a look at presidents cleveland / harrison cleve...grover cleveland 1885-1889 democrat

A look at Presidents

22 & 23: Cleveland /

Harrison

GROVER CLEVELAND

1885-1889

Democrat

“Public office is a public trust.”

I. Political Issues

A. Election of 1884

Grover Cleveland James Blaine (Democrat) (Republican)

1. Other Candidates a. Greenback Party: Butler Prohibition Party: St. John b. Neither of these parties received any

electoral votes. c. Why are 3rd parties important? Some 3rd party goals later become part of the major parties’ platforms.

***What do you think these 3rd parties supported?!?

2. Republican Ticket a. Presidential nominee: James G. Blaine

b. Vice-Presidential nominee: John A. Logan

i. Stalwarts: supported Grant for a third term (remember, they were against civil service reform).

ii. Half-Breeds: moderate government reformers. Supported Blaine fully (He was considered the leader of the Half-breeds…)

c. Three-Way Split

iii. Mugwumps: (Indian word for “big chief”)

- Opposed Blaine after the Mulligan Letters came out, which implicated him in graft from railroad interests.

– Because of Blaine’s nomination, they gave their support to Cleveland (the Democratic candidate)

3. Democratic Ticket

a. Presidential Nominee: Grover Cleveland

b. Vice Presidential Nominee: Thomas Hendricks

4. Major Issue of the Election?

Integrity of the candidates!!! a.  The campaigns of both parties turned

from focus on social and economic issues of concern and more to personal morality.

b.  Republicans ran with a story from the Buffalo Evening Telegraph that exposed a pre-marital affair and an illegitimate child of Cleveland.

The Republican chant: “Ma, Ma…where’s my pa?” “Going to the White House, ha ha ha!”

c. Democrats ran with the charges of graft against Blaine

d. The Democratic chant: “Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine! Continental liar from the state of Maine!”

Blaine was a Half-Breed Republican who was for Civil Service reform; however, because of business corruption, he lost a lot of Republican support (Mugwumps) to Cleveland.

• Mudslinging: making malicious personal attacks in order to discredit an opponent, esp. in a political campaign

5. Election results

Cleveland won with 219 electoral votes.

1.  First Democratic elected since 1856.

2.  Major legislation:

B. Cleveland’s First Term

a. Presidential Succession Act (1886): Provided that on the death, incapacity, or resignation of both the president and vice-president, the line of succession to the presidency would fall to the cabinet in chronological order of the creation of each department. – Will be superseded by PSA of 1947 and the 25th

Amendment (1964) – Why do you think this was passed??

b. Dawes Severalty Act-1887: (also known as Dawes General Allotment Act) i. Provided for the breakup of

reservations, distributing 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of grazing land to those Indians agreeing to the Act’s terms. ii. The Indians would become U.S. citizens after 25 years.

iii. Leftover land would be sold to other U.S. citizens and RR companies. This led to the loss of much of the “Native Americans’” land.

Dawes Act •  160 acres to Native Americans on reservations… they had to farm it and after 25 years they could become citizens of the US

Dawes Severalty Act (1887): Assimilation Policy

Carlisle Indian School, PA

Before and After-Assimilation

II. Economic issues

1. Wabash v. Illinois (1886): Supreme Court reversed its Munn v. Illinois decision, ruling that state governments could not regulate RRs. Who do you assume this will hurt??

2. Interstate Commerce Act (1887): created the Interstate Commerce Commission (the first regulatory agency) to regulate interstate railroad rates.

A. Major Economic Legislation

a. Ensured that rates were “fair and just” b. Put an end to rebates c. Lacked enforcement power

C. Labor Issues 1.  Haymarket Square Riot 2.  Downfall of KoL

Growing Labor Movement Issues

The Knights of Labor had been a strong early labor union- remember, they let almost anyone in… (men, women. Black, white, skilled. Unskilled).. They will not last long

Haymarket Riot (1886)

McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.

• May 3, 1886, McCormick-International Harvester Plant: strike in Chicago – one striker killed

• May 4, 1886 – protesters and members of the Knights of Labor gathered in the Haymarket Square to protest the conflict

•  Bomb thrown at the police, who responded with gunfire.

•  Seven policemen, four civilians dead at the end of the violence.

•  Anarchists were responsible for the actions – only ONE of the eight tried for the crime even held a membership card to the KoL, BUT the KoL is blamed for Haymarket Massacre!!!

•  The riot was largely responsible for delaying acceptance of the 8-hour day, as workers deserted the K.O.L. and moved toward the more moderate American Federation of Labor.

HAYMARKET SQUARE READING

III. Social issues

A. The Statue of Liberty 1. Located in NYC, this

gift of friendship from France serves as a welcome and a universal symbol of freedom and democracy.

2. It was dedicated on Oct. 28, 1886.

Statue of Liberty Reading

B. February 22, 1889: Cleveland signed a bill that turned the territories of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington into states.

Benjamin Harrison

1889-1893

Republican

A. Election of 1888

Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison (DEMOCRAT) (REPUBLICAN)

1. The Main Issue of the Campaign

a. Tariffs: – Cleveland pledged a reduction while

making it clear that he opposed absolute free trade.

– Harrison promised a strong protective tariff as a safeguard to domestic industry

B. Tariff Issue 1. After the Civil War, Congress raised

tariffs to protect new US industries. 2. Big business wanted to continue this;

consumers did not. 3. 1885 à tariffs earned the US $100 mil. in surplus! 4. Tariffs were a major issue in the 1888 presidential election!

2. Outcome of the Election

a. Cleveland won the popular vote, but failed to win his home state of New York, losing 36 electoral votes! – Cleveland opposed Tammany Hall

(remember them?); they will undermine his campaign.

– Harrison Won!

B. Labor Unions 1. Homestead Lockout (1892):

Homestead, PA (Carnegie Steel) a. Homestead was a company town with poor conditions: dingy workers’ houses, streets in terrible condition, everything covered in soot and dust.

b. Working conditions were horrible, deaths in mills were not uncommon.

Carnegie Steel Works, Homestead, PA

c. Co president Henry Clay Frick announced wage cuts and declared they would no longer deal with the union.

d. Workers mobilized in self-defense; Frick closed down mills to lock out workers

e. 300 Pinkerton National Detectives were called up to enforce the lockoutà fighting breaks out!

f. 3 Pinkertons, 7 union members were killed.

g. PA sent 8,000 National guardsmen to restore order. Union was not broken, but oppressive working conditions remained the same in the steel industry until WWI.

C. Changing Public Opinion « Americans wanted the federal govt. to

deal with growing soc. & eco. problems & to curb the power of the trusts:

Ø Interstate Commerce Act – 1887

Ø Sherman Antitrust Act – 1890 (Look back in Growth of Industry notes…)

Ø McKinley Tariff – 1890

Ø Rep. Party suffered big losses in 1890

D. McKinley Tariff 1. Based on the theory that prosperity flowed

directly from protectionism. 2. The final version of the tariff gave a small

nod to reform by adding a few items to the free (not taxed) list, but it increased already high rates another 4%

3. The result was the highest protective tariff in American history to that point with an average rate of 48 percent.

E. Ellis Island 1. First immigration station at Ellis Island

opened January 1, 1892. 2. All newcomers were subject to physical

exams à Those with criminal records, mental

disorders, contagious diseases, or other serious health problems were deported.

PHOTO ANALYSIS What did Immigrants

experience upon entering Ellis Island?