1. Politics, Populists, and Progressives
James A. Henretta
Eric Hinderaker
Rebecca Edwards
Robert O. Self
America’s History Eighth Edition America: A Concise History Sixth Edition
CHAPTER 20
Whose Government?
Politics, Populists, and Progressives
1880–1917
Copyright © 2014 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

2. 1. This image depicts an 1894 political march
1. This image depicts an 1894 political march. To where are these men marching and for what reason? (Answer: Coxey’s Army; marched on Washington, D.C., during the depression in 1894; unemployed men asking for relief from the government.)
2. What message are these men seeking to send to onlookers? (Answer: The presence of the U.S. flag indicates that they see themselves as asking for rights as citizens; dressed respectfully; appear to want the support and respect of those who witness their march.)

3. I. Reform Visions, 1880–1892
A. Electoral Politics After Reconstruction
1. Close Elections – High voter turnout and partisan conflict characterized elections
Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, and Harrison presidencies were limited by intense competitions for votes
2. New Initiatives – On July 2, 1881, President Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau
some blamed Guiteau’s actions on his frustration with the patronage system
Pendleton Act (1883) established the Civil Service Commission (exams), reduced political parties’ opportunities to pass out jobs\
“liberals” in the nineteenth century meant Americans who advocated limited and professionalized government
“Mugwumps”: liberals wanted smaller government and less regulation
I. Reform Visions, 1880–1892
A. Electoral Politics After Reconstruction

7. I. Reform Visions, 1880–1892
A. Electoral Politics After Reconstruction (cont.)
3. Republican Activism – In 1888, the Republican Party gained control of Congress and the White House
southerners disliked the idea of government intervening in voting
northern liberals believed it was “too much democracy”; westerners opposed and finally defeated the bill.
Federal Elections Bill of 1890
I. Reform Visions, 1880–1892
A. Electoral Politics After Reconstruction (cont.)

8. I. Reform Visions, 1880–1892
B. The Populist Program
1. Origins and agenda – In 1890, Kansas Farmers’ Alliance joined with Knights of Labor to form a People’s Party
known as Populists; wanted the people to have more power to end poverty and injustices
desired public ownership of railroad and telegraph systems, federal income tax on highest incomes, and looser monetary policy to favor borrowers
I. Reform Visions, 1880–1892
B. The Populist Program 8

9. I. Reform Visions, 1880–1892
2. Supporters – Populist supporters included farmers, labor groups, prohibitionist and women’s suffrage advocates; party was ultimately hampered by the large number of private interests who joined.
I. Reform Visions, 1880–1892
B. The Populist Program 9

11. II. The Political Earthquakes of the 1890s
A. Depression and Reaction
1. Economic Crises of the 1890s
Depression hit in 1893, continued until 1900
farm foreclosures and railroad bankruptcies; stock market crashed in May
by July, banks were claiming they could no longer grant depositors access to money; unemployment above 20 percent
middle class grew concerned about possible labor unrest or a new agrarian-based political movement.
II. The Political Earthquakes of the 1890s
A. Depression and Reaction

12. Chapter 20: Whose Government
Chapter 20: Whose Government? Politics, Populists, and Progressives 1880–1917

13. 1. Why did some Americans refer to the late nineteenth century as the Gilded Age?
a. The United States continued to follow the gold standard despite calls to abandon it.
b. The period's prosperous appearance rested upon widespread moral decay and poverty.
c. American politicians were blind to the problems caused by industrialization.
d. Wealthy Americans in this period made their fortunes at the expense of the government.

14. 2. Which statement delineates the critical difference between the Populists of the 1890s on the one hand and the established Democratic and Republican parties on the other?
a. Populists allowed women to participate in politics.
b. Populists captured the vote of immigrants in cities.
c. Populists recognized the conflict between capital and labor.
d. Populists had the support of urban business owners.

15. 3. Why did competitive politics in the South shift to the Democratic primaries after the introduction of poll taxes and literacy tests?
a. Only Democratic Party members were prosperous and literate enough to vote.
b. Disenfranchisement of blacks and many poor white voters eliminated the Democrats' opposition.
c. The Republican Party decided to boycott elections in the South.
d. In the wake of these electoral reforms, the Republican and Populist parties abolished their primaries.

