Chapter 19: Politics and Reform THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CREATING A NATION AND A SOCIETY NASH  JEFFREY HOWE  FREDERICK DAVIS  WINKLER  MIRES  PESTANA 7th Edition Chapter 19: Politics and Reform Pearson Education, Inc, publishing as Longman © 2006

POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE “Gilded Age” characterized social and political life in the last quarter of the nineteenth century Politics was marred by corruption but voter participation in national elections between 1876 and 1896 hovered between 87 and 82 percent Two changes occurred which would affect twentieth century politics Development of a professional bureaucracy of elite specialists in congressional committees and executive offices New issues, concerns and parties fostered a political realignment in the 1890s

POLITICS, PARTIES, PATRONAGE, AND PRESIDENTS Americans in the nineteenth century mistrusted hierarchical power and believed that everyone could benefit from an economy free of government interference After the gigantic splits after the Civil War, political leaders favored a period of government passivity, permitting free pursuit of industrial expansion and wealth During the Grant and Johnson administrations, Congress emerged as the dominant branch of government with power centered in the committee system Party affiliation reflected economic, cultural, social and religious questions Republican votes came from northeastern Yankee industrial interests along with New England and Scandinavian Lutheran farming migrants across the upper Midwest Democrats depended on southern whites, northern workers, and urban immigrants The parties were evenly matched after 1876 Gilded Age Presidents were undistinguished and none served two consecutive terms

NATIONAL ISSUES Four issues dominated the national level: Tariffs to protect business Party as well as regional attitudes toward government power made a difference Money: hard currency versus paper Hard money advocates, fearing inflation, supported either withdrawing all paper currency from circulation or making paper money convertible to specie Soft money advocates argued there was not enough money in circulation and urged increasing the supply of paper money Congress demonetized silver in 1873 and passed the Specie Resumption Act in 1875 Reform of the civil service After Garfield’s assassination, Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883, mandating merit examinations for about one-tenth of federal offices Government regulation of railroads

THE LURE OF LOCAL POLITICS Average turnout for presidential elections was 785 percent as men were drawn to the polls by the hoopla of party parades, buttons and banners and by local issues Voters expressed strong interest in emotional social values and issues New urban immigrants played a large part in stimulating political participation as political bosses secured votes through informal welfare systems that benefited immigrants Party leaders also won votes by making politics exciting Party leaders used local and ethnic issues for their benefit Issues of prohibition and schooling also attracted voter attention

MIDDLE-CLASS REFORM Most middle-class Americans avoided reformist politics, though urban corruption, poverty and labor violence frightened a number out of their complacency Frances Willard and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) moved from a position that drunkenness caused poverty to a position that poverty, unemployment and bad labor conditions led to drunkenness

THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH AND SOCIAL DARWINISM For most Gilded Age Americans, Christianity as well as science supported the notions of class divisions and the moral superiority of the wealthy Andrew Carnegie in “The Gospel of Wealth” (1889) claimed that the fittest would bring order and efficiency out of the chaos of industrialization Carnegie’s ideas were drawn from social Darwinism, based on the scientific works of Charles Darwin and the natural laws of selection as applied by Herbert Spencer to human society Attempts to end poverty were pointless Underlying laws of political economy dictated economic affairs Theories were also used to justify superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race, race supremacy and imperialism

REFORM DARWINISM AND PRAGMATISM Others, such as Brooks Adams, questioned social Darwinism and sought to find ways to alleviate poverty Reform Darwinists urged an economic order marked by cooperation and regulation William James argued for the importance of human will and its capacity to improve conditions

SETTLEMENTS AND SOCIAL GOSPEL Jane Addams founded Hull House in Chicago in 1889 to “aid in the solution of the social and industrial problems which are engendered by the modern conditions of life in a great city” Vida Scudder formed an organization of college women to work in settlement houses Influenced by middle-class English socialists, European social prophets, American visionaries and the ethical teachings of Jesus The settlement house movement blended the idioms of idealism and practicality that stressed an educational approach to problems Settlement house movement also served to give college educated women meaningful work Sought to gather data exposing social misery in order to spur legislative action Dwight Moody preached a more traditional Christianity in a revival format Other Protestant ministers preferred the Social Gospel movement which tied salvation to social betterment

REFORMING THE CITY Urban government was the structure most in need of reform in the nineteenth century Disease, waste, pollution, cholera, filth and inefficiency were everywhere in the large cities One solution was the City Beautiful movement which sought to use environmental remedies—parks and public spaces—to clean up the cities Rapid urban growth swamped city leaders with demands for services which led to rising taxes, debt, graft, and the rise of the boss Bosses offended middle-class urban reformers Politics colored every reform issue and many reformers were elitist

