100 likes | 262 Views
Gilded Age Politics: 1893-96. The Panic of 1893 The Silver Movement The Election of 1896. The Depression of 1893. 1892: Cleveland wins, Dems huge victory The Panic of 1893: Stocks crash, 15,000 bankruptcies, 20% unemployment, fear
E N D
Gilded Age Politics: 1893-96 The Panic of 1893 The Silver Movement The Election of 1896
The Depression of 1893 • 1892: Cleveland wins, Dems huge victory • The Panic of 1893: Stocks crash, 15,000 bankruptcies, 20% unemployment, fear • Coxey’s Army: unemployed demand public works projects. They Swarm on Capital. • Pullman Strike: Company Town, ARU & Debs join strike, riot, troops called in. • Coal Strike: 170,000 strike, ethnic tension
Cleveland’s Response • Repeals Sherman Silver Purchase, which he thought caused the depression • This lowers money supply • J. P. Morgan raises $50 in gold • Cleveland fails to lower tariff • No sympathy for Coxey and strikers • Ends career, hated by millions • 1894 Midterm Elections: GOP historic victory, • GOP will dominates till the Great Depression
Rise of Labor Unions (end of ch 18) • Problems w/ industrial labor: repetitive, • Long hours, dangerous, low pay, strict • Knights of Labor: skilled, unskilled, blacks • 8 hour day, no strikes, died 1892 • Public Perception: foreign, radical, violent • Strikes: Haymarket (86), Homestead (92) • AFL: Craft & skilled workers, white men • Gompers: pragmatic, work with management • Strike for limited goal, 1900 1 m members
Social and Literary Changes • Work: women & children go back to work • New Realism: Real life depictions • Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Jack London and Theodore Dreiser • Silver Movement: Many had almost religious faith that silver would restore prosperity. Wizard of Oz
Election of 1896 • GOP: William McKinley, solid, pro gold, • Democrats and Populists: William Jennings Bryan, pro silver, religious • “Cross of Gold” Speech: Handout • First Modern Campaign: Bryan campaigns all over country. McKinley stays on front porch and used mass media. • GOP start 30 years of dominance
Bryan’s Cross of Gold Speech Most famous American political speech Themes: Populism: appeal to the common man, fear of the elites Agrarian myth: family farmer bedrock of American democracy Pro Silver: silver will solve all problems Religion: heavy use of religious imagery