AP US History

Chapter 19 Notes – The Politics of the Gilded Age

The Politics of Equilibrium

The Party System:
- At the end of the century, while the country was going through traumatic changes, America’s two-party system was quite
stable
- Since Reconstruction until the end of the century, the country was almost divided equally between the Democrats and the
Republicans
o 16 states regularly voted Republican
o 14 states regularly voted Democrat
o Only five states were ever in doubt – New York, and Ohio being the most important – and it was these states that
usually decided presidential elections
o During this time, the Republicans captured every presidential election except two (1884 & 1892) but each election
was close, suggesting that while the Republicans were the dominant party, their position was on the edge
 In Congressional elections, the Republicans usually controlled the Senate and the Democrats controlled the
House of Representatives
- Most Americans were very loyal to their party and were happy to let people know that they were part of that party
o Voter turnout was very high, averaging nearly 78%
 Unfortunately, many groups were still disenfranchised – women, blacks and poor whites in the South
 Where you lived was usually the reason for your party loyalty
 White Southerners usually voted Democrat
 White Northerners and Black Southerners usually voted Republican
 Religion and Immigration also played a role in determining how you voted
 Catholics and immigrant workers tended to vote Democratic and were for little restriction on
immigration
 Protestant, middle class natives tended to vote Republican and were for immigration restrictions

The National Government:

- During this time, the federal government was still rather small and did not have a large role in the daily lives of people
o Essentially, the federal government delivered the mail, maintained an army, conducted foreign relations, collected
tariffs and taxes; even if they wanted to become more active, the government did not have the resources that would
have been necessary to become more engaged in America
o This had changed a little towards the end of the 19th century as the government began to encourage economic
development throughout the nation, especially through the building of railroads
 Subsidies to railroads took the form of land grants
o The government also began to become active in protecting capitalists from workers as presidents were willing to
send the military in to break up strikes
- The government also had to begin to send out pensions to Civil War veterans and their spouses
o Many reformers attempted to convince the government to give a pension to all the elderly in America, but this was
rejected as being too expensive; further, corruption within the Civil War Pension system convinced many that
corruption would only be worse if applied across the nation
- The most powerful national institutions at this time were the two political parties and the court system

Presidents and Patronage:

- The power of the party bosses effected the power of the president during this time period; there was not a powerful man to
take office who was able to rise above party politics and lead the nation as he wanted to
o The most important job that the president had was in the appointment of men to offices, which was again, controlled
by the party machine – a president could be expected to make over 100,000 appointments in four years
- Party division was common during the Gilded Age as well
o The Republicans divided into two factions
 The Stalwarts, who favored traditional machine politics
 The Half-Breeds, who were in favor of political reform and the removal of the party machine from power
- Hayes attempted to introduce a civil service system into the government which would have weakened patronage power by
reducing dramatically the number of presidential appointments; neither faction was in favor of this
o Because Hayes had already promised not to run for reelection, he was a lame-duck from the time he took office,
making Congress very unwilling to work with him
o The only reason that the Republicans were able to win the election of 1880 was because they ran both a Stalwart and
a Half-Breed as a compromise ticket
 - The Election of 1880:
o Republicans:
 James Garfield (Stalwart) for President
 Chester A. Arthur (Half-Breed) for Vice-President
o Democrats:
 General Winfield Scott Hancock – Civil War commander for President
o Results of election:
 Garfield – 4,454,416 popular vote (214 electoral)
 Hancock – 4,444,952 popular vote (155 electoral)
- While Garfield was a Stalwart, he went against the party and came out for civil service reform
- On July 2nd, 1881, Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau, an incensed Republican who believed that a patronage position
should have been given to him; Garfield did survive for a number of months but eventually did die from his wounds at the
end of September
- Chester Arthur became president; he too tried to steer his own path as president, refusing to follow the Half-Breeds who had
gotten him onto the ticket
- Arthur came our for civil service reform, arguing that it was the spoils system that had led to Garfield’s assassination
o Arthur kept most of Garfield’s appointments in office while supporting reform
- In 1883, Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which required that some federal jobs be filled through a written test and not
patronage; while few offices fell under the act, it was a start towards civil service reform

