Transcript Unit 3: Birth of Modern America

Unit 3:
Birth of
Modern
America
Chapter 11
Politics and Reform
I. Stalemate in Washington
A. A Campaign to Clean up Politics
1. The Problem: Americans concerned
that machine politics and the spoils
system prevented gov’t from
addressing issues and corrupted those
who worked in politics
a. Employees working for gov’t are
said to be in “civil service”
b. Since 1820s, most civil service
jobs appointed through
patronage (or the spoils system)
* spoils system = the practice
of giving gov’t jobs to
political supporters
c. Results of the Spoils System?
- incompetent office holders
- records kept of campaign
contributions from office holders
- president’s loss of time dealing w/
office seekers
2. Stalwarts vs. Halfbreeds
a. Stalwarts = Republican that is
supportive of political machines &
patronage
Halfbreed = Republican that favored
reform
b. 1880 Election: Republicans choose
James Garfield (a halfbreed) as
Presidential candidate & Chester Arthur
(stalwart) for VP
OOPS!
President Garfield
3. Assassination of Pres. Garfield
a. Charles Guiteau assassinated Pres.
Garfield – furious that he had not been
given gov’t job
b. Public outraged at the assassination –
demanded reform of the spoils system
President James
A. Garfield was
shot by Charles
Guiteau on 2
July 1881.
Garfield suffered
through a painful
summer before
succumbing.
4. The Pendleton Act
a. also known as the Civil Service Act of
1883
b. replaced the spoils system of appointing
office-holders on a reward-for-political
support basis, with a merit system
based on examinations
c. Reduced the power of political
machines, diminished patronage-related
corruption and created a more efficient
federal bureaucracy
d. Provisions of the Pendleton Act
1) competitive exams
2) jobs awarded on merit
3) trial period before final
job confirmation
4) no soliciting for political support
5) can’t be fired for political reasons
6) Presidential extension of civil
service list
B. Two Parties Neck & Neck
1. The Republicans
(Grand Old Party = GOP):
a. Their supporters?
- military veterans
- patriotic Americans
- big biz
- Great Plains Farmers
- Protestants
b. Party of Morality
- defender of traditional American
morals & values
2. The Democrats:
a. Their supporters?
- white southerners
- urban voters
- Catholics
- Immigrants
b. Party of Personal Liberty
- defender individual freedoms
Republican
vs
Democrat
• In 1880 Thomas
Nast, cartoonist for
the Harper’s Weekly,
created the donkey
and elephant as
cartoon symbols
representing the
Democratic and
Republican parties.
They continue to be
used today as party
symbols.
• Thomas Nast also
created Uncle Sam.
3. Narrow margins decided most elections
btwn 1876-1896
a. 1880 & 1888 election
- candidate lost popular vote, but
still won the election – Thanks to
electoral college system
What is the Electoral College?
"Your grades won't matter -- the Supreme Court will
decide whether or not you graduate..."
• When you vote for the President of
the US you are actually voting
for an ELECTOR to vote for you
• Electors then actually cast the
votes of who becomes President
• Usually the electoral vote aligns
with the popular vote but on four
occasions it has not
• Each state has a determined # of
electors
A state’s number of electors
is the total number of
Senators and Representatives
in the House (Census every 10
yrs determines # of reps/electors
from each state
Texas
2 Senators
36 Representatives
Total
38 electors
Electors
by state
Electoral College Map based
on 2010 census
Origins of the System
• The electoral college was created by the
founding fathers of the Constitution as part
of a compromise between the election of a
president by congress and election by a
popular vote
• Many of the founders of the
Constitution did not trust the people of
the new country to make a sound and
educated decision. (Fear of the Rabble)
There are a total of 538
electoral votes
(the District of
Columbia is not
a state but is
given 3
electoral votes)
48 out of the 50 states
have a “winner takes
all” method
If you get the most
votes in that state you
get ALL of their
electoral college votes
2 states are different and
can divide up their votes
based on congressional
district - Nebraska and
Maine
A candidate must have
270 electoral votes to
win the Presidential
election
If no single candidate
gets the required 270
electoral votes then the
House of Representatives
votes to decide the
President
It is possible to get
more votes overall in the
election from the entire
country and NOT be
elected President
Happened in 2000 with
Gore vs Bush
Total Votes in 2000 Election:
Bush
50,461,092 total votes
(47.9%)
271 Electoral Votes
Gore
50,994,086 total votes
(48.4%)
266 Electoral Votes
Nader
2,882,728 total votes
(2.7%)
0 Electoral College Votes
2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Summary!
• The “ticket” with the most popular votes is
not guaranteed the presidency.
• Candidates are not competing for the
nation as a whole, but for individual states
and their electoral votes.
