Commonwealth & Enterprise 1870-1900

1. Commonwealth & Enterprise1870-1900 AP U.S. History

2. Growth of Government • Federal • Municipal

3. Federal Government • Bureaucracy: Departments staffed with non- elected officials • 50K employees (1871) to 100k (1880). • Example: Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). • Regulatory agency to bring order to state laws concerning the railroad. • Approve freight rates. • First real intervention of the government into private enterprise. • Balance of power moves from states to federal government.

4. Federal Employment

5. Municipal, County, State & Federal • Responding to a need to regulate society • “The best government governs least.” • Police, firefighters, public schools and libraries. • Municipal ownership of water, sewage & garbage. • Increase taxes to pay for new services. • City debt rises 50x’s. • Civil servants grow.

6. Machine Politics • Republicans • Business leaders. • Run on Civil War record, reuniting nation and. • Democrats • Southerners and immigrants. • Expand states rights, reduce federal government & spending.

7. Campaigning • Large campaigns lead to political corruption. • Hats, buttons, cards. • High voter turnout since 1860. • OK for politicians paid in stock by companies you help with legislation in Congress.

8. Executive Leadership • Presidents after Lincoln are weak. • Yield power to Congress and State Legislatures. • Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland & Harrison (1865-1896). • 1% of popular vote separated 3 out of 5 of the last elections. • Finally changes with McKinley in 1896. • Each party owns either the House or the Senate (divided government).

9. Political Bosses Dominate • Boss Tweed, NY. • Michael “Hinky Dink” Kenna, Chicago. • Get & give jobs and food for votes. • Win working class by expanding city services in their neighborhood. • Garbage, sewer, & water. • Spoils System • Jobs change with each administration. • 50% of government jobs are patronage positions. • 56K jobs in 1881.

10. Election of 1880 • James Garfield-R. • Starts out for social reform, but flips to whatever will get him elected. • “Intelligence of the average citizen falls short of the democratic system.” • Pro business and corruption. • Wins by less than 40K votes. • Mainly ceremonial role in office.

11. Farmers & Workers: The Populist Movement • Patrons of Husbandry • National Farmers Alliance • Workers • Women • Brief Unity of Movements

12. Patrons of Husbandry • The Grange Movement • Hardship of farmers causes rise in membership (1.5 million). • Blizzards, drought and depression (1873) • Blame • Banks, railroads, equipment manufacturers. • RR charges more to ship a short distance than a long trip. • States pass Granger laws that set maximum shipping rates.

13. National Farmers Alliance • Southern movement because of falling cotton prices. • 3 million members (1890). • TX, then AR and through south. • Colored Farmers Alliance (separate). • Both want state ownership of RR, low tariffs, graduated income tax, & the “free & unlimited coinage of silver”.

14. Workers • 1873 25% unemployment rate. • Great Uprising in 1877: 1st nationwide strike from Martinsburg, WV (reading 20-1). • President Hayes calls in army to suppress. • 20 people die in Pittsburg.

15. Women • WCTU. • Labor and agriculture movement. • KoL • Demand investigation into employer abuses toward women. • 65K female members. • Set up day care and endorse women’s suffrage. • Family movement.

16. Farm & Labor Unification • Populists: Party supported by the people. • KoL, NFA, CFA meet in St. Louis (1892). • “We do not ask for pity, but justice.” • Create People’s Party • Government should • Own RR, banks & telegraph. • No large land holding companies. • 8 hour work day • Graduated income tax • Immigration restriction.

17. Farm & Labor (Cont.) • Create “pepper & salt” tickets (D & R). • Democrats steal platform. • Strongest in ID, NV, CO, KS & ND. • 50% of vote in those states. • Elect 3 governors • 10 representatives • 5 senators.

18. Farm & Labor (Cont.) • 1890’s Crisis • Depression: RR bankruptcy 1893, economy plummets. • Closure of banks, 15k businesses, agriculture plummets. • Recover by 1897. • NYC has 20k homeless. • Government stops Populist Jacob Coxey march in DC. • 600 make it. • Clubbed and arrested.

19. Election of 1896: “Battle of the Standards” • Most important election since 1877. • Populists • Free silver, soft currency. • Democrats steal platform. • Forced to endorse WJB. Try and fuse ticket by having their own VP. He ignores them. • Republican • William McKinley, Civil War Veteran. • Spends $7 million on campaign. • Outspends WJB 10 to 1. • Wins 51% of the vote.7.1 v. 6.5 million.

20. President McKinley • Gold Standard Act of 1900. • Strong tariff. • Plan business regulation (US Industrial Commission). • Erdman Act • Arbitration for RR strikes. • Prosperity returns in 1898. • Nationalism rises. • 1900 wins on, “Go for a full dinner pail” campaign.

21. White Supremacy • McKinley & WJB both support white supremacy. • Nationalistic, anti-foreign in 1900’s. • Violence against African American’s is on the rise. • Worse than after Civil War because of depression.

22. Jim Crow • Supreme Court overturns CRA of 1875 with Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896). • Separate but equal. • Followed by literacy tests, property qualifications, grandfather clause (1867). • 1898 Supreme Court says it is all OK. • “Qualified voters” • Blocked from jury and public office. • Race violence escalates 1882-1900 • Over 100 lynching a year, (1892 had 230). • Social events announced in the newspaper. • RR charges for the excursion.

23. Ida B. Wells Response • She is one woman crusade • Editor of black newspaper in Memphis. • Run out of town for saying white business owners are lynching the successful black competition. • Pamphlet, A Red Record (1895). Inspires NACW in 1896.

24. Imperialism • R. Kipling (1899), “White Man’s Burden” • Output increases more than consumption. • Number of millionaires in 1860: 500 by 1892 there are 4,000. • The workers can’t buy what they produce.

25. Imperialism (cont.) • Christian Missionary Movements • YWCA bless heathen lands. • India, Africa, Syria, Pacific Islands, Latin America. \ • Spread of U.S. culture. • Economic & cultural dominance instead of military. • Sewards Folley • Purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million in 1867. • Utilize western hemisphere for economic expansion. • Good Neighbor Policy.

26. Places for Imperialism • Hawaii • Overthrow Hawaiian King and put Queen Liliuokalani in power. • Dole says she has too much power. • Annex Hawaii as a territory in 1898. • Build Pearl Harbor. • U.S. Corporations dominate island. • China • Boxer Rebellion (1898-1900). • Anti-western. • Keep Open Door Policy.

27. Spanish-American War • Cuba Libre Movement • USS Maine explodes in Havana. • 266 sailors killed. • “Remember the Maine and to hell with Spain”. • 4 month war, 5k deaths. • Platt Amendment 1901 • Provide US base (Guantanamo), & pay back debt.

29. Philippines • Plan to Christianize islands after Spanish-American War. • YWCA already has presence. • Gorilla warfare ensues. • Take no prisoners. • Annihilate Filipinos. • 4300 American deaths • 20% of Philippine population is killed or died of starvation. • Fighting lasts until 1935. • U.S. territory until 1946.