Politics and Reform

Section 1: Stalemate in WashingtonSection 2: Populism

Section 3: The Rise in Segregation

Standards: 2.1, 2.3, 2.9. 2.12

Section 1: Stalemate in Washington• A Campaign to Clean Up Politics

• Patronage: government jobs go to the supporters of the winning party in an election. “Spoils System”

– Stalwarts and Halfbreeds• Stalwarts – Roscoe Conkling

– Chester A. Arthur (Vice President)

• Halfbreeds – Republican reformers– James Garfield (President)

– The Pendleton Act: Allowed the president to decide which federal jobs would be filled according to the rules of the Civil Service Commission

• Under Pres. Arthur, 14,000 jobs were placed under this program

• Two Parties, Neck and Neck– Republicans

• “party of morality”

– Democrats• “party of personal freedom”

• Democrats Reclaim the White House• Tammany Hall- corruption/political machine• Mugwumps – “Good chiefs”- renegade reformers who

supported Pres. Cleveland. They saw themselves as moral leaders who were more concerned with helping the nation instead of the party

• James G. Blaine attempted to get Roman Catholics to leave the Democratic Party. Lost the Irish vote when he didn’t counter/respond to a Protestant Minister’s comments condemning the Irish Catholics.

• A President Besieged by Problems– The Interstate Commerce Commission: the first

federal law designed to regulate interstate trade. Limited railroad rates, forbade rebates, and made it illegal to charge higher rates for shorter distances.

• Rebates: a partial refund to lower the rate of a good or service

– Debating Tariffs

• Republicans Regain Power– The McKinley Tariff: lowered federal revenue

and changed the nation’s budget surplus into a budget deficit.

• Surplus: having more than what is needed

• Deficit: having less than what is needed

– The Sherman Antitrust Act: made it illegal for any form of trust or conspiracy to restrain trade or commerce among states.

• American Sugar Refining Company was deemed a trust and very nearly a monopoly, but was considered by the Supreme Court that it was not in violation of the Act.

Section 2: Populism• Unrest in Rural America

• Populism: a political movement founded in the 1890s that mainly represented farmers, favored free coinage of silver, and favored government control of railroads and other big industries

– The Money Supply• Greenbacks: U.S. paper money

• Inflation: money loses value, higher prices

• Deflation: lower prices, higher buying power

– Deflation Hurts Farmers• The Crime of ’73: The decision of the government to

stop the minting of silver

– The Grange Takes Action• Cooperatives: marketing organizations that worked to benefit their members

– The Grange Fails• Didn’t change economic problems of farmers• Railroads fought back by cutting services and refusing to lay more track• Wabash v. Illinois: limited a state’s ability to regulate the railroads, states could

not regulate interstate commerce

• The Farmers’ Alliance• Lampasas County, Texas 1877• Charles Macune

– The Alliance Grows• Kansas• Nebraska• North Dakota• South Dakota• South and Great Plains

– The People’s Party: Populists– The Subtreasury Plan: called for the government to set up warehouses where

farmers could store crops for low-interest loans until prices increased.

• The Rise of Populism• Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890: authorized the U.S. Treasury to

buy 4.5 million ounces of silver a month, put more money into circulation in an attempt to help farmers

– The South Turns to Populism• Many Southern Democrats move to Populist Party

– A Populist for President• James B. Weaver

– Graduated income tax: taxation of higher earnings more heavily– Government ownership of railroads

– The Panic of 1893: Economic Crisis• Stock Market on Wall Street Crash• Banks closed• Economic Depression

– Goldbugs and Silverites• Goldbugs: believed money should be based on the gold standard• Silverites: thought that by minting unlimited amounts would solve the

economic problems in the U.S.

• The Election of 1896• William Jennings Bryan

– Supported the minting of silver

– Bryan’s Campaign• 600 speeches in 14 weeks

• Republicans nominate William McKinley as the man who could beat Bryan

– The Front Porch Campaign• William McKinley spoke only at his Canton, Ohio home. Delegates

came to see him at his home.

• Full Dinner Pan

• Unemployment would rise, wages would be cut

– Populism Declines • Depression ends

• Gold in Canada, Alaska, and South Africa increase money supply

Section 3: The Rise of Segregation• Resistance and Repression

• Sharecroppers: landless farmers who paid in the form of crops to a landlord for supplies, rent, seed, tools and other supplies; were always in debt

– Exodus to Kansas• Exodusters: migrants of African Americans from the rural South to

Kansas

– Forming a Separate Alliance• Colored Farmers’ National Alliance: helped African Americans

economically by setting up cooperatives – Cooperatives: a store where farmers bought products from each other; an

organization that is owned and run by the people who use the services

– Crushing the Populist Revolt• An appeal to racism

• “Black Republicanism” a step back to Reconstruction

• Disfranchising African Americans• Poll tax: people had to pay to register to vote• Literacy tests• Had to own property• Grandfather clause: In Louisiana this clause allowed any

man to vote if he had an ancestor on the voting rolls in 1867, which made former slaves ineligible to vote

• Legalizing Segregation• Segregation: separation of the races• Jim Crow laws: statutes that enforced segregation• Supreme Court overturns the Civil Rights Act of 1875

– No longer a violation to keep people out based solely on color

– Racial Violence• Lynching: executions without proper court hearings

– 80% in the South– 70% of the victims were African Americans

• The African American Response• Ida B. Wells

– Memphis Free Speech– Anti-lynching

» Said it was greed not just racial prejudice that led to the brutal acts and violence

– Mob destroyed printing press of Memphis Free Speech and drove Ida from town

– A Call for Compromise• Booker T. Washington: proposed that African Americans

concentrate on education and economic gains rather than deal with politics

• Atlanta Compromise: Booker T. Washington wanted the African American population to postpone the fight for Civil Rights until they were prepared to full equality.

– A Voice of the Future• W.E.B. Du Bois

– The Souls of Black Folk– Promoting and protecting the voting rights of African Americans was

the only way to reach equality.