Chapter 23

Chapter 23Political Paralysis in the Gilded AgeThe Bloody Shirt elects GrantMost people believed that Generals would make good presidents so they turned to the highestGrantHe was a good leader but he knew nothing about politicsHe was elected on a platform of continued reconstructionThe Democrats could only agree on ending reconstructionPut up Horatio SeymourGrant won 214 to 80, 3 million to 2.7 millionOnly won by keeping some southern states from voting and by getting the black vote

The Era of Good StealingsGovernment and business seemed very corrupt due to a few peopleJim Fisk and Jay GouldPlotted in 1869 to corner the gold marketUsed Grant and his brother in law and the Secretary of the TreasuryAlmost worked but not quiteBoss TweedUsed bribery, graft, fraud, etc. to steal as much as $200 millionIn 1871 the New York Times found evidence against him and Thomas Nast a popular political cartoonist charged after TweedTweed ended up dying in jail awaiting

A Carnival of CorruptionFederal Govt was also full of corruptionCredit Mobilier Scandal 1872Construction company used as a front for the UP RR, they built the RR lines at inflated prices They bribed congressman and the VP not to say anythingIt was discovered by a newspaper reporterWhiskey RingDeprived the government of excise taxesGrants personal secretary got acquitted of charges with Grants helpSecretary of War Belknap was also guilty of accepting bribes from suppliers to Indian Reservations

The Liberal Republican Revolt of 1872The Liberal Republicans were formed as an anti Grant party, to reform government and make it less corruptThey put Horace Greeley (editor of the New York Tribune) up as their candidate to run against GrantGrant won 286-66; 3.5 to 2.8 million votesThe Republicans ended up cleaning house in response to the 3rd partyGeneral amnesty act, removed high protective tariffs, and civil service reform

Depression, Deflation, and InflationPanic of 1873Caused by over speculation in most areas of industry; RR, mines, factories, even farmsPrices dropped and companies couldnt pay their loans, lead to bank closures, deflation, etcBlacks were hit very hardFreedmans Savings and Trust Company loaned money to banks to loan to Freedmen but they went bankrupt and blacks lost seven million worth of investmentsDebtors wanted cheap moneyinflationHelps them pay off their debts faster

Creditors wanted deflation instead of inflationThey didnt want the money they loaned out paid back in depreciated dollarsGrant grants the hard money advocates a victoryHe vetoes a law that would have allowed more paper money printedResumption Act of 1875Further withdrawal of paper moneySilverUsed this precious metal as another method of trying to obtain inflationContractionThe decreasing the amount of money in circulationleads to deflation

Pallid Politics in the Gilded AgeThere was a balancing scale between the two parties; just a few votes could throw the elections the other wayEvery president barely wonHouse majorities changed six times from 1869-91Candidates had to straddle every fence and were too timid to try anything that would create a wakeThe two parties were almost identical save by nameVoter turn out was at its highest ever almost 80%Why was there so much political consensus while there was so much partisan fervor?Republicans were very Puritan based Strict codes of morality, govt involved in economy and enforcing a moral codeDemocrats had a strong influence of Catholic and Lutheran immigrantsThese religions stressed tolerance of differences and didnt want government to interfere with a moral codeVoting basesDemocrats had the south and industrial centers in the northRepublicans had Midwest and the rural areas in the northeast, the GAR, Grand Army of the Republic, former Union soldiersPatronageBoth parties existed and continued to exist through giving followers jobs in return for votes, kickbacks, and serviceThe Hayes-Tilden Standoff 1876Republicans had Rutherford B. Hayes (The Great Unknown) run in 1876 against Samuel TildenTilden won the popular vote 4.2 to 4 million votes but the electoral college was unclear20 votes were in dispute and Tilden only needed one of themThe states in dispute turned in two votes, one democrat and one republican, it depended on who read the votes as to who would winCompromise of 1877Democrats threatened to go to war againElectoral Count Act Set up a commission of congressmen, senators, and judges to decide on the disputed votesDemocrats allowed Hayes to become president and in return the Republicans promised to withdraw all federal troops from the SouthThe Republicans officially abandoned the freedmen in order to have a Republican president

Jim CrowSouth turned back into a solid Democratic block following 1877 and blacks were abandoned by the federal governmentBlacks were forced into sharecroppingCrop-lien systemWhites loaned supplies and food in return for a share of next years harvestKept blacks perpetually in debtBy 1890 the South set up a system of legal segregation called Jim Crow Laws, also had literacy tests, poll taxes, voter registrationPlessey vs. Ferguson 1896 Separate but equalBlacks in fact had far inferior facilities, schools, etc

Class and Ethnic Conflicts1877 Great RR Strike4 largest RR cut wages 10%, workers struck and Pres. Hayes called in federal troops to stop itPeople all across the country went on strike in supportEnded weeks later and accomplished nothingChineseBy 1880 there were 75,000 most went to California for the gold rush, most went back to China the rest performed menial laborIrishHad class conflicts with the Chinese over competition for laborChinese Exclusion Act 1882US closed the door on Chinese immigration until 1943US vs Wong Kim Ark 1898If a person is born in the US they are automatically a citizen

Garfield and ArthurGarfield as Pres and Arthur as VP beat Hancock by 39,000 votesGarfield was assassinated in September 1881Showed the corruptness of the Spoils System and led to reformPendleton Act of 1883Exams for federal jobs, divorced politics from patronage and wed politics and big business

Corrupt Blaine vs. Cleveland the ReformerSank to an all time low, very few differences and no main issues, resorted to mudslingingCleveland won 219-182, 4.879 to 4.850 million

1st Democrat president since before the Civil War (Buchanan) Firm believer in Laissez-faireClaimed he was for civil service reform but he fired 2/3rds of the 120,000 federal employees

The Blaine-Cleveland Mudslingers of 1884Cleveland Tariff BattleRepublicans in the north benefited from high tariffs ever since the war, hurt the south, also had a 145 million dollar surplusHe threw the idea right into the middle of CongressHurt Clevelands reelection chances in 1888Republicans ran Benjamin Harrison (grandson of old Tippecanoe) The main issue was the tariffHarrison won 233 to 168 but lost the popular vote 5.537 to 5.447 million

Billion Dollar CongressSpeaker of the House Czar Reed went to extraordinary measures to conduct business, Democrats refused to show up so a quorum wasnt presentSpent a billion dollars1st time in US HistoryMcKinley Tariff 1890 48.4% on goods, highest peace time rate everOff year election the Republicans lost big the tariff hurt farmers and it brought Cleveland back

Drumbeat of DiscontentPopulist Party started in 1892 out of the Farmers AlliancePlatform included: unlimited coinage of silver, graduated income tax; government ownership of RR, telegraphs, telephones; direct election of senators; one term presidential limits; initiative and referendums; etcA wave of strikes in 1892 raised their prospects of bringing down the capitalist systemHomestead Steel Strike at Carnegies steel millPinkertons tried to break it up, 10 dead, 60 woundedFederal troops called inSouth didnt join the party because of race, gave the south the final push for ending black suffrage, populists became very racistWon 22 electoral votes and over one million but couldnt get the industrial workers to join them

Cleveland and DepressionReelected in 1892 took office in 1893 along with the centuries worst depressionSame old story of overspeculationUS was running out of gold only $41 million left in the treasury and $100 million was considered safeTurned to JP Morgan who lent the government $65 million in gold and took other measures to bring gold back from EuropeCleveland lost all credibility for turning to MorganRepublicans won back Congress