Chapter 20 Politics and Government 1877–1900

1. Chapter 20 Politics and Government 1877–1900

2. MAP 20–1 The Two-Party Stalemate of the Late Nineteenth Century Strong parties, staunch loyalties, and an evenly divided electorate made for exciting politics but often stalemated government in the late nineteenth century. Most states voted consistently for one of the major parties, leaving the few swing states like New York and Indiana the scenes of fierce partisan battles.

3. MAP 20–2 The Election of 1896 William Jennings Bryan carried most of the rural South and West, but his free silver campaign had little appeal to more urban and industrial regions, which swung strongly to Republican candidate William McKinley.

4. In the late nineteenth century, parades like this Republican one in Canton, Ohio, in 1896 were popular features of a participatory political culture dominated by political parties and intense partisanship.

5. FIGURE 20–1 Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections, 1876–1924 The exciting partisan politics of the late nineteenth century produced very high voter turnouts, but as party competition declined and states enacted more restrictive voting regulations, popular participation in elections fell in the twentieth century.

6. The lack of public controls over party-dominated elections led some Americans to fear that shady politicians and powerful special interests could corrupt the ballot box and thwart popular will.

7. The Grange rejected partisanship but not politics. This sympathetic cartoon shows a Granger trying to warn Americans blindly absorbed in partisan politics of the dangers of onrushing industrialization.

8. A meeting in 1880 of the National Woman Suffrage Association protested the exclusion of women from electoral politics. Susan B. Anthony noted with regret that “to all men woman suffrage is only a side issue.”

9. FIGURE 20–2 Increase in Congressional Business, 1871–1901 Industrialization, urbanization, and western expansion brought increased demands for government action, but the party stalemate, laissez-faire attitudes, and inefficient public institutions often blocked effective responses.

10. In this 1881 cartoon, the evil spirit of partisanship threatens a government clerk hesitating to kick back an assessed portion of his salary to the party in power. Civil service reformers wanted to eliminate political factors in staffing the federal bureaucracy.

11. By the 1880s many Americans feared that corporate power had too much influence in government and was endangering popular liberty. The question, as posed by this cartoon, was “What are you going to do about it?”

12. Established interests ridiculed the Populists unmercifully. This hostile cartoon depicts the People’s Party as an odd assortment of radical dissidents committed to a “Platform of Lunacy.”

13. Jacob Coxey’s “Army” of the unemployed marches to Washington, D.C., in 1894. Many such “industrial armies” were organized during the depressed 1890s, revealing dissatisfaction with traditional politics and limited government.

14. William Jennings Bryan in 1896. A powerful orator of great human sympathies, Bryan was adored by his followers as “the majestic man who was hurling defiance in the teeth of the money power.” Nominated three times for the presidency by the Democrats, he was never elected.

15. This Republican campaign poster of 1896 depicts William McKinley standing on sound money and promising a revival of prosperity. The depression of the 1890s shifted the electorate into the Republican column.

16. Key Questions: • What characterized the exuberant partisan politics and the close balance between parties in the late 19th century? • Why was the weak federal government unable to address the problems of America’s industrializing economy? • Why was there pressure for civil service reform? • What was the tariff issue? • What characterized monetary policy and the call for free silver? • What characterized agricultural protest and the emergence of the Populist party?

17. The Structure and Style of Politics • Campaigns and elections • The public enthusiastically participated in political campaigns and elections. • Campaign pageantry enthralled large and small communities. • Virtually all men participated in politics including immigrants and African Americans. • Political parties mobilized the huge electorate through detailed records, ensuring registrations, and transporting voters to the polls. • The election process was open and partisan but not necessarily corrupt.

18. The Structure and Style of Politics, cont’d. • Partisan politics • Democrats and Republicans enjoyed an almost even balance of support which made them work hard to get out the vote. • Party affiliation was determined by a mix of regional, ethnic, religious, and local factors. Republicans were strongest in the North and Midwest, Democrats in the South and urban Northeast. • Republicans were identified with nationalism and national unity, while Democrats favored limited government and personal liberties. • There was little room for third parties that typically focused on specific issues or groups. • Map: The Two-Party Stalemate of the Late Nineteenth Century p. 580

19. The Structure and Style of Politics, cont’d. • Associational politics • Associations of people with similar opinions operated outside the electoral arena but played significant roles on politics. • The Grange, for example, campaigned for Granger laws to help farmers but remained nonpartisan. The Mugwumps lobbied for civil service reform. • Women were active in politics, especially through the National American Woman Suffrage Association founded in 1890 and social service organizations. • The Women’s Christian Temperance Union gained a massive following.