Cleveland, Harrison and the Tariff:

- The candidates for the election of 1884:
o James G. Blaine (R)
o Grover Cleveland (D)
- The main issue behind the election was Blaine’s background, which was quite sketchy as he had been involved in a number
of scandals; Republicans calling themselves mugwumps threatened to vote for the Democrat candidate if Blaine was
nominated, which they did, giving the election to Cleveland as he was seen as an enemy of corruption
o The Election of 1884:
 Cleveland (D) 4,874,986 votes (219 electoral)
 Blaine (R) 4,851,981 votes (182 electoral)
 If Blaine would not have lost the Republican votes in a number of states, he would have won the
election
 Blaine also was not a favorite of Catholics, as he called the Democrats the party of “rum,
Romanism and rebellion,” causing Catholics to vote mostly for Cleveland
- Cleveland was respected for his opposition to party politics, pressure groups and other corrupt institutions
- Cleveland was also against protective tariffs, believing that the excess revenue that they produced led to corruption as the
government struggled to spend the money
- While Democrats in Congress worked to lower the tariff, Republicans actually worked to raise it, leading to the tariff rate
being the main issue in the election of 1888
- The Election of 1888:
o The Democrats re-nominated Cleveland, who ran on a platform of lower tariff rates
o The Republicans ran Benjamin Harrison, who was seen as a respectable politician who ran on a platform of high
tariff rates
- Results of the election of 1888:
o Harrison (R) 5,439,853 votes (233 electoral)
o Cleveland (D) 5,540,309 votes (168 electoral)
 This election was seen as one of the most corrupt in American history
 It also was the first election since the Civil War to see clear economic differences re-emerge as a defining
aspect of the two parties

New Public Issues:

- Harrison was the grandson of William Henry Harrison, elected president in 1840 but died in office one month into his
presidency
- During his administration, public pressure to address social and economic problems became great
o The most pressing issue was seen as the regulation of the trusts
o By this time, 15 Western states had already passed legislation within their state that attempted to prohibit
combinations that restricted competition
o Most corporations were able to escape these laws by incorporating in Delaware and New Jersey, where businesses
had little restrictions placed upon them
 o In order to be effective, national legislation was needed that would not allow these businesses to hide in particular
states were laws were favorable
- In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act; while the goal of the law was to bring about reform the reform of trusts
and quiet public outrage, the law actually had little ability to break up trusts as the government rarely brought suit against
businesses and those suits that did get to court were usually thrown out
- Acting on the issue that won them the presidency, the Republicans in Congress were able to have the highest protective tariff
ever proposed voted into legislation – the McKinley Tariff – which became law in October of 1890
o Because it was passed just before the midterm elections, the elections were used as a gauge on public response to
the tariff; Republicans had misread the people as their majority in the Senate was reduced to 8 and they completely
lost control of the House, winning only 88 of the 323 seats
- The tariff issue once again dominated the presidential election in 1892
- The Election of 1892:
o Democrats re-nominated Grover Cleveland who supported a lower tariff
o Republicans re-nominated Benjamin Harrison who supported high tariffs
o The People’s Party nominated James Weaver who advocated extreme economic reform
- Results of the Election of 1892:
o Grover Cleveland (D) 5,556,918 votes (277 electoral)
o Benjamin Harrison (R) 5,176,108 votes (145 electoral)
o James Weaver (P) 1,041,128 votes (22 electoral)
 This election was unique in the fact that it was the first time that the two candidates running were running
for reelection and it is the only time a president has won, lost and then won (serving two terms but not
consecutively)
 It was also the first time since 1878 that the Democrats had won both houses of Congress
- Cleveland’s policies the second time were similar to those of his first term – minimal government interaction, little social
reform and lower tariffs
- The Wilson-Gorman Tariff was passed, but it did not go as far as Cleveland had hoped in reducing the tariff
- Farmers continued to demand reform; not getting any from the federal government, individual states began to pass legislation
to regulate the railroads within their states
- This led to a series of Supreme Court decisions that have collectively been called the Wabash cases
o Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois is the full name of the suit
 In the case, the Supreme Court ruled that “Granger Laws” or laws that had been passed by individual states
in an attempt to regulate the railroads were unconstitutional because they interfered with interstate
commerce – only Congress can regulate interstate commerce
o This ruling made it clear that only the federal government could pass legislation to regulate trusts
 They responded with the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which banned discrimination in rates between
long and short hauls, required that railroads publish their rates and that all rates had to be reasonable and
just