Effect of the Electoral College
• Four times in our history, the
candidate receiving the most popular
votes has not won the election.
Samuel Tilden 1876
Andrew Jackson 1824
Grover Cleveland 1888
Al Gore 2000
Effect of the Electoral College
• The voting procedure of the
Electoral College system has a
chilling effect on 3rd party
candidates.
• A 3rd party candidate can have
appeal distributed across the nation,
but without a plurality in any one of
the states will not receive any
electoral votes.
• In the 1992 presidential election,
independent Ross Perot received
18.8% of the popular vote, but
zero electoral votes. EXPLAINED
William Jefferson Clinton
VP: Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.
Party: DEMOCRATIC
Home State: AR
Electoral Votes: 370
Popular Votes: 44,909,326
(43.0%)
George HW Bush
VP: James Danforth Quayle
Party: REPUBLICAN
Home State: TX
Electoral Votes: 168
Popular Votes: 39,103,882
(37.4%)
Ross Perot
VP: James Stockdale
Party: REFORM
Home State: TX
Electoral Votes: 0
Popular Votes: 19,741,657
(18.9%)
4. Republicans won 4/6 presidential
elections btwn 1876-1896
a. but often Dems controlled H of R
b. local political bosses, not the Pres.
still controlled the Party
c. The nearly even division of power
often produced deadlock at the
federal level
C. Democrats Reclaim the White House
1. 1884 Election
a. The candidates:
- Grover Cleveland (D)
- James G. Blaine (R)
b. The issues?
- gov’t corruption
- focused on the personal morals of
candidate
c. The Mugwumps – Republican reformers
who supported Cleveland (D)
- moral leaders who put nation above
political party
2. Cleveland’s scandal
a. Child out of wedlock
b. How did he handle it?
- he took responsibility, told the
truth and retained support of the
mugwumps!
Anti-Grover Cleveland political cartoon of
1884 (cropped from the front page of
"The Judge" magazine), captioned
"Another voice for Cleveland“.
Reference is to the story that Cleveland
had had an illegitimate child (giving rise
to the infamous campaign chant "Ma,
Ma, where's my Pa?" by Cleveland
opponents, to which Cleveland
supporters replied "Gone to the White
House, Ha! Ha! Ha!").
3. Grover Cleveland wins 1884 election!
Oops!
President Grover Cleveland
D. A President Beseiged by Problems
1. Cleveland couldn’t make anybody
happy!!!
a. Some supporters expected him to
reward them w/ jobs
b. On the other hand, Mugwumps
(Republicans who voted for Cleveland, a
Democrat) expected him to X the
number of positions under merit
system
c. Wound up angering both sides
2. The Interstate Commerce Commission is
created in response to public concerns
a. Industrialization and growth of labor unions
caused unrest in US - violent strikes
b. Power of big biz also caused concern,
especially for small biz and farmers
- belief that RRs were gouging (ripping off)
small biz & farmers by giving rebates
(partial refund to lower the rate of a good
or commodity) and lower fares to big biz,
high volume users
c. States respond by regulating RR rates
d. Wabash v. Illinois (1886)
- Supreme Court ruled that only the
Federal gov’t (NOT states) could regulate
interstate (across state lines) commerce
e. Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) =
1st Fed. Law that regulated interstate
commerce
1) limited RR rates to “reasonable & just”
level
2) forbade rebates to high-volume users
3) illegal to charge higher rates for shorter
haul
f. ICC ineffective b/c of reliance on courts to
enforce it’s rulings
3. The problem with Tariffs (Tariff = tax on
imported goods)
a. effect of tariffs? price of manufactured goods
rose
b. unnecessary as US companies now capable
of competing internationally
c. other nations retaliated with tariffs on US
goods (especially ag goods) making it hard
for US farmers to export their surpluses
- Democrats favored cutting tariffs
- Republicans favored keeping tariffs to protect
US manufacturers from foreign competition
E. Republicans Regain Power – 1888
election
1. The Candidates
a. Benjamin Harrison (R)
b. Grover Cleveland (D)
2. Tariffs = big campaign issue
a. Republicans favored keeping tariffs
and gained support of big biz since
they benefited from tariff protection
b. Democrats campaigned against tariffs
3. Republicans win (close race! Cleveland
actually won popular vote, but lost
electoral vote!) – control House, Senate +
White House!!
4. The McKinley Tariff of 1890
a. It’s provisions
1) cut tobacco taxes & sugar tariffs
2) increased tariffs on other goods such as
textiles – to discourage people from
buying those imports
b. It’s effects
1) lowered federal revenue (income)
2) changed budget surplus to a budget
deficit
What else added to the federal deficit?
