Stalemate in Washington Republicans and Democrats are using the spoils system, preventing advancement in government

Cleaning up Politics Patronage – also known as the spoils system Jobs went to supporters of the elected people Prevented gov’t from addressing real issues ; was corrupt Rutherford B. Hayes replaced President Garfield in 1881 Attacked patronage ; by appointing reformers to his cabinet

Democrats claim the White House Grover Cleveland was elected President in 1884 First Democrat since before the ACW Tammany Hall- corrupt Democratic political machine in NY Voters believed corruption was the job problem; and Cleveland could solve it

Populism Populism- the movement to increase farmer’s political power Farm prices had dropped due to new technology More crops/less demand/less money Deflation hurt farmers Sherman Silver Purchase Act- put more silver into the economy to help reduce deflation for farmers; it failed

The Panic of 1893 After Grover Cleveland’s election, the nation had an economic Crisis Railroads went out of business, unemployment high Treasury was being depleted due to the crisis, people cashed in their money for precious metals (FEAR) Goldbugs- currency should be based on Gold Silverites- currency based on silver

Yellow Journalism William Randolph Hearst- writer/owner of the New York journal Used (YJ) to create sensational headlines/photos to capture reader interest and sell papers