Chapter 19From Stalemate to

Crisis“You Shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns;

you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!”-William Jennings Bryan

Political Interests in the “Gilded Age”

• Voter turnout extremely high for elections• Not because of interest in particular issues, but instead because of broad regional, ethnic

or religious reasons.

• Democrats:• Dominant in Southern states (triumph over Radical Reconstruction and white supremacy)• In many northern circles included Catholics, new immigrants, and poor workers.

• Republicans:• Party of Lincoln, bulwark against slavery and treason• Appealed to Protestants, citizens of old stock conservative views, middle and upper-class

citizens.

• Party affiliations will continue for generations as offspring simply joined party of their parents.

Electoral Stability• The electorate remained fairly divided among the parties• House and Senate remained fairly evenly divided• Generally 16 states Republican and 14 states Democrat• Few states were ever truly in doubt, most notable were Ohio and New York• Voters generally decided national elections by simple turnout.

• Republicans won every presidential election but 2 from 1860-1912.• Republicans often controlled the Senate, Democrats generally

controlled the House of Representatives.• Party leaders were primarily concerned with winning offices, not

policy.• Party bosses easily manipulated the system.

Patronage and Change• Often Presidents won elections with support from party bosses• Patronage system made it nearly impossible for new presidents to appoint new staff in

short timespan without offending those who won them the office.

• By 1870s dissention within the Republican party threatened the system.• Stalwarts: led by Roscoe Conklin of New York, favored traditional machine politics• Half-Breeds: led by James Blaine of Maine, favored reform

• Neither of which actually offered much policy reform though

• In Election of 1880 Republicans selected one of each for the ticket• James Garfield of Ohio: Half-Breed for President• Chester Arthur of New York: Stalwart henchman of Conklin for Vice-President

• Garfield tried to defy Stalwarts with Civil Service reform, was assassinated four months after his election by a deranged Stalwart in a D.C. trainstation.

High Tariffs and Dissention

• High protective tariffs had enabled many American industries to inflate prices, which resulted in multiple economic panics.• By the Election of 1884 the Republican Party was still divided and a group of

disgruntled liberals called the “mugwumps” left the party to support the Democrats.• Democrats selected Grover Cleveland from New York, had a reputation for battling

corruption and Tammany Hall.• Religious controversy during the campaign caused many New York Catholics to support

Cleveland and he became the only Democrat of the era to win the Presidency.

Agrarian Movement• Midwestern rural communities began to experience unrest as issues generally

favored the urban elite classes.• Isolated from the urban-industrial society that dominated national politics• Suffered from long economic decline• Growing sense of obsolescence created resentment

• Growing sentiment for these groups to organize to instigate change.• Initial impact at state levels• Groups like the Grangers influenced state laws to regulate railroads and bring prices

down.• Such laws were struck down, claiming they violated the federal gov’t. ability to regulate

interstate commerce.

• Became apparent that change would have to happen at the federal level.

The Grange• Initially formed as a social organization for self-help.• Bring farmers together to learn new scientific agricultural techniques• Create a sense of community among isolated farmers• Elaborate system of initiations and rituals made it seem like fraternal organization

• Grange participation took off after financial panic of 1873, causing farmers to cling together for security.• Set up cooperative stores, creameries, elevators, warehouses, insurance companies, and

factories to produce various goods, even forged lucrative relationships with existing businesses.• Ultimately, they failed because they couldn’t compete with existing businesses and were

often dependent on the very middlemen they were challenging.

• Overall too unstable, when agricultural prices rose by the late 1870s, they lost most of their collective power and membership declined.

Farmers’ Alliance

• Fresh off the heals of the Granger movements• More regionally based, Southern Alliance for instance had considerable appeal.

• Sought many of the same goals and even developed cooperatives similar to the Grangers• More emphasis on educating the masses on various political as well as social issues that

led to wider appeal.• By the end of the 1880s the organizations were struggling because of more powerful

opponents, similar to problems faced by Grangers.

• Answer was the creation of a national political organization to drive change, the People’s Party (more commonly known as Populists)

Populists

• 1890 Elections were an off year, but candidates supported by alliances won control of 12 states and 6 governors, 3 seats in U.S. Senate, and 50 U.S. Representatives.• Most were just Democrats with Alliance support

• 1892 Officially formed the People’s Party and met in Omaha to select Presidential candidate.• Presidential candidate, James Weaver of Iowa – polled 8.5% of vote and 22 electoral

votes, carried 6 mountain and plains states.

• Still not as dominant as mainstream parties, the Populists forced them to consider their issues.

Populist Platform• System of “Subtreasuries”• Gov’t. established network of warehouses where farmers deposit crops.• Using crops as collateral, farmers could borrow money from the gov’t. at lower interest.• While storing their crops, they could wait for prices to rise before selling them.

• Abolition of National Banks• Institutions of concentrated gov’t. power

• Direct election of U.S. Senators• This would weaken the power of conservative state legislatures controlled by party

groups.

• Regulation • Gov’t. control and ownership of Railroads, telephones, telegraphs.• Graduated income taxes on wealthy, and inflation of currency.

Free Silver vs. Gold Standard• Value of U.S. currency today is heavily dependent on public confidence in

American gov’t. and economy.• However, until 1900’s common belief dictated there must be a precious metal to

support paper money (specie)• Theoretically, you could turn in your paper money to the bank in exchange for the metal.• The U.S. recognized silver and gold as such metals.

• 1870s – value of silver was worth more sold on the markets than the gov’t. could offer to mint. Therefore the gov’t. turned to the Gold Standard: only gold.• But later in 1870s, value of silver once again dropped, created a surplus of silver that

couldn’t be used by gov’t. because of the law.• Silver miners wanted the Gold Standard lifted so they could sell their surplus• Farmers wanted it lifted to increase the quantity of money, inflating prices of farm goods

and easing payment of their debts.

Election of 1896

• Needing more support for upcoming election, Populists embraced the Free Silver movement and made it a major plank in their platform.• Republican selected William McKinley of Ohio• Conservative supported by party bosses, author of higher protective tariffs• Agreed to poll other commercial nations regarding support for free-silver

(seemed highly unlikely this would change anything)

• Democratic convention became wild scene as they debated how to handle the challenges from Populists.

Emergence of William Jennings Bryan

• Congressman from Nebraska set the convention into a frenzy with his impassioned speech revolving around the Gold Standard and many Populist values.• Such a moving speech that the delegates selected him as their candidate.• At 36, still the youngest candidate for president in history.

• Populists had a decision to make, Bryan had adopted many of their planks, most importantly Free Silver.• Pick another, weaker candidate, and pull votes away from Bryan• Pick Bryan as their candidate and risk losing appeal as a legitimate party.

• In the end they chose Bryan as candidate for both Democrats and Populists.

Campaign of ‘96

• McKinley: traditional front porch campaign, let party bosses work for him.• Bryan: first modern campaign where he stumped around the country

to gain support.• Many thought it was shameful and lost him support.

• Ultimately, McKinley’s ties to party bosses in Ohio and slight improvement in economy before election won the slim margin.• Populist tie to Democratic candidate proved the demise of party as a

whole.• Pg. 540 and how the Populists were probably right about Gold Standard.