Chapter 20 – Democracy & Empire 1870 - 1900

The Growth of Government Government grew rapidly during the Gilded Age New employees, agencies and responsibilities Local governments assumed responsibility for providing such vital services as police, fire protection, water, schools, and parks As government increases so do taxes!!

The Machinery of Politics Both parties weak & ineffective (Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland not on our list of greats!) The tariff becomes the main issue again Partisan politics explodes! Result: Need for greater sources of revenue Leads to the spoils system - rewarding friends of the winning party

The Spoils System &Civil Service Reform Garfield’s 1881 assassination Killed by disgruntled job seeker Only served four months in office 1883: Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act Standards established for federal jobs Competitive exams for applicants Gave government departments a more professional look

Farmers and Workers Organize Their Communities Discontent among farmers & workers grows: Target the rich in control of government Demand economic & political reforms Led to the Populist movement (People’s Party) – effort to return power to the hands of the people

The Grange Formed in the 1870s by farmers in the Great Plains and South: Those who suffered boom and bust conditions and natural disasters Grangers blamed hard times on a band of “thieves in the night,” especially railroads Pushed through laws regulating shipping rates and other farm costs Created their own grain elevators, set up retail stores, and produced their own farm machinery

“I Feed You All”

Workers Search for Power Workers organized stronger unions: Expose corrupt politicians Increasingly resorted to strikes Created labor parties – seeking seats on town councils, state legislatures & Congress Women activists: Shaped labor & agrarian protests Led reform movements Frances E. Willard

MAP 20.1 Strikes by State, 1880 MAP 20.1 Strikes by State, 1880 Most strikes after the Uprising of 1877 could be traced to organized trades, concentrated in the manufacturing districts of the Northeast and Midwest. SOURCE: From Geographical Inquiry and American Historical Problems, edited by Earl Carville. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1992). Originally published in the Third Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor, 1887.

“Populists” or the People’s Party 1890 – 1892: Representatives from numerous organizations such as the Farmers’ Alliance, the Knights of Labor etc. unite to form the People’s Party Call for government ownership of railroads, banks etc. Fairer taxes Improved working conditions Protection of farmers from price fluctuations

The Great Uprising of 1877 Began as a strike of railroad workers Spread rapidly to communities along railroad routes In Philadelphia strikers set fire to downtown buildings Federal troops were brought leading to more than a hundred deaths Railroad corporations suffered a $10 million loss in property

The Great Uprising of 1877 The Great Uprising of 1877, which began as a strike of railroad workers, spread rapidly to communities along the railroad routes. Angry crowds defied the armed militia and the vigilantes hired to disperse them. In Philadelphia, for example, strikers set fire to the downtown, destroying many buildings before federal troops were brought in to stop them. More than a hundred people died before the strike ended, and the railroad corporations suffered a $10 million loss in property.

Crisis of the 1890s Financial Collapse and Depression: Began in1893 with the collapse of the nation’s major rail lines Nationwide unemployment hits three million Tens of thousands took to the road in search of work or food (“tramp life”)

Coxey’s Army Jacob Coxey called for an “army” of the unemployed to march on Washington Demand relief through public works programs Greeted warmly by most communities on the way to Washington The attorney general, a former lawyer for a railroad company, conspired to stop the march Police clubbed & arrested the marchers for trespassing on the grass in Washington Full recovery was not achieved until the early 1900s

The Pullman Strike Pullman, Illinois: Manufactured “sleeper cars” for railroad lines Workers voted to strike based on a list of grievances Conflicts in Chicago and other cities as railroad workers join in a nationwide sympathy strike Federal troops called in to break up strikes, dozens killed and wounded

The Pullman Strike

The Republican’s Triumph 1896 – William McKinley elected Promoted a mixture of pro-business and expansionist foreign policies Returning prosperity after 1898 insured continued Republican control & McKinley’s easy reelection in 1900

Nativism & Jim Crow White supremacy as a political force in the South A system of legal segregation & disenfranchised blacks Approved by the Supreme Court Between 1882 and 1900 lynchings exceeded a hundred each year. Announced in newspapers Became public spectacles Ida B. Wells—anti-lynching crusade Jim Crow was a famous character in white minstrel shows. These shows used racist humor to caricature black people in the South. The name Jim Crow was later used to describe the laws that legalized racial segregation following the end of Reconstruction.

The Path to Imperialism Many Americans saw the crisis of the 1890s as one of inadequate markets for American goods New markets abroad became increasingly popular as a solution “White Man’s Burden” Josiah Strong Christianize and civilize the world

The Quest for Empire United States began expanding overseas Secretary of State William Henry Seward buys Alaska U.S. policy emphasized economic control, particularly in Latin America. 1880s and 1890s, the United States strengthened its navy and began playing an increased role throughout the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific

Onto a Global Stage Hawaii Cuba (“a splendid little war”) The Philippines

Critics of Empire Anti-Imperialist League founded Denounced the war and territorial annexation Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie and William Jennings Bryan all critical of imperialism Most Americans put aside their doubts and welcomed the new era of aggressive nationalism.