The Agrarian Revolt

The Grangers:
- Farmers had been attempting to organize for a number of years in order to better their lot in life through collectivization
- The Grange was the first major attempt by farmers to join together to better their situation in life through an organization on a
national level
- The Grange was less a protest movement than a social self-help association
o The Grange was begun shortly after the Civil War by Oliver Kelley, who was frustrated by the isolation of farming
life
o At first, the grange simply tried to bring farmers together to learn new scientific farming techniques, to create a
sense of community between farmers and to create a feeling of community and relieve the loneliness of farm life
o The grange grew in power after the Depression of 1873
 By 1875, the Grange had over 800,000 members and 20,000 lodges
 The Grange was strongest in the South and Midwest
- As the Grange grew, it began to focus on more on economic issues
o They attempted to organize marketing cooperatives that would allow farmers to circumvent middlemen when selling
and shipping their product
o They also urged farmers to become more politically active to break the monopolistic practices of railroads
- On July 4th, 1873, farmers throughout the Midwest assembled to hear “The Farmers Declaration of Independence” which said
o The time had come for farmers to rouse themselves from apathetic indifference to their own interests to end their
suffering from oppression and abuse
o It also vowed that farmers would use all lawful and peaceful means to free themselves from tyranny and monopolies
- Granges set up cooperative stores, warehouses, insurance companies and factories to provide farmers with goods
o Montgomery Ward worked to also meet the needs of farmers
 - Most grange enterprises failed because of inexperience and opposition from middlemen
- The Grange also worked to get the government on their side
o While they attempted to work through the two-party system, the Grange was sometimes forced to run candidates as
third party tickets
o At its peak, the Grange was able to control of the legislatures of most states in the Midwest
 Their only purpose in government was to subject the railroads to government regulation and control
 Laws known as Granger Laws were passed in the 1870’s by these states which imposed strict regulations
on railroad rates and practices
 Unfortunately for the courts, the Supreme Court ruled that these regulations were unconstitutional
 With the defeats in the courts along with modest prosperity that returned to farming at the end of the
1870’s, the Grange began to lose influence and power

The Farmers’ Alliance:

- As the Grange lost power in the Midwest, a new organization was developing in the South called the Farmers’ Alliance
o The Alliance was concerned mostly with local problems
 They formed cooperatives, opened stores and other facilities for its members to use and to free them from
dependence on merchants
 They also hoped to create a society where economic competition might give way to cooperation
 They did not advocate for collectivism but rather to create a mutual sense of responsibility that would help
farmers against outside forces
o Women played an important role in these alliances as they had voting rights in the organization and held offices
 Mary Lease was one of the most famous female members of the Alliance
o The Alliance faced many of the same problems that the Grange did
 Cooperatives did not always work well
o The Alliance, frustrated by its inability to effectively help its members began to organize nationally
 The Southern and Northwestern Alliances merged and held a convention in Ocala, Florida
 This meeting developed the Ocala Demands, which acted as a political platform
 In national elections in 1890, candidates supported by the alliance won a number of offices,
including 6 governorships, 50 seats in the House of Representatives and 3 seats in the Senate
 Most of these candidates were democrats that drew enough support from farmers
o This success drove the Alliance to develop its own national party – the People’s Party
 This party was best known as the Populist Party
 In 1892, the Populists nominated James Weaver for president ; while he did not win, Weaver was able to
pull over one million votes and 22 electoral votes
 The Populists were able to win a number of state elections along with seats in Congress

The Populist Constituency:

- The Populist Party appealed mainly to farmers, specifically small farmers with little economic security but wanted to create a
broad political coalition that included many groups
- One thing that populist farmers did have in common was the fact that they were engaged in a type of farming that was losing
out to commercialized and mechanized farming
- Populists were never able to attract the one group that they needed to – labor – mainly because their interests were often at
odds
- Populists were able to attract miners to their cause
o They were able to attract them to their cause because of their demand for free silver, which would give the miners
more work
o Free Silver was the idea that silver as well as gold should be used to back American money; this would provide more
money to a region of the United States that always lacked capital
- Populists struggled with what to do about African Americans that wanted to join the party
o The number of blacks that were looking for an alternative party made their joining attractive
o In the end, the Populists were willing to accept blacks into the party but not allow them to hold positions of power
- Most Populist leaders came from the rural middle class; usually holding a professional position

Populist Ideas:
- The Populist platform was developed at two meetings: the Ocala Demands of 1890 and the Omaha Platform of 1892:
o The creation of subtreasuries that would strengthen cooperatives
o The establishment of warehouses by the federal government for farmers; using the crops that they stored there as
collateral, farmers could borrow money at a low interest rate while waiting for prices to rise before selling their crop
o The abolition of national banks, which farmers saw as institutions of concentrated power
o The end of absentee land ownership
o The direct election of US Senators
 o Increase the ability of ordinary citizens to influence the political process
o Regulation and eventual ownership of the railroads, telegraph and telephone lines by the government
o The creation of government-operated postal banks
o A graduated income tax
o Inflation of currency through increase of minting silver
- Many populists were anti-Semitic, blaming the Jews for many of the economic problems
- All blamed Eastern powers for their problems, where they saw all of the money being centralized
- Through these sparse situations, Populism was a legitimate attempt to solve real problems
- It was not an attack on capitalism but rather the chaos that it was creating; growth should continue but be regulated by the
government

The Crisis of the 1890’s

The Panic of 1893:
- The Panic of 1893 brought about the most severe depression to ever hit the United States
o It began in March when the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad declared bankruptcy
o A few months later, the National Cordage Company failed
o These two events sent the stock market into a slide, crashing in the summer
 Because banks were heavily invested in the market, they too began to fail, causing a contraction in the
amount of credit available
 This brought about a number of additional business failures
o Depressed farming prices had additionally reduced the power of the farmers to survive in this environment
o Problems in Europe, which had fallen into a depression earlier that the United States, did not help matters as they
pulled their money out of America, leaving even less for investment
- All of these failures brought to light just how interconnected American businesses had become and how most companies
were totally dependent on the railroads for survival
o About 20% of the labor force was unemployed
o Prosperity did not return to America until 1901
- In 1894, Jacob Coxey, a Populist, became an advocate for public works programs to create jobs for unemployed workers
along with an inflation of the currency (free silver)
- When Congress did not respond to his programs, 500 workers marched on Washington from Ohio; the marchers were barred
from the Capitol and Coxey was arrested for walking on the Capitol lawn
- Union unrest was also rampant as a number of strikes broke out (Homestead and Pullman Strikes)

The Silver Question:

