watched a couple of Smith lectures

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+The Gilded Age: Politics and Populism
+
+High levels of corruption during the gilded age.
+
+Woodrow Wilson said that modern politcis had no leaders
+Roosevelt, critic of Wilson says that "when role called in senate,
+senators don't know whether to say present or not guilty."
+Barons/special interests bought favors, priveleges, lobbying.
+Common desires to repair the system.
+Fed. gov't very small at time (mostly postal), so politics was primarily
+local/regional. 20th century saw its growth.
+Party loyalty (both for issues and for networking) was very important.
+
+Rings
+- Organizational groups that controlled cities
+- Bosses (like William Tweed) controlled
+- Used "machines" to support and manage specific action in gov't
+    - Gave out contracts in a favour system
+        - Patronage ("Spoils") System for supporters
+            - Feudal hierarchy. Senator -> Clerk/post -> support
+            - Managed within schemes of party loyalty
+    - Brought structure, stability
+    - Often plundering government
+    - Expected *appointed* officials to be loyal to bosses
+        - Acted as judge system
+- Civil Service Reformers attacked this system (preferring merit)
+
+Very high voter turnout with uncontroversial platforms
+- Dems for small gov, white supremacy
+    - Northern Irish-Catholic Germans
+    - White supremacist southerners
+    - Disagreed with "party of morality"
+    - Prohibition to hurt specific group
+- Reps against tarriffs but okay with it if it benefits const.
+    - Popular in Protestant {NE,midwest}
+    - Relied on votes by African-Americans
+    - Veterans
+- Third party (greenback, populist, prohibition)
+    - Specific issues
+- NAWSA gained women voting rights in 1890s four states.
+
+Grover Cleveland
+- Narrow view of presidency (laissez-faire, administrative)
+- Vetoed 2/3 of all bills
+- Highly conservative, "Grover the Good"
+The Dawes Act
+- To break up and assimilate American Indians
+- Distributed reservation land as plots among families
+- Gave remaining land to white settlers
+- Old policy: confine Amerindians to reservations and teach individual
+  property
+- Made Amerindians subject to federal law as individual
+- Amerindians had to "prove" they could farm competently over 25 years
+    - After, they could try to obtain citizenship if success
+    - If fail, they have to pay taxes
+    - Land could not yield sustainable crop
+
+Major Issues?
+- Civil Service Reform
+    Conservative (anti-women's suffrage)
+    James Garfield murdered by Republican office-seeker
+        Charles Guitea expected return for working to elect him
+        Stalks the president because he believes he's destined for
+        greatness.
+        "Mordered by the Spoils System"
+    Pres Chester Arthur keeps promises to avoid spoils politics
+    Pendleton Act (1883)
+        Created Civil Service Commission.
+        Prohibited federal employees from solicit or recv political
+        contrtibutions from federal workers.
+        Prohibited political firings
+        Gov't was growing, so sorely needed.
+- Tariffs
+    - McKinley (ROhio) Tariff appeased businesses and competitors
+    - Businesses raised prices
+    - Republicans losing support from this
+!!Populist party (farmworkers, wage laborers)
+- Currency
+    - Currency disappearing, so it deflates
+    Principles:
+        - Amount of money in circulation determines its value
+        - Unbacked (by gold or silver) currency loses value rapidly
+    - Monetary policy hurt farmers because crop value decreased
+        - "Deflationary spiral" made it hard to repay debts -> continued
+          deflation
+    - In 1873, US went bimetallic standard -> gold standard
+        - Eliminated silver dollar
+        - Farmers, miners supported return to 16:1 bimetallic standard
+            - Inflation to help pay debt, "unlimited coinage"
+        - Congress authorized gov to buy silver in 1890
+            Sherman Silver Purchasing Act
+            Increased nation's money supply, inflating economy
+
+Panic of 1893
+- Soon after inauguration for Grover Cleveland's second term
+- Farmers worried about droughts, crop prices, foreclosures, railroad
+  price discrimination
+- Stock market crash and successive bank run in May
+- Gets worse by 1894
+    - Businesses, banks shuttering
+    - Lasts until 1898
+    - Cleveland restricts credit
+- Jacob Coxey's Army
+    - Wants $5M to build more railroads and employ men
+    - Civil War vet, farmer, business-owner
+    - Marched on Congress for bimetallic standard to reverse
+      deflationary spiral
+    - Coxey arrested and sent to jail for 20 days
+
+Pullman Strike
+- Protesting wage cuts and layoffs from pullman railcar workers
+    - Pay rent to company; wages reduced without reduction in rent
+- 10 days after coxey's army
+- Cleveland sends in armed forces on basis of interference with mail
+  delivery
+- Chicago
+- Court issued injunction against union
+    - Violent confrontation between illegal union and police
+    - 26 men died
+    - Army occupied railroad yards to "restore order"
+
+Populism
+- Want better farm profits, less debt to farmers
+- For bimetallic standard (unlimited coinage), regulation of
+  railroads/utilities (rail price discrimination)
+- Also direct election of senators
+- Political Platform
+- James Weaver (populist nominee) loses with 1M votes in 1892
+- 1896 Election: "Battle of the Standards"
+    - Democrat division
+        - Bourbon democrats: Democrat establishment support gold
+            - Back Grover Cleveland
+            - Destroyed by economy, Cleveland loses
+        - Silver democrats: farmers, miners favouring bimetallic
+    - Silverites
+    - Silver signified support of rural, downtrodden, shift away from NE
+    - McKinley (R) supports big biz.
+        - Rallies around property owners and conservative on change
+        - Gives speech from portch
+    - Silverites (dems+pop) nominate Williamns Jennings Bryan (D-NE)
+        - Cross of Gold speech: ``you shall not crucify mankind upon
+          a cross of gold'' (or press upon the working man crown of
+          thorns)
+            - Appeals to populist platform
+        - Repubs call him "leader of malcontents"
+        - Took campaign directly to voters (visit 18K mile, 27 state)
+          becuase Eastern newspapers wouldn't support him
+        - "Merchandising" campaign
+        - Cleanse nation of corruption and inequality, pro-rural,
+          pro-religious
+        - Despite legendary campaign, 4% lead in favor of McKinley
+          because Bryan failed to reach urban-industrial NErs
+    - Followed by 36 years of Republican dom except Woodrow