association. (Yale also participated in this assoc.)
*A brief FYI:
Nast created today’s
symbols of the
Republican (Elephant)
and Democrat
(Donkey) Parties
(Dec. 27, 1879).
1863: Nast, along with Samuel
Clemens created our traditional
image of Santa Claus. Santa first
appeared in the upper left-hand
corner of a drawing depicting a
family separated from their father
(who was fighting in the Civil
War) on Christmas Eve.
St. Nicholas
“Merry Old Santa Claus” 1881
D. The Hayes White House 1. Hayes’ main achievement in
office was to restore respect to
the presidency after previous
years of scandal.
2. Hayes was known for bringing
“dignity and decorum” to the
White House.
3. The woman behind the man,
Lucy Hayes (aka “Lemonade
Lucy”), was an intelligent and
moral woman who insisted her
family participate in devotionals
each night after dinner.
Stirrings of Reform… (change)
1. Hayes helped stir government reform. Hayes did not
approve of the Spoils system.
2. Those Political bosses are making Americans mad
with (12) The illegal use of public offices
to reward friends for political party
work is known as the "Spoils System." An
official would get elected then appoint friends to office,
whether they were qualified or not.
3. Hayes’s presidency marked the beginning of
Civil Service Reform: government jobs held by non-elected workers.
G. (13) BAD Labor Conditions
1. People worked 10 to 14 hour
days, seven days a week.
2. Working conditions were
dangerous and abusive. a. Miners breathed coal dust all day.
b. Factory workers breathed sawdust, stone
dust, cotton dust, or toxic fumes.
c. Heavy machinery caused high injury rates.
3. Wages were low.
a. Most industrial workers earned
between $400-$500 a year ($600 was
the minimum annual income needed to
maintain a decent standard of living).
4. Children were working.
a. Some as young as six!
b. ~90,000 children were employed in the
latter part of the nineteenth century.
Labor Unrest (unhappiness)
(14) Labor Unions a. In retaliation of working conditions
and for protection and reform, some
workers joined and formed these labor
unions.
b. Unions used strikes to improve
conditions that they felt were demeaning
to the working class. These strikes were
often peaceful, but sometimes they
turned violent.
c. Labor Unions had difficulty organizing
because:
- workers moved from job to job.
- there was an influx of immigrants with
differences in language, religion, and
customs hard to unite!
- labor leaders had different goals.
- there was a lack of employer support:
a. Employers used blacklists- records of troublemakers- and would fire workers involved in union activity
b. Lockouts- employers would shut down the factories, fire the workers,
and replace them with scabs- replacement workers.
c. Yellow-dog contracts- workers were forced to agree not to take part in any labor action (i.e. strike)
d. Two major unions of the time:
i. Knights of Labor
(formed in 1869)
ii. American Federation of
Labor (1886) (discussed
later)
(15) The Knights of Labor- (goes from private to public in 1879)
• Terrence Powderly becomes the head of
the Labor Organization in 1869 and makes it
public in 1877.
• Men and women, skilled and non-
skilled were allowed into this union
• This labor union demands better treatment for
workers
• They fought to end Child Labor and
promoted 8-hour work day
(16) Railroad Strike of 1877
i. Ignited by a 10% wage reduction
(they didn’t cut the hours- just the pay!!! Some nerve)
ii. The strike spread to New York, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, and San Francisco.
iii. Pittsburgh: Rioters torched Union Depot and Pennsylvania Railroad roundhouse
iv. It took two weeks for Hayes to call out troops to
stop the strike.
v. By that point, 100 people had died, and two-
thirds of the railroads were idle.
II. Economic Issues
(1877-1881)
A. The Money Issue
B. Railroads
C. The Industrial Revolution
D. Development of the West
A. The Money Issue
1. Formed in the 1870s, the Greenback
Party pushed for measures to benefit
farmers in the West and South.
2. Although the party began to fade, the
money debate did not.
3. In 1878, farmers and silver miners found
temporary victory through the (4) Bland-
Allison Act that required the US treasury to buy $2- $4 million in silver each month and print money (instead of backing $ with gold)
4. It won’t work very well…
• (17) This means the US has 2 forms of money- Known as Bimettalism Gold and Silver-
A complete disaster… wouldn’t you rather have the gold money? Who wants the cheap stuff?
B. The Industrial Revolution 1871-1912
1. The Rise of Industry
a. There were several causes of the
rise of industry in the late 19th century:
(1st) Abundant coal deposits (cheap,
affordable energy)
(2nd) Rapid spread of technological innovation
a. (6) Thomas Edison’s invention of the Light bulb allowed for electricity , but also for a 24 hour workday that big-business would force on workers
iii. Pressure to cut costs & prices (eliminating competition & building monopolies)
iv. Government Continued the attitude of Laissez Faire toward businesses.