The City Beautiful: Enlarging Boston

THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE Many women felt a tension between their public and private lives and the women that came of age in the 1890s married less and later than any other in America Many women dealt with tension by seeing their work as maternal Women’s rights advanced very slowly after the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 Before 1890 only the territory of Wyoming allowed women full political equity while other states were much slower In 1890, the split women’s movement recombined as the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and shifted to younger leadership who concentrated solely on the vote Three central arguments emerged: Women needed the vote to pass self-protection laws Women’s role as social housekeepers could only be enhanced by political participation Protestant, white women needed the vote to counterbalance the hordes of immigrants coming into America

POLITICS IN THE PIVOTAL 1890s 1890s were years of contrasts and crises with the biggest gap between rich and poor Pivotal nature of the 1890s hinged on the feeling of polarizing unrest and upheaval and U.S. became urban nation The Depression of 1893 widened the gap between rich and poor and accelerated demand for reform

REPUBLICAN LEGISLATION IN THE EARLY 1890s Harrison was elected in 1888 and the Republicans had control of both houses of Congress that addressed five areas of legislation Civil War veterans’ pensions—Union soldiers received them, Confederate soldiers did not Trusts—passed Sherman Anti-Trust Act 1895: United States v. E.C. Knight Tariffs—McKinley tariffs and higher rates Money question—Sherman Silver Purchase Act Rights for blacks—efforts to ensure black voting in the South, and wrest control from the Democrats, was stopped by filibuster and then bargained away for the tariff Senate defeated efforts to provide federal funds for black schools

FORMATION OF THE PEOPLE’S PARTY, 1892 February 1892, the People’s or Populist, party was established and nominated James Weaver to run for president Omaha demands wanted popular election of senators, direct primaries, the initiative and referendum, the secret ballot eight-hour workday, immigration restriction, and condemnation of the use of Pinkerton agents Graduated income tax, free and unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1, government ownership of railroads, telephone and telegraph companies Faced a number of obstacles: weaning the South from the Democrats, encouraging southern whites to work with blacks, and persuading both parties to abandon familiar political ties Weaver still gained 1 million popular votes and won four states and parts of two others Support came from western mine owners and miners and from rural Americans in the Great Plains Failed to break Democratic hold on South or appeal to city workers of the Northeast or Midwestern farmers

THE DEPRESSION OF 1893 1893 saw the worst national economic depression up until that time Lasted until 1897 Heightened by growth of national economy and global economic interdependence Prices fell and wages fell faster Wall Street crashed as the small gold supply was demanded by thousands of depositors in exchange for their paper money 3 million people (20 percent of the workforce) lost their jobs as the rich continued to spend lavishly The Chicago World’s Fair opened in the middle of the Depression National politicians made little response Leaders of Coxey’s army were arrested and federal troops were used to crush the Pullman strike

THE CRUCIAL ELECTION OF 1896 The election of 1896 focused on the single issue of free and unlimited coinage of silver Some argue Wizard of Oz (1900) was free-silver allegory of rural values Republicans nominated William McKinley of Ohio who backed the gold standard Democrats nominated silverite William Jennings Bryan, undercutting the Populists, who focused solely on silver as an issue McKinley campaigned from home while Republicans sought to reach voters through a sophisticated media campaign heavily financed by major corporations Voters turned out in record numbers and elected McKinley despite Bryan’s attempt to take campaign to the people, many of whom distrusted the promises of silver Northern laborers worried about inflation Catholic immigrants distrusted Populist Protestantism Great Lakes farmers were not so discontented Main help came from global grain shortage which drove up prices and undercut farmer complaints

The Presidential Election of 1896

THE NEW SHAPE OF AMERICAN POLITICS Landslide Republican victory broke the stalemate in post-Civil War American politics Republicans lost image as party of piety and gained image as party of prosperity and national greatness giving them party dominance until the 1930s Democrats were reduced to a regional party Northeast and Great Lakes controlled the nation’s destiny Few states had vigorous two-party political battles leading to a decline in voting Discoveries of gold in the Yukon and the Alaskan Klondike increased money supply McKinley’s election marked the return to economic health and the emergence of the executive as the dominant focus of the American political system

DISCOVERING US HISTORY ONLINE Gilded Age Presidents http://wwwpotuscom/rbhayeshtml http://wwwpotuscom/jagarfieldhtml http://wwwpotuscom/caarthurhtml http://wwwpotuscom/gclevelandhtml http://wwwpotuscom/bharrisonhtml Late Nineteenth-Century Articles http://wwwboondocksnetcom/ The Gilded Age wwwwmedu/~srnels/gildedhtml The Rich in the Gilded Age http://wwwnewportmansionsorg/

DISCOVERING US HISTORY ONLINE The Life of William Jennings Bryan http://wwwmissionlibtxus/exhibits/bryan/bryanhtm The Election of 1896 http://wwwiathvirginiaedu/seminar/unit8/homehtm 1896: The Presidential Campaign: Cartoons and Commentary http://projectsvassaredu/1896/1896homehtml World’s Columbian Exhibition http://wwwboondocksnetcom/expos/columbianhtml