POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE, 18691889

1
Chapter 23

• POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE, 1869-1889

2
The Bloody Shirt Elects Grant

• Grant was immensely popular after the war
• Nation was weary after war, and eager for a fresh
  face.
• Republicans, nevertheless, enthusiastically
  nominate Grant
• Grant is singularly unequipped to be President.

3
The BLOODY SHIRT Elects Grant

• Democrats divided between eastern and western
  democrats.
• Nominate Horatio Seymour
• Republicans wave the Bloody Shirt
• Republican Platform
• Democrats divided over redemption of Bonds.
• Grants wins easily in the electoral college, but
  by only 300,000 votes.
• Impact of Black vote.

4
The Era Of Good Stealings

• Civil War bred corruption and graft.
• Causes
• RR corruption
• Jim Fisk and Jay Gould scheme to corner the gold
  market.
• Boss Tweed/Tammany Hall.
• Samuel Tilden.

5
A Carnival Of Corruption

• Grants administration was riddled with corrupt
  officials.
• Credit Mobilier scandal.
• Exposed in 1872.
• Members of congress censured.
• Vice President implicated.
• Whiskey Tax scandal.

6
Liberal Republican Revolt Of 1872

• Liberal republicans were tired of corruption
• Liberal Republican party.
• Nominate Horace Greeley
• Democrats endorse him, too. Why?
• Campaign very ugly

7
Grant v. Greeley

• Grant wins easily, 286-66, because
• Grant is perceived to be the lesser of two evils
• Democrats are still stained with fault for the
  Civil War.
• Did lead the Republicans to clean their own
  house.
• General amnesty Act,
• lowered tariffs
• Mild civil-service reform

8
Depression And Demands For Inflation

• 1873 severe recession hits
• Causes
• 15,000 businesses went under.
• Collapse of Jay Cooke and Co.

9
Depression And Demands For Inflation

• Debtors advocate inflationary policies.
• Call for more Greenbacks.
• Federal government had removed one-fourth from
  circulation. Why?
• Grant sides with conservatives and signs
  Resumption Act of 1875

10
Silver

• Debtors advocated the coinage of silver dollars.
• Why?
• Congress had formally dropped silver money in
  1873.
• Reasons
• Grant rejects call to mint Silver.
• Consequences of Grants policy

11
Bland-Allison Act

• Bland-Allison Act.
• What does it authorize?
• Why does it have little inflationary effect.
• Leads to Democratic backlash in congressional
  elections.
• Plants the seeds of the Grange

12
Pallid Politics In The Gilded Age

• Balance of two political parties during the
  Gilded Age from 1869-99.
• Majority in Congress flipped back and forth six
  times in the 11 terms between 1869-91
• Few controversial stands
• Few dramatic policy differences between parties.
• Voter turnout /voter loyalty.
• Political machines and patronage

13
Republicans v. Democrats

• Republicans
• Embodied the old Puritanical ideals.
• Strict moral codes and belief that government
  should be an instrument in regulating economic
  and moral affairs of the community.
• Strong in Midwest and in rural and small-town New
  England.
• Got most of votes from Freedman and from Union
  Civil War Vets.

14
Republicans v. Democrats

• Democrats
• More Roman Catholic and Lutheran.
• South and northern industrial cities
• Large immigrant base and strong Dem. machines.

15
Stalwarts v. Halfbreeds

• Republicans had two rival factions
• Stalwarts (Conklingites)
• led by NY Sen. Roscoe Conkling).
• Big believers in patronage.
• Half-Breeds.
• Led by James Blaine.
• Flirted with civil service.
• Consequences of this division

16
The Hayes-Tilden Standoff, 1876

• Republicans dissuade Grant from running again.
• Rutherford B. Hayes.
• Hayes largely unknown, but a civil war officer
• Also, importantly, former three-term governor of
  Ohio.

17
The Hayes-Tilden Standoff, 1876

• Samuel Tildon.
• Platform.
• Attacks against Republicans.
• Electoral College dispute
• Reasons
• Attempts to resolve
• Electoral Count Act
• Further compromise

18
Hayes-Tilden Disputed Election of 1876
19
End of Reconstruction

• Compromise was the end of reconstruction.
• Literacy tests and poll taxes
• Civil Rights Cases
• Crop-Lien System/Share Cropping
• Jim Crow Laws
• Plessy v. Ferguson

20
Sharecropping
21
Tenancy the Crop Lien System
22
Class Conflicts And Ethnic Clashes

• Strikes in the 1870s
• Who wins?
• Why?
• Chinese in California
• Dennis Kearney/Kearneyites
• Chinese Exclusion Act

23
Election of 1880

• Hayes administration was not very noteworthy.
  Did not accomplish much beyond end to
  reconstruction.
• Old 8-7 and His Fraudulency.
• He did not run for reelection and wouldnt have
  been renominated had he tried.