C. Development of the West
(3rd) Railroads greatly opened the West
to development/ settlement, offering:
a. transportation to new home
b. new jobs (construction/maintenance of
RR)
c. improvements on old jobs (farming/
ranching)
(4th) Mining – Many people rushed westward
during the 2nd half of the 19th century, hoping
to strike it rich! (Most were unsuccessful, as
were many mining towns that had been
established.)
(5th) Farming – Many of the settlers
moving West turned to farming to make a
living.
(6th) Ranching – A “cattle boom”
occurred in America during the late
1800’s, which drew many new “cowboys”
westward.
- Sheep ranching
also gained
popularity.
D. Further issues with Railroads…
1. Railroads were the first
monopoly in America. Just like
the silver issue, this concerned farmers!!!
2. States developed railroad commissions to
look into complaints that RRs were:
a. charging more for short hauls and less for
long hauls
b. offering Rebates (partial funds) to
favored customers
3. ( 18) Munn v. Illinois (1877) a. This was essentially a case of the
farmers vs the RRs!
b. Courts ruled that states legislatures
have the right to regulate RR rates. A
maximum rate for the storage of grain
was established.
c. ooohhh, controlling a monopoly! First
time the government tries this!!!
d. (This decision was reversed in 1887 -
more on that later)
A. Minority Issues: Three groups of people faced minority
issues during the late 19th century:
1. Native Americans- racism
2. African Americans-racism
3. Women-sexism
1. Native Americans: U.S. gov’t interaction with the Native Americans mainly focused on
getting them onto the reservations and (19) assimilating them into the American culture- forcing native americans to be more “American” (assimilation) This caused many clashes between the two groups (ex: Nez Perce)
Native American Issues Chief Joseph led his tribe on a
long trek toward Canada and away
from the US army and
reservations…
The Nez Perce Indian tribe was
divided and the members of the
tribe that were captured were
placed on reservations.
(5) Chief Joseph becomes
one of the most politically
outspoken and respected of
all Native American Chiefs.
Ghost
Dance
(8) A traditional religious
movement where Natives dance in
a circle asking their gods to return
plains life to the traditional ways…
Perhaps the best known facet of the
Ghost Dance movement is the role it
reportedly played Scared the US
army to be more aggressive
in placing Natives on
reservations because of the fear
it caused among settlers-they
thought it was a war dance
2. African Americans- a. States used segregation to ensure
that African Americans were treated
as second-class citizens.
i. The separation was a result of customs
which means it was de facto
(conditions that exist in fact,
but not actually in law).
b. (21) Jim Crow Laws:
Segregation required by statutes
in the South. (poll taxes,
grandfather clause, literacy tests) a. Name came from a minstrel show
routine called “Jump Jim Crow”
c. De facto segregation was occurring in the
North, too, with segregation and
discrimination occurring in schools,
housing, and employment.
3. The Voice of Women-
a. The common belief among Americans was
that careers and married life did not mix.
b. Most women who worked were single
(This will change by the turn of the century,
and many married women will be working).
c. Most single female workers were between
the ages of 16 and 24.
d. Women were paid $3-$5 less a
week than men.
e. Many were nurses, teachers, clerical
workers, or telephone operators.
f. Women also struggled to gain a voice in the
democratic processes of America.
g. Susan B. Anthony
spent most of 40 years
appearing before Congress
pushing women’s suffrage.
“Organize, agitate, educate, must
be our war cry”. I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the
protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and
there I take my stand. - Susan B. Anthony
i. Suffrage: the right to a voice in
government
ii. 1878: Amendment proposal “The right of
citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or
by any state on account of sex. (It stalled for
the 2nd time and did not reappear until 1913.)
B. Social Theories 1. (20)Social Darwinism: derived from
Darwin’s “Survival of the fittest” in society; suggests that society (government) should have little to do with business (again- laissez faire)
2. Henry George wrote
Progress
and
Poverty
(1879)-
describing the
paradox in society
1. Upper-class Americans lived lavishly and
got richer.
2. Middle-class Americans moved to
comfortable suburbs and commuted on
trains to work.
3. Lower-class Americans lived in city
apartments and old neighborhoods that
were dilapidated and overcrowded.
C. Social Life
4. Some urban workers
moved into towns
with housing built
specifically for them
(company towns)
5. Others found
apartments and
tenements (low-cost
apartments that were
overcrowded)
6. A glance at life in the city:
a. Hundreds of people were packed into
places intended only for a few families.
b. Due to poverty, overcrowding, and
neglect, city neighborhoods began to
decline.
c. Trees and grass disappeared.
d. Soot filled the air creating dark and foul
conditions in the light of day.