APUSH chapter 20
Granger Laws
The Granger laws were a series of laws passed in western states of the United States after the American Civil War to regulate grain elevator and railroad freight rates -address discrimination and other railroad abuses against farmers.
Money question
debtors, farmers and start-up businesses wanted soft money because: -borrow money at low interest rate -pay off their loