Political Realignments of the 1890s

Political Realignments of the 1890s The Coming of a “Gilded Age”

Mark Twain (1835-1910) coined the term implying that what looked beautiful and valuable on the surface--growing industry and accumulation of fortunes by the privileged few--was but a cover for the less valuable (“brass-like”) or destructive features of the period--poverty, child labor, widespread political corruption, trusts and monopolies, etc.** “Under the cruel impact of the depression, ideas changed in many areas including politics. A realignment of the American political system. . . finally reached its fruition in the 1890s, establishing new patterns that gave rise to the Progressive Era and lasted well into the twentieth century.”

Presidential Politics 20—A • The Declining Power of the Presidency after 1865** • Background Conditions—Economic Depression, 1873-1897** • Public Interest in Politics** Elections of 1876 and 1896—79% turnout

Party Positions • Democrats • State’s Rights • Decentralization • Limited government—small and local • Republicans • Pursuit of national policies • Government an institution to promote moral progress and material wealth “The late 1890s. . . marked the birth of the modern powerful presidency.”

The Election of 1876 was hotly contested as the flanking cartoons suggest. In the end, Rutherford B. Hayes received the winning number of electoral votes in spite of the fact that Democrat Samuel Tilden garnered more of the popular vote. Election of 1876

Election of 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes won the election of 1876—Electoral vote being cast

Election of 1880 • Union Army hero • Union Army hero James A. Garfield

Assassination of Garfield by a deranged lawyer and disgruntled office seeker, Charles J. Guiteau (September 19, 1881)

Chester A. Arthur, the “accidental president” Approved construction of a modern U.S. Navy Created bipartisan Civil Service Commission (in part, a response to Garfield’s assassination)—it administered competitive exams and appointments based on merit

Election of 1884 Grover Cleveland • Democratic governor of New York • Honest, stubborn, hard worker • Only America president to serve two discontinuous terms

Election of 1888 • Republicans gained Congressional majority • Democrats in Congress used “disappearing quorum” rule to bring a halt to legislation • The midterm election of 1890 was a crushing defeat for Republicans--for the first time since 1850, the White House controlled both houses of Congress Republican Benjamin Harrison, the losing candidate received more popular vote

Election of 1892 Democrats gained Congressional majority Many Republican voters switched parties in this election Those voters tended to vote Democratic rather than Populist The midterm elections of 1894 resulted in a loss of 113 Democratic seats in the House

There was a national trend of shifting political alignments. Power in the Democratic Party shifts to the South where it would remain for a long, long time. “In effect, the Democrats became a sectional—no longer a national—party.” Cleveland’s policies drove many Democrats into the Republican party

“The elections of 1894 marked the end of the party deadlock that had existed since the 1870s. . . . In the midst of the depression, the Republican doctrines of activism and national authority. . . became more attractive. . . . Americans became more accepting of the use of government power to regulate the economy and safeguard individual welfare. The way lay open to the reforms of the Progressive Era, the New Deal, and beyond. . . . In prosperous times, Americans had thought of unemployment as the result of personal failure, affecting primarily the lazy and immoral. . . . In the midst of depression, such views were harder to maintain, since everyone knew people who were both worthy and unemployed. . . . Pressures for reform increased, and demand grew for government intervention to help the poor and unemployed.” **

Tariffs, Trusts, and the Regulation of Business 20—B1 • Railroads 20—B2 • Trusts 20—B3 There were New Laws Regulating**:

Railroads 20—B2 Interstate Commerce Act**—1887—Interstate commerce = trade that crosses state lines • Banned rebates and pooling • Required railroads to set “reasonable and just” rates • Required end of overcharging short haul customers • Created Interstate Commerce Commission The ICC Charged with investigating and overseeing railroad activities and became prototype of federal commissions today that regulate various sectors of the economy

Trusts 20—B3 Sherman Antitrust Act**—1890—First federal effort to control trusts, regulate big business • Prohibited monopolies • Made deliberate destruction of competition a crime • The terms of the Act were vague leaving a wide area for interpretation by the courts • United States v. E. C. Knight Company, 1895

McKinley Tariff Act**—1890 20—B Passed during the Harrison administration (right), the Act popularly bore the name of Ohio Congressman William McKinley (left)

McKinley Tariff Act**—1890 20—B1 • Raised tariff duties about 4% • Included novel reciprocity provision allowing president to lower duties if other countries did the same • Promoted certain new industries, e.g., canned foods • Upshot was development of holding companies through which one company could control others through purchase of the stock in those companies

United States v. E. C. Knight Company, 1895** Blow against the Sherman Antitrust Act--drew false line of distinction between “trade or commerce” and manufacturing.” Allowed Knight Co.—a business that controlled 98% of American sugar refining—to continue operations that were only in “one state.”

The Depression Years**—The Causes 20—C • In response to rapid industrialization, the U.S. economy expanded too rapidly in the 1870s and 1880s • Industrialists had overbuilt, hoping for continuing growth—companies grew beyond their markets • Farmers and businesses borrowed heavily to expand

Causes Continued** • Business investments dropped sharply • Drought and hot summer west of Mississippi in 1894 • The U.S. gold reserve dropped sharply hurting business confidence and leading to. . . • A stock market collapse May 5, 1893--“Industrial Black Friday” was Wall Street’s worst day until 1929

Impact of the Stock Market Crash • Bankruptcy or failure of many firms, businesses, mines, and banks • Some 3 million unemployed by 1894 • The American public became restive and angry Jacob S. Coxey (above)--his leadership inspired a march on Washington, D. C. Photo upcoming shows some of Coxey’s marchers in their quest.

Theory Believed by Silver Supporters** • Free, independent silver coinage at a ratio of 16 ounces of silver to every one ounce of gold • Free coinage meant U.S. mints would coin all silver given to them • Inflation--higher prices and lower purchasing power due to rising costs

The Silver Controversy--A Quick Fix for Economic Troubles? 20—D2 • People wanted quick solutions to the economic problems of the day • Americans in the South and West—particularly those in the Democratic Party—favored a silver policy • Why Did Farmers Favor Unlimited Coinage of Silver?** Who supported silver and why?

Farmers Who Supported Silver** • They believed that the coinage of silver would cause inflation and help them repay their debts with less valuable money than they had borrowed • They believed it would raise wages and crop prices • They believed it would challenge the hated power of the gold-oriented Northeast

Two Free Silver Cartoons of the 1890s. At left, William Jennings Bryan advertises free silver as an elixir to heal what ails you. See Election of 1896 below. To right, an ex-Confederate soldier—now a farmer—argues his case for free silver as a panacea that will restore favorable economic conditions across the United States of America

Who Supported the “Gold Standard”?** 20—D2 • Bankers and established business people, especially in the East • Workers who feared inflation would lessen the purchase power of their wages Gold Standard—currency based solely on gold; it held down the money supply and kept prices from rising

Sherman Silver Purchase Act, 1890 20—D2 • U.S. Treasury directed to purchase 4.5 million ounces of sliver a month • Treasury to issue legal tender—Treasury notes—in payment for this silver • Both sides—silver and gold—were satisfied with this compromise

Repeal of Silver Purchase Act, 1893 20—D2 • President Cleveland repealed the bill • This reduced the flight of gold out of the U.S. but did not solve the Treasury’s gold problem • It boosted business confidence • It contracted currency when inflation was needed

Continued. . . • It failed to revive business or the stock market, reduce unemployment, or prevent a fall in farm prices • The repeal discredited President Cleveland • It confined the Democrats to the South • It propelled the Republicans into the majority party by 1894

Trouble of the Farm**—Demanding a “Fairer Share” of Economic and Social Benefits • Plentiful supplies on foreign market drove down crop prices • Credit was difficult to obtain • Deflation • Rising freight charges imposed by railroads (although rates actually fell during this period)

Continued. . .** • Drought • Mortgages that were burdensome (although not crippling) • Crisis of Self-Esteem “Farm discontent was a worldwide phenomenon between 1870 and 1900. With the new means of transportation and communication, farmers everywhere were caught up in a complex international market they neither controlled nor entirely understood.”

The exodus from farm to city led to a new “literature of disillusionment.” Such books were Hamlin Garland’s Son of the Middle Border, 1890 (frontispiece right) and Main-Travelled Roads, 1891. Hamlin Garland, left.

Problems led to formation of organizations like the Grange (1867 by Oliver Kelly) 20—C • Supported passage of “Grange Laws” regulating railroad freight rates • Worked to boost farm profits • Pooled resources to form cooperatives running grain elevators and marketing grain on their own

Various Farmers Alliances also formed through U. S. 20—C • They used many of the Grange’s methods and shared many of the same goals • National Farmers’ Alliance • Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial Union

The Ocala Platform** 20—C • Easier credit for farmers--most important of the demands • End to deflation by increasing the money in circulation • Deflation = falling value of price for goods and services; meant that the farmers who borrowed actually had to pay back more than they had borrowed • Notion of doing so by minting silver became very popular—would increase the money supply • Urged free coinage of silver

Continued. . . • Graduated personal income tax in proportion to one’s income • Strict regulation of the railroads • Charged government added to farmers’ misery with high tariffs • Creation of a “sub-treasury” system

The Rise of Populism and the Formation of a “Third National Party” 20—D1 Members of the farm alliances (National Farmers’ Alliance) were disappointed when reform candidates elected in 1890s failed to carry out their promises. Those who promised to support farm- related reform enjoyed great success. . . but then they did not carry out their promises. Populist Party gathered in Omaha, Nebraska in 1892. “There was no reason to cooperate with the Democrats who exploited Alliance popularity but failed to adopt its reforms.

Goals of the Populist Party** • Like labor movement of late-1800s, it tried to protect interests of ordinary working people against industrialists and railroad owners-- was based on idea that united action was more effective than individual action • Weaver (left) was the first third-party presidential candidate to receive more than a million popular votes. He received 22 electoral votes for carrying Kansas, Idaho, Nevada, and Colorado, and parts of North Dakota and Oregon. James B. Weaver—from Iowa, he was the Populist candidate for president in 1892

Fading of Populism and Rise of William Jennings Bryan 20—D3 Bryan was a powerful leader who was able to unite the “Silver Faction” One reporter aptly prophesied, “All the Silverites need is a Moses,” and in Bryan, they certainly found one

Bryan’s Qualities • Dramatic public speaker—“The Voice” • Used gestures dramatically • Called the “Great Commoner” in reference to his identification with the common man • Religious upbringing Bryan’s father, a Baptist deacon and his mother, devout Methodist. He learned in both denominational environments, eventually becoming an expert on the Bible and a spokesman for Fundamentalist views

Bryan’s “Public Event”** 20—D3 Bryan’s rousing conclusion: “Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world. . . we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: ‘You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”

Bryan the Man • Barely 36 years old in 1896 • Little political experience • His “Cross of Gold” speech at the 1896 Democratic Convention • Spoke as in defense of a righteous, holy cause • Captivated delegates at the Convention

Bryan’s Platform of 1896** 20—D3 • It reflected the Populist Creed: • regulate railroads • curb monopolies • establish a currency backed by silver “The Battle of the Standards”**—a contest between the gold vs. silver standard

The Election of 1896: McKinley vs. Bryan 20—D3

Displacement of the Cleveland wing—Pro-Silver—of the Democratic Party • Attacked Cleveland’s actions in Pullman Strike • Demanded free coinage of silver • Censured Cleveland’s bond on gold sales

McKinley won the election • McKinley let voters come to him in his hometown of Canton, Ohio** • He used the press to appeal to labor, immigrants, prosperous farmers, businessmen, and the middle class • He defended economic nationalism • He supported the advance of urban-industrial society

Not surprisingly, McKinley overwhelmed Bryan among city voters

Political Realignments of the 1890s