Political Issues & The Growth of Discontent

Political Issues- Civil Service Reform 1870s-1880s: Congress chiefly concerned with patronage, money supply, and tariff issues Left the states and local govt. to deal with growing problems in the cities and industrialization Public outraged over assassination of President Garfield in 1881 Pendleton Act of 1881 set up Civil Service Commission Applicants for federal jobs selected based on competitive exam scores Prohibited civil servants from making political contributions Politicians began depending less on govt. workers and more on the rich to fund their campaigns

Political Issues- The Money Question Most hotly debated issue  how much to expand the money supply A representation of the struggle between the “haves” and “have-nots” Debtors, farmers, start-up businesses want more “easy” or “soft” money in circulation Borrow at lower interest rates Pay off loans easily with inflated dollar Panic of 1873 blames on the gold standard for restricting money supply and causing depression “Easy” money advocates campaigned for more paper money (greenbacks) and unlimited minting of silver coins

Political Issues- The Money Question Bankers, creditors, investors, big businesses want more “hard” money Currency backed by gold Argued dollars backed by gold would hold their value against inflation As economy and population grow faster than number of gold-backed dollars, each dollar would gain in value

The Greenback Party 1875- Congress sides with the banks and creditors, passes the Specie Resumption Act Withdrew all greenbacks from circulation Greenback Party was formed in response 1878- received nearly 1 million votes and won 14 seats in Congress during congressional election When hard economic times of 1870s ended, Greenback Party died out but the goal of increasing the money supply did not

Demands for Silver Money In addition to removing greenbacks, Congress also stopped the coinage of silver “The Crime of 1873” Silver discoveries in Nevada revived demands for use of silver to expand money supply Bland-Allison Act was a 1878 compromise Limited coinage between $2-4 million in silver each month

Political Issues- The Tariff Issue 1890s- tariffs provided more than half of federal revenue Tariffs were raised by Republicans during the Civil War to protect U.S. industry and fund the Union govt. Southern Democrats and farmers objected to tariffs because they raised prices on consumer goods Protective tariffs also resulted in nations placing tariffs of their own on U.S. farm products Farmers lost sales, ended up with more crop surpluses, while also having to pay higher prices for manufactured tools/equipment from U.S. industries

The Growth of Discontent Discontent over govt. corruption, the money issue, railroads, tariffs, and trusts was growing bigger among voters Politicians began taking small steps to address public concerns It would take a third political party and a major depression in 1893 to shake the Democrats and Republicans from their laziness

Harrison & The Billion-Dollar Congress Cleveland at the end of his first term proposed lower tariff rates Surplus in the treasury meant we didn’t need added tax revenue Election of 1888- Republicans nominate Benjamin Harrison Campaigned for higher tariffs, raised funds from big businesses and earned the vote of northern workers whose jobs depended on industry

Harrison & The Billion-Dollar Congress Cleveland won more popular votes, but Harrison swept the Northern states Gave him the electoral votes needed to win Next 2 years- Republican Congress was the most active in years Passed the first billion-dollar budget in U.S. history McKinley Tariff of 1890- raised taxes on foreign products to all-time high of 48% Monthly pensions to Civil War vets, families Sherman Antitrust Act Sherman Silver Purchase Bill to protect African American voting rights (passed in House, defeated in Senate)

Return of the Democrats & Rise of the Populists 1890: Mid-west voters replaced many Republicans with Democrats Reacting to unpopular Republican measures like prohibition and laws requiring businesses to close on Sunday Republicans also were setback by growing discontent among southern and western farmers Farmers Alliances and Grange Movement provided the foundation for a new political party- the People’s, or Populist Party

The Omaha Platform Delegates from the Populist Party met in Omaha, Nebraska in 1892 to draft a platform and nominate candidates Omaha platform called for both political and economic reform: Direct popular election of U.S. senators Use of initiatives and referendums Unlimited coinage of silver Graduate income tax Public ownership of railroads Telegraph/telephone companies owned/operated by the govt. Loans and federal warehouses for farmers Eight-hour day for industrial workers Populist movement was revolutionary for its time Attack on laissez-faire govt. and attempt to form a political alliance between poor whites and blacks

The Election of 1892 James Weaver (Populist) won more than 1 million votes, 22 electoral votes One of the few third-party candidates to win votes in the electoral college Populist ticket didn’t appeal to Northern industrial workers and lost badly in the South Fear of uniting white and black workers drove conservative Democrats to disfranchise black voters

The Election of 1892 Rematch between President Harrison and former President Grover Cleveland This time, Cleveland won both the popular and electoral vote Unpopularity of McKinley Tariff Act Cleveland the first and only president to return to office after having left it

Panic of 1893 Spring and summer of 1893: stock market crashed Over-speculation and overbuilding caused dozens of railroads to go into bankruptcy Depression continued for four years Farm foreclosures reached new highs Unemployment reached 20% Cleveland responded by championing the gold standard and adopting a hands-off policy toward the economy

Gold Reserve and Tariff Decline in silver meant more people were trading silver in for gold Gold reserve fell to dangerously low level After repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, Cleveland turned to J.P. Morgan and asked if he would borrow $65 million in gold to support the dollar and the gold standard Convinced many citizens Washington was a tool of the rich bankers and industrialists Workers became further disenchanted with Cleveland when he used court injunctions and federal troops to crush the Pullman strike

Jobless on the March As the number of jobless grew, conservatives feared class war between capital and labor 1894: especially alarmed by a march to Washington by thousands of unemployed led by Populist Jacob A. Coxey “Coxey’s Army” demanded the federal govt. spend $500 million on public works programs to create jobs Coxey and other protest leaders were arrested, the dejected marchers returned home

? What was the significance of the Pendleton Act of 1881? Why did debtors and farmers want more “easy” money? Why did bankers and creditors want more “hard” money in circulation? Why was the Greenback Party formed? Why were tariffs such a big political issue during this time? Give three examples as to how Congress under the first 2 years of the Harrison administration was one of the most active in U.S. history Who or what provided a foundation for the Populist Movement? What did the Omaha Platform call for? Despite a strong showing, what were the two major reasons why the Populists didn’t win in the 1892 election? What was significant about Grover Cleveland being elected in 1892? What happened in 1893? How did President Cleveland respond? What was “Coxey’s Army?”