16. 4. Which discriminatory policy was struck down by the U. S
4. Which discriminatory policy was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in the late 1890s?
a. Grandfather clauses
b. Poll tax
c. Lynching
d. Literacy tests

17. 5. What did Theodore Roosevelt achieve when he persuaded the U. S
5. What did Theodore Roosevelt achieve when he persuaded the U.S. Congress to pass the Hepburn Act in 1906?
a. Federal oversight of the meatpacking industry
b. The dissolution of the Northern Securities Company
c. Federal authority to dissolve bad trusts
d. New powers for the Interstate Commerce Commission

18. 6. How did the National Child Labor Committee bring national attention to child welfare issues during the first decade of the twentieth century?
a. By hiring a photographer to document children's brutal working conditions
b. By recruiting working children to testify in congressional hearings
c. By organizing a national conference devoted to the issue
d. By sponsoring protests outside of establishments that employed children

19. 7. What was the significance of the "Brandeis brief" that Louis Brandeis submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court to support his work on the Muller v. Oregon case in 1908?
a. It was the first legal brief by a Jewish American to be considered by the Supreme Court.
b. It was the first brief submitted to the court that regarded women as a distinct social group.
c. The brief established the legal basis for the federal government to assist mothers.
d. The brief cleared the way for the use of social science research in court decisions.

20. 8. How did Woodrow Wilson address the instability of the banking system in the United States during his first term in office?
a. He reconstituted the Bank of the United States.
b. He dissolved the Knickerbocker Trust Company.
c. He indicted J. P. Morgan for bank fraud, setting an example.
d. He created the Federal Reserve system.

21. 9. The Woodrow Wilson administration secured passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 to achieve what goal?
a. Eliminate trusts
b. Prevent trusts from curbing competition
c. Define precisely what corporate practices were illegal
d. Use monopolies to promote greater economic efficiency

22. 10. Why did the United States lag behind Europe in implementing key social welfare programs during the first three decades of the twentieth century?
a. Business interests in the United States were exceptionally powerful.
b. American labor unions were more cautious and less militant than Europe ones.
c. American workers did not believe that government should act to protect public welfare.
d. The United States was less able to afford social welfare programs than European nations.

23. II. The Political Earthquakes of the 1890s
2. Coxey’s Army – Jacob Coxey, a radical businessman from Ohio, proposed that the government could hire the unemployed to fix roads
1894, he led a peaceful march to Washington; Coxey was viewed as an extremist by many but found support among others
debate ensued over “free silver” and the “gold standard”

24. II. The Political Earthquakes of the 1890s
B. Democrats and the “Solid South”
1. The People’s Party in the South – Democratic Party continued to gain strength and power in the South during the 1890s
People’s Party sought to join black and white poor in an effort to help farmers and wage earners.
2. Disfranchisement – Democrats used fraud and violence to maintain white supremacy; by 1908, all southern states had literacy tests or poll taxes to keep black men from voting 24

26. II. The Political Earthquakes of the 1890s
C. New National Realities
1. William Jennings Bryan – In the 1896 election, Democrats chose Bryan, a free-silver advocate
his vow was: “You shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold”; wanted a federal income tax on the wealthy; ran as a Democrat without recognizing the importance of populism.
II. The Political Earthquakes of the 1890s
C. New National Realities

27. II. The Political Earthquakes of the 1890s
2. Marcus Hanna – Manufacturer from Ohio who ran the Republican campaign
portrayed Bryan’s supporters as “revolutionary and anarchistic”; seeks support from immigrants; William McKinley won.
3. New limits –northern and southern states imposed literacy tests plus restrictions on immigrants voting; turnout declined
Seventeenth Amendment (1913) required that U.S. Senators be chosen by popular vote
II. The Political Earthquakes of the 1890s
C. New National Realities

30. III. Reform Reshaped, 1901–1912
A. Theodore Roosevelt as President
1. Antitrust Legislation – Roosevelt assumed the presidency after McKinley assassination
generally was supportive of business, but during the 1902 coal strike, Roosevelt forced companies to negotiate with the miners’ union.
2. Environmental Conservation – Roosevelt issued fifty-one executive orders creating wildlife refuges
Antiquities Act to set aside sites such as the Grand Canyon
created the U.S. Forest Service in 1905
Newlands Reclamation Act (1902)
III. Reform Reshaped, 1901–1912
A. Theodore Roosevelt as President

