diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'smith/04_politics_populism')
| -rw-r--r-- | smith/04_politics_populism | 153 |
1 files changed, 153 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/smith/04_politics_populism b/smith/04_politics_populism new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ffb36b --- /dev/null +++ b/smith/04_politics_populism @@ -0,0 +1,153 @@ +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 |