POLITICAL REALIGNMENTS IN THE 1890s

1. POLITICAL REALIGNMENTS IN THE 1890s America: Past and Present Chapter 20

2. Politics of Stalemate • Politics a major fascination of late nineteenth century • White males make up bulk of electorate • women may vote in national elections only in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Colorado • black men denied vote by poll tax, literacy tests

3. The Party Deadlock • Post-Civil War Democratic party divides electorate almost evenly with Republicans • One-party control of both Congress, White House rare • Federal influence wanes, state control rises

4. Experiments in the States • State government commissions investigate, regulate railroads, factories • Munn v. Illinois (1877) upholds constitutionality of state investigations • Wabash case (1886) prompts establishment of Interstate Commerce Commission

5. Reestablishing Presidential Power • Presidency hits nadir under Johnson • Later presidents reassert executive power • Hayes ends military Reconstruction • Garfield asserts leadership of his party • Arthur strengthens navy, civil service reform • Cleveland uses veto to curtail federal activities

9. Republicans in Power: the Billion-Dollar Congress • 1888--Republicans control both White House and Capitol Hill • 1890--Adoption of Reed rules permits enactment of “billion dollar” program

10. Tariffs, Trusts and Silver • 1890--McKinley Tariff raises duties to historic high • By 1893--1 million Union pensions granted • 1890--Sherman Anti-Trust Act regulates big business • 1890--Sherman Silver Purchase Act backs paper money with silver

11. The 1890 Elections • Republicans also assert activist government policies on state level • Sunday closing laws • prohibition • mandatory English in public schools • 1890--alienated voting blocks turn out Republican legislators

12. The Rise of the Populist Movement • Discontented farmers of West and South provide base of support • The National Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union the result

13. The Farm Problem • Worldwide agricultural economy causes great fluctuations in supply and demand • Farmers’ complaints • lower prices for crops (actual prosperity rising) • rising railroad rates (rates actually declining) • onerous mortgages (loans permit improvement) • Conditions of farmers vary by region • General feeling of depression, resentment

14. Selected Commodity Prices

15. The Fast-Growing Farmers' Alliance • 1875—Southern Alliance begins • 1889—Southern Alliance absorbs Northwestern Alliance • Alliance Captures local Democratic parties in South • After 1890 Runs its own candidates in North and West

16. The Fast-Growing Farmers' Alliance: Ocala Demands • System of government warehouses to hold crops for higher prices • Free coinage of silver • Low tariffs • Federal income tax • Direct election of Senators • Regulation of railroads

17. The People's Party • Southern Alliance splits from Democrats to form Populist party • Southern Populists recruit African-Americans, give them influential positions • 1892--Populist presidential candidate James Weaver draws over one million votes • Alliance wanes after 1892 elections

19. The Crisis of the Depression • Economic crisis dominated the 1890s • Railroads overbuilt, companies grew beyond their markets, farms and businesses went deeply in debt

20. The Panic of 1893 • February 1893--failure of major railroad sparks panic on New York Stock Exchange • Investors sell stock to purchase gold • Depleted Treasury shakes confidence • May, 1893--market hits record low, business failures displace 2 million workers • 1894--corn crop fails

21. Coxey's Army and the Pullman Strike • 1894--Jacob Coxey leads “Coxey’s Army” to Washington to demand relief • Pullman strikes by Eugene Debs’ American Railway Union close Western railroads • President Cleveland suppresses strikes with federal troops

22. The Miners of the Midwest • United Mine Workers strike 1894 • “Old miners”--English and Irish workers, owners of small family mines • “New miners”--1880s immigrants • Strike pits new miners against old

23. A Beleaguered President • Cleveland repeals Sherman Silver Purchase Act to remedy Panic of 1893 • Repeal fails to stop depression • Repeal makes silver a political issue • Democrats renege on promise of lower tariff

24. Breaking the Party Deadlock • Election of 1894 reduces Democrats to a sectional southern organization • Republicans sweep congressional elections • Republicans become majority elsewhere

25. Changing Attitudes • Depression of 1893 forces recognition of structural causes of unemployment • Americans accept the need for government intervention to help the poor and jobless

26. “Everybody Works but Father” • Women and children paid lower wages, displace men during depression • Employers retain women and children after depression to hold down costs

27. Changing Themes in Literature • Depression encourages “realist” school • Mark Twain’s characters speak in dialect • William Dean Howells, Stephen Crane portray grim life of the poor • Frank Norris attacks power of big business • Theodore Dreiser presents humans as helpless before vast social, economic forces

28. The Presidential Election of 1896 • Free coinage of silver the main issue • boost the money supply • seen as solution to depression • New voting patterns emerged and national policy shifted

29. The Mystique of Silver • “Free and independent coinage of silver” • set ratio of silver to gold at 16:1 • U.S. mints coin all silver offered to them • U.S. coins silver regardless of other nations’ policies • Silverites believe amount in circulation determines level of economic activity • A moral crusade for the common people

30. Republicans and Gold • Candidate: William McKinley • Silverite Republicans defeated on convention floor • Promises gold standard to restore prosperity

31. The Democrats and Silver • Candidate: William Jennings Bryan • Free silver promised in "Cross of Gold" speech • Democrats enthusiastic

32. Campaign and Election • Populist party endorses Bryan • Bryan offers return to rural, religious U.S. • McKinley defends urban, industrial society • Election is a clear victory for McKinley, utter rout of Populist party

34. The McKinley Administration • McKinley takes office at depression’s end • An activist president • Dingley Tariff raises rates to record highs • 1900--U.S. placed on gold standard • 1900--McKinley wins landslide reelection against William Jennings Bryan

36. A Decade’s Dramatic Changes • September, 1901--McKinley assassinated • Theodore Roosevelt becomes president