24
Republicans in 1880

• Stymied by Stallwart-Halfbreed rivalry and take
  35 ballots to settle on a candidate.
• Chose James Garfield. Dark-Horse.
• Chester Arthur, was chosen VP. Why?
• Platform is for higher tariffs and (weakly) for
  civil service reform

25
Election of 1880

• Democrats chose Winfield Hancock
• Civil War General, but popular in south
• Why?.
• Both parties shun substantive political issues.
• Garfield wins by only 40,000, but 214-155 in
  electoral college.
• He was besieged by office seekers.
• Made Blain Sec. of State
• Battle raging politically between Stalwarts and
  Half-Breeds.

26
Election of 1880
27
1881 Garfield Assassinated!
Charles GuiteauI Am a Stalwart, and Arthur is
President now!
28
CHESTER ARTHUR TAKES COMMAND

• Not many expected much from Arthur. Why?
• Displayed surprising integrity, intelligence and
  independence.
• Arthur threw his support behind reform of spoils
  system.
• Pendleton Act of 1883
• Details
• Unintended consequences?

29
THE BLAINE-CLEVELAND MUDSLINGERS OF 1884

• Rep. nominate Blain
• Tainted with numerous rumors of scandals.
• The tattooed man
• Mulligan letters
• Mugwumps.

30
Grover Cleveland

• Democrats nominate Grover Cleveland.
• Reputation for reform and honesty.
• Clevelands Bastard.
• One of the ugliest campaigns in American history
• New York the key state
• Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

31
Election of 1884
32
Old Grover Takes Over

• First Dem. president since Buchanan
• Issues raised by this?
• Clevelands political philosophy
• Last Jeffersonian Democrat?
• Named two former confederates to his cabinet,
  helping to heal the north-south divide

33
Tariffs and Pensions

• Cleveland and office seekersfires 2/3 of federal
  employees
• Military Pension issue
• Tariffs
• Country was running at a surplus because of high
  tariffs.
• Republicans had little motivation to reduce these
  tariffs.
• Clevelands two choices?
• He favored reducing tariffs. Why?
• Cleveland makes tariff reduction his number-one
  issue.
• Created a real political difference between the
  parties just in time for the election of 1888.

34
Harrison Ousts Cleveland

• Dems renominate Cleveland.
• Rep. turn to Benjamin Harrison, grandson of
  William Henry Harrison.
• Primary issue?
• Republicans use fear of British against
  Cleveland.
• Republicans raise a huge war chest. How?
• Harrison wins electoral vote but loses the
  popular vote.

35
1888 Presidential Election
36
Cleveland and History

• Cleveland the first sitting president to be voted
  out of office since Van Buren in 1840. (Others
  J. Adams, J.Q. Adams, Harrison, Hoover, Carter,
  Bush)
• Cleveland last to win popular vote and lose
  electoral college until Gore.
• Cleveland only president to have two
  non-consecutive terms.

37
The Republicans Return Under Harrison

• Benj. Harrison in the White House.
• Republicans eager for patronage.
• Blaine is Secretary of State.
• Teddy Roosevelt Civil Service Commission.
• Republican quorum problem in the House
• Speaker Thomas Reed

38
Political Gravy For All

• Billion Dollar Congress
• Pension Act of 1890
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act
• Tariffs and Silver
• Easterners wanted a higher tariff
• Westerners and farmers wanted more silver minted

39
Tariff Ire

• Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890
• McKinley Tariff Bill
• raised tariff rates to their highest peace-time
  level48
• Farmers hated the new tariff. Why?
• Republicans punished in 1890 congressional
  election.
• Lose nearly 60 seats and Dems have a huge
  majority in Congress

40
1892 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison again!
(DEM) (REP)
41
Populists

• Populists emerge as a potent third party.
• Officially the Peoples Party
• Nominate James B. Weaver
• Populist Agenda
• free and unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio
  of sixteen to one
• graduated income tax
• Govt ownership of telephone, telegraph and RR
• direct election of US senators
• one-term limit on presidency
• use of the initiative and referendum to allow
  citizens to propose and review legislation.
• Shorter work day-to appeal to labor
• restriction on immigrationto appeal to labor

42
Populists

• Labor is mad and are ripe for wooing by
  Populists.
• Homestead strike
• Populists poll over one-million votes and become
  one of the few third parties to win electoral
  votes
• Populists problems with Blacks
• Grandfather Clause

43
1892 Presidential Election
44
OLD GROVER CLEVELAND AGAIN

• Depression of 1893
• Causes
• Over-building and over-speculation
• labor unrest
• agricultural depression from low commodity prices
• reduction of US credit abroad because of Silver
  Purchase Act
• Problems with overseas banks, which were forced
  to call in US loans.
• Cleveland does next to nothing laissez faire

45
Gold Problem

• Treasury was running a deficit because of the
  Silver Purchase Act. Reasons
• Cleveland saw no choice but to repeal the Silver
  Purchase Act.
• William Jennings Bryan
• Cleveland forced to issue bonds to raise money in
  order to buy gold
• J.P. Morgan deal
• Public reaction

46
DEMOCRATIC TARIFF TINKERING

• McKinley Tariff causes deficit
• Democrats propose bill to reduce tariff but add
  income tax
• Senate tacks on lots of provisions to help
  special interests.
• Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894.
• Cleveland refused to sign it, but cant veto.
• Supreme Court throws out income tax
• Public opinion hates the bill and blame Dems.
• Democrats hammered in 1894 mid-term election.