• Increased veterans’ pensions
• increased # of vets eligible to receive
them
5. The Sherman Anti-trust Act of 1890
a. Passed to combat the power of trusts
b. Made trusts in any form illegal
c. Like the ICC, this was also ineffective
because enforcement of it was the
responsibility of the courts – so number of
trusts continued to grow
6. Midterm election 1890
a. Americans, especially farmers, concluded
that the 2-party system was incapable of
solving the nations problems
b. Calls for new political parties begin
II. Populism
A. Unrest in Rural America
1. Populism: the movement to increase
farmers’ political power and to work
for legislation in their interest
2. Problems facing farmers
a. overproduction = lower prices
- new technology led to production
increases (more crops) which led to
increased supply (surplus) which led to
lower prices (remember, when supply
is greater than demand, prices fall!)
b. high tariffs = higher prices for manufactured
goods + harder for farmers to sell their
surplus overseas (why? Because in
response to US tariffs on manufactured
goods from Europe, Europe retaliated with
tariffs on US goods – agricultural goods!!)
c. Victimized by banks and RRs
- faraway banks set loan rates
- RRs set shipping rates
3. Additional concerns
a. The Money Supply
1) to help finance the Civil War, gov’t
issued greenbacks (paper currency
that could be exchanged for gold or
silver)
2) rapid increase in money supply w/o
rapid increase in goods for sale caused
inflation (a decline in the value of $
which causes an increase in prices)
3) to control inflation, gov’t stopped
printing greenbacks and paid off bonds,
stopped making silver coins…result?
Not enough money supply to meet the
needs of a growing economy
4) Decreased money supply = Deflation
(an increase in the value of $$ which
causes a decrease in prices)
b. Deflation Hurts Farmers
1) farmers had to borrow $ to plant crops
- short supply of $ caused a rise in
interest rates
- rising interest rates increased amt that
farms owed – made mortgages & other
loans more expensive & when farm prices
dropped, they still had to pay mortgages
& other loans at those high rates
2) falling prices meant farmers sold their
crops for less
3) some farmers thought Eastern bankers
had pressured Congress into reducing $
supply
4) some farmers wanted more
greenbacks to expand $ supply –
others wanted gov’t to mint silver coins
4. The Grange Takes Action
a. The Grange: a national farm organization
formed for social & educational purposes –
1st national farm org.
1) pressured state legislatures to regulate
RR & warehouse rates which they
thought were too high
2) some joined “Greenback Party” –
wanted more greenbacks to increase $
supply
3) put their $ together & created
cooperatives (store where farmers
bought products from each other; an
enterprise owned and operated by
those who use its services)
- pooled members’ crops & held
them off market to force price
increase
- negotiated shipping rates from RRs
b. The Grange fails
1) unable to improve economic conditions
for farmers
2) co-ops fail
- too small to have any effect on
prices
- Eastern biz considered them to be
similar to unions so refused to do
biz with them
3) by late 1870s, many farmers left the
Grange & joined other orgs that helped
to solve their problems
B. The Farmers Alliance
1. formed in 1877 – most members from South
or Great Plains
2. organized large co-ops called exchanges for
the purpose of forcing farm prices up &
making loans to farmers at low interest rates
a. Co-ops fail
1) loaned too much $ at low interest rates
(loans not repaid)
2) wholesalers, manufacturers & RRs &
bankers discriminated against them
3) too small to dramatically affect world
prices for farm products
b. Members of the Kansas Alliance formed
the People’s Party, or Populist Party to
push for political reforms that would help
farms solve their problems
C. The Rise of Populism
1. Farmers met in Ocala, FL & made a list of
demands intended to guide farms in choosing
whom to vote for in the 1890 midterm
elections
a. adopt subtreasury plan ( an attempt to
help farmers by holding their crops off
the market long enough to force prices
up)
b. free coinage of silver
c. end to protective tariffs & nat’l banks
d. tighter regulation of RRs
e. direct election of senators by voters
instead of state legislatures
2. Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 passed
a. Republicans pushed this through in an
attempt to keep farmers from voting for
Populists
b. authorized US treasury to purchase silver
- put more $ in circulation
- did little to help farmers though
3. 1892 Election
a. Populist Party held 1st nat’l convention
- Nominated James B Weaver as their
presidential candidate
b. The People’s Party (Populist Party)
Platform
1) unlimited coinage of silver @ 16:1
- wanted this to increase the $ supply
making it easier for farmers to repay
their loans
2) federal ownership of RRs
3) graduated income tax: tax higher
earnings more heavily
4) labor positions: 8 hr workday, less
immigration, denounce strikebreaking
c. Grover Cleveland (D) wins 1892 election
Results of
1892
Presidential Election
4. The Panic of 1893
a. begins after Reading & Philadelphia RRs