20. The Limits of Government • The weak presidency • The impeachment of President Johnson weakened the presidency. Presidents viewed their duties as administrative. • The inefficient Congress • Congress was the most powerful branch of the national government. Early in the period, Congress was inefficient but as more national legislation was required, it reformed its procedures and structure. • The federal bureaucracy and the spoils system • The federal bureaucracy remained small and was criticized as being corrupt and inefficient. • Inconsistent state governments • State governments were more active than the federal government.

21. Public Policies and National Elections • Civil service reform • Reform of the spoils system gained momentum during the Hayes administration. • Reformers wanted a professional civil service based on merit that was divorced from politics. • The assassination of President James Garfield by a disappointed office seeker prompted the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Act that emphasized merit and skill in government appointments.

22. Public Policies and National Elections, cont’d. • The political life of the tariff • The tariff issue was hotly debated in the late 1800s. It was linked to partisan, ideological, and regional concerns. • The Republican Party was committed to industry and championed protective tariffs. • Democrats espoused a laissez-faire approach and favored tariff reduction. • The political disagreement was over how much the tariff should be and whom should be protected.

23. Public Policies and National Elections, cont’d. • The money question • Monetary policy was the most divisive political issue of the late 19th century. • Creditors, bankers, conservative economists, and many business leaders supported a sound money policy to ensure economic stability, maintain property values, and retain investor confidence. Farmers and other debtors wanted to expand the money supply to match the nation’s growing population and economy. • The conflict on money focused on the use of paper currency and silver coinage. Silver became the prominent issue in the 1880s and divided Southerners and Westerners against Eastern conservatives.

24. The Crisis of the 1890s • Farmers protest inequities • The agricultural depression of the late 1880s politically mobilized farmers. • Farmers protested that the system of money and credit worked against agriculture. Monetary deflation worsened the debt burden of farmers. • High railroad rates and protective tariffs also were targets of farmer reforms. • Farmers organized the Farmers’ Alliance in the South and the West. The Alliance tried to establish cooperatives and developed new ideas to solve rural credit and currency problems.

25. The Crisis of the 1890s, cont’d. • The People’s Party • In 1890, state-level third parties ran populist campaigns and gained control of two state legislatures and won several congressional elections. • The Populists were organized in 1892 and ran on the Omaha Platform. • Though meeting disappointments, the Populists received over one million votes, carried several western states, and won hundreds of state office throughout the West and some areas of the South.

26. The Crisis of the 1890s, cont’d. • The challenge of the depression • A long, harsh depression began in 1893 that led to labor unrest and violence. • The major political parties did not respond to the crisis and President Cleveland refused to listen to appeals for reforms. • The unemployed rallied around Jacob Coxey’s call for a march on Washington. While many Americans were sympathetic to the plight of the unemployed, the government suppressed Coxey’s Army. • The federal government protected big business from labor unrest through court decisions and legislation.

27. The Crisis of the 1890s, cont’d. • The battle of the standards and the election of 1896 • Unpopular actions and the continuing depression alienated workers and farmers from the Cleveland administration and the Democratic Party. Silver was the major issue in the 1896 election. • McKinley won the Republican nomination on a platform that supported high tariffs and the gold standard. • The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan on a silver platform, undercutting the People’s Party who also nominated Bryan. • The campaign was intense and dramatic. But Bryan but he lost the election decisively to McKinley. • Map: The Election of 1896, p. 598.

28. Conclusion • Politics and government often seemed at cross purposes in the late 1800s. • The localism, laissez-faire, and other traditional political and governmental principles were becoming increasingly inappropriate for America’s industrializing society. • By the end of the 1890s, the Republicans had emerged as the dominant party, a new activist presidency was emerging, and the stage was set for the Progressive Era of reform.

29. THE IMMIGRANT • Push-pull Immigrant • First or Germanic Wave (1865-1888) • Second Wave (1888-1914) • Reaction to Immigrants

30. I. Push-Pull of Immigration

31. II. First or Germanic Wave (1865-1888) • Who? • Why left? • Industrialization • Fear of war • Where go? • What happens to them?

32. III. Second Wave (1888-1914) • Who? • Why left? • Industrialization • Persecution • Where go?

33. IV. Reaction to Immigrants • Nativism • Controls