31. III. Reform Reshaped, 1901–1912
3. Roosevelt’s Legacies – Roosevelt was full of contradictions - believed in what he called “Anglo-Saxon” superiority yet incurred criticism after inviting Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House
III. Reform Reshaped, 1901–1912
A. Theodore Roosevelt as President

32. III. Reform Reshaped, 1901–1912
B. Diverse Progressive Goals
1. Protecting the Poor – The urban settlement movement called attention to poverty in America’s cities
National Child Labor Committee (1907): hired Lewis Hine to photograph conditions in mines and mills
Muller v. Oregon (1908) – limits hours per day
first law for public assistance for single mothers (Illinois, 1911) and the first minimum wage law (Massachusetts, 1912) 32

33. III. Reform Reshaped, 1901–1912 2. The Birth of Modern Civil Rights
W. E. B. Du Bois: Harvard-educated and advocated higher education for blacks
1909 founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
National Urban League (1911) was a union of agencies that assisted black migrants in the North
III. Reform Reshaped, 1901–1917
B. Diverse Progressive Goals 33

34. III. Reform Reshaped, 1901–1912 B. Diverse Progressive Goals (cont.)
3. The Problem of Labor – American Federation of Labor was slow to ally with progressives, but by the 1910s, labor leaders and progressive reformers began to work together
- William “Big Bill” Haywood created a new movement, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), which supported the Marxist class struggle and believed that a massive general strike could overthrow capitalism
III. Reform Reshaped, 1901–1917
B. Diverse Progressive Goals (cont.)

35. III. Reform Reshaped, 1901–1912 C. The Election of 1912
1. Roosevelt’s new nationalism – Theodore Roosevelt returned to politics in 1910 with a focus on social justice and public welfare
advocated women’s voting rights, minimum wage, and curbs on the power of the courts to halt reform
Roosevelt then led his followers into what became known as the Progressive Party or Bull Moose Party
2. Eugene V. Debs and socialism – Debs had founded the American Railway Union and served time in prison for radical political action; in 1901, he launched the Socialist Party of America.
3. Woodrow Wilson – Democratic Party - hammered out a program that he called the New Freedom to advocate reform while preserving political and economic liberty

36. IV. Wilson and the New Freedom, 1913–1917
A. Economic Reforms
1. Democrats – In an era of rising corporate power, many Democrats believed workers needed stronger government to intervene on their behalf struggled with civil rights issues
passed a federal progressive income tax (1913) and an inheritance tax; new taxes replaced tariffs as revenue for the country. 36

37. IV. Wilson and the New Freedom, 1913–1917
2. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 – Wilson reorganized the financial system to address the absence of a central bank to back up commercial banks in the states
Federal Reserve Act (1913) created twelve district reserve banks funded and controlled by their member banks, with a central Federal Reserve Board to impose regulation
Federal Reserve had authority to issue currency and set the interest rate. 37

38. IV. Wilson and the New Freedom, 1913–1917
A. Economic Reforms (cont.)
3. Trusts – Wilson and the Democratic Congress aimed to prevent trusts from using their power to curb economic competition
1914 Clayton Anti Trust Act amended the Sherman Act, leaving the definition of illegal practices flexible, subject to its impact on competition
Federal Trade Commission gained broad powers to determine fairness and demand an end to any anticompetitive practices.
4. Investigating Labor – New Federal Trade Commission investigated companies; U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations was charged with investigating labor conditions; Commission blamed the ruthless anti-unionism of American employers for previous cases of violence between workers and employers and sought a federal law to protect workers. President Wilson championed a host of bills to benefit American workers; they included the Adamson Act, which established an eight-hour day law for railroad workers, and the Seamen’s Act, which eliminated age-old abuses of merchant sailors.

39. IV. Wilson and the New Freedom, 1913–1917
B. Progressive Legacies
1. Limitations – Elitism and racial prejudice, embodied in new voting restrictions, limited working-class power at the polls; divided power in a federalist system blocked passage of uniform national policies on issues such as child labor; key social welfare programs did not become a part of the American agenda; limitations stemmed from the power of business interests, as well as ethnic and racial divisions in the working class.
2. Achievements – More and more prosperous Americans began to support stronger economic regulations; outdated political institutions—from the spoils system to urban machines—would no longer do and required reform. Progressives drew new blueprints for a modern American state, one whose powers were more suited to the needs of an industrial era.