declare bankruptcy
b. worst economic crisis to that date –
depression! 18% unemployment, stock
market crash, bank failures
c. Crisis with nat’l gold reserves. Why? People
began cashing in their bonds for gold
d. Cleveland repeals Sherman Silver Purchase
Act. Why? b/c gold was being lost every
time people exchanged silver for gold under
that Act
e. Democratic Party divided
1) goldbugs: favored US currency based on
gold
2) silverites: favored unlimited coinage of
silver
D. Election of 1896
1. The Candidates
a. William Jennings Bryan (D)
- supported unlimited coinage of silver
- supported by Populists (farmers)
b. William McKinley (R)
- “front porch” campaign - promised full dinner pail
- supported by urban workers & immigrants
Results of
1896 Presidential Election
2. Depression over in late 1890s + new gold
strikes = less opposition to gold-based
currency
a. Led to increased money supply w/o turning
to silver
b. 1900: US officially adopted a gold-based
standard with the Gold Standard Act
3. Populist party declines
a. Failures:
1) economic hardships of farmers not eased
2) more regulations on big biz not achieved
b. Success: several of the Populist’s proposed
reforms become law later in history (such as
graduated income tax and some gov’t
regulation of the economy)
III. Rise of Segregation
A. Resistance and Repression
1. Life for Black Americans
a. Technically free, but extremely poor
b. Many are landless sharecroppers (farmer
who works land for an owner who provides
equipment and seed and receives a share
of the crop)
c. Many left to find jobs in towns & cities or
headed west to claim homesteads
- Exoduster = black American who
participated in a mass migration from the
rural South to Kansas & other Plains
areas
2. The Colored Farmers’ National Alliance
a. Aim to help members economically by
establishing cooperatives
b. Supported the Populist Party hoping it would
unite poor whites & poor blacks to challenge
Democratic Party power in the South
3. Democratic Party challenged
a. Feared losing South if poor whites left Dem
party to join black Populists
b. To win back the poor white vote, Dems
appealed to racism – claimed Populist
support would return the South to
Republican rule as it was during
Reconstruction
B. Black Americans are disenfranchised
disenfranchise: deny the right to vote
** Southern States restricted voting rights
of black Americans
1. Poll Tax: (a tax of a fixed amount per person
that had to be paid before the person could
vote) – Kept black Americans from voting b/c
many were extremely poor
2. Literacy Tests – kept black Americans from
voting b/c over 50% were illiterate in this era.
Even those who could read often failed b/c
local officials picked complicated reading
passages that few could understand
3. Grandfather Clause
a. Grandfather Clause (a clause that allowed
individuals who did not pass the literacy test
to vote if their fathers or grandfathers had
voted before Reconstruction began
b. The effect? In LA, made nearly all formerly
enslaved LA citizens ineligible to vote
C. Legalizing Segregation
1. Segregation (separation or isolation of a
race, class or group)
2. Segregation North vs South
a. North = defacto segregation (segregation
by custom and tradition)
b. South = dejure segregation (segregation by
law)
Jim Crow Laws (statutes or laws created
to enforce segregation)
3. 1883: Supreme Court overturns Civil Rights
Act of 1875 setting the stage for legalized
segregation
4. 14th Amendment
a. Says that no State could deny equal
protection under the law based on race
b. But private organizations and businesses,
were still free to practice segregation
c. As a result, Southern states passed a series
of laws that enforced segregation in virtually
ALL public places: restaurants, RRs, hotels,
pools, etc
5. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
a. Background: 1892, Homer Plessy rode in the
whites only RR car and was arrested – case
went to Supreme Court
b. Supreme Court ruled that “separate but
equal” facilities for the races was legal
c. Established the legal basis for discrimination
in the South for 50 yrs +
d. Facilities always separate, but almost never
equal.
6. Racial Violence
a. Mob violence in the South
b. Lynchings (executions w/o lawful approval)
1) 80% in the South
2) 70% of the victims were black Americans
D. African American Response
1. Ida Wells led campaign against lynching
a. Said greed, not just racial prejudice was
behind lynching
- reported in the Memphis Free Speech
that 3 blacks were lynched in Memphis
simply because the competed
successfully against white grocers
b. b/c of her activism, lynchings decreased
significantly in the 1900s
2. Booker T Washington
a. His solution to discrimination? Black
Americans should concentrate on achieving
economic goals (through education) instead
of legal/political ones
b. In what is known as the Atlanta
Compromise, he said black Americans
should focus on education in an effort to
achieve full equality
3. W.E.B. Du Bois
a. Disagreed with Booker T Washington
- said blacks still stripped of civil rights even
with improvements in education and
vocational training
b. His solution to discrimination? Protection of
voting rights