- The depression weakened America’s monetary system
o President Cleveland believed that the primary cause of the depression was the instability of America’s currency
- The heart of the debate was what would be the basis for the dollar (how would it’s value be determined – by gold or silver)
o Today, the value of the dollar alone rests on public confidence in the government
- In the 19th century, the belief was that money was worthless unless it was backed by something – at any time, the holder of a
bill could cash it in for gold
- Throughout its history, America had relied on both gold and silver for the basis of its currency; this is known as bimetallism
o The official ratio was 16 to 1 – 16 oz of silver equaled 1 oz of silver; however, the commercial value of silver was
much higher, which meant that you could get more money by selling your silver to a manufacture and not using it in
circulation – this led to mints stopping the coining of silver due to a lack of supply
o In 1873, Congress passed a law making this ration official; however, the panic of 1873 reversed the silver situation,
making 16:1 too low of a ratio and deflating the value of silver
o However, this situation made silver available for coining again – this whole situation has become known as the
“Crime of 73”
- Two groups were outraged by the Crime of 73
o Silver mine owners who wanted the government to purchase their excess silver
o Farmers who wanted an increase in the amount of money in circulation – which would cause inflation and raise the
price of farm products, helping farmers to get out of debt
 These groups wanted the government to return to free silver at the ratio of 16:1
- At the same time that the silver issue was occurring, gold reserves in the United Sates were very low
o The Panic of 1893 only intensified the demand on gold reserves
o Cleveland believed that the Sherman Silver Purchase act of 1890 was the cause of the problem
 The law required that the government purchase silver in gold but not mint the silver
 Cleveland asked that the law be repealed during his second term which split the Democratic party as he
supported a gold policy while the southern and western Democrats favored bimetallism
o All of this culminated in the presidential election of 1896
 Supporters of the gold standard considered it essential that the economy stay as it was to stabilize the nation
  Supporters of bimetallism believed that the gold standard allowed eastern bankers to act as a tyrant over
farmers in the south and west

A Cross of Gold
The Emergence of Bryan:
- The Election of 1896
o Republicans nominated William McKinley, governor of Ohio, who supported a high tariff rate and the gold standard
o Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan, a Congressmen from Nebraska
 Democrats eager to seize votes from the Populists, essentially incorporated their platform as that of the
Democrats
 This led to Bryan also being nominated by the Populists as their candidate
o Bryan was a fiery speaker and gained the support of the Democrats with his famous “Cross of Gold” speech
 In it he said that “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not
crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”
o This led to the Democrats, many of who were gold people, to adopt the free silver platform
 Because Bryon was selected by the Democrats, this left the Populists without a opposition candidate; the
Democrats had moved too far towards reform for the Populists to have an impact
 This forced the Populists to select Bryan as well

The Conservative Victory:

- The results of the Election of 1896:
o William McKinley (R) 7,041,779 votes (271 electoral)
o William Jennings Bryan (D) 6,502,925 votes (176 electoral)
 Bryan had become the first candidate to visit every region of the country in an attempt to win]
 For the Populists, the election was a disaster as they had bet the farm on the fusion with the Democrats

McKinley and Recovery:

- The victory of McKinley brought a sense of calm back to the country as it was seen as a means of controlling the working
class that had been so active and violent during the Cleveland administration
- The depression also seemed to subside as business began to expand and the unemployed found jobs again
- McKinley was committed to one thing – higher tariffs to protect American industry
o The Dingley Tariff was passed after he took office, raising rates to their highest level ever
o McKinley also supported the Gold Standard of 1900, which confirmed America’s commitment to the gold standard
after being unable to reach an agreement over silver with France and England
- Prosperity returned for a number of reasons
o Crop failures overseas brought farm prices up
o The business cycle entered another period of growth
- The largest problem facing industrialized countries was that the amount of gold in reserve could not keep up with the
expansion of the market
- Without a dramatic increase in the gold supply that occurred in the 1890’s due to a new extracting technique, the Depression
of 1893 may not have ended – extra gold had inflated the currency supply so much by 1900 that no one could have known
that this would have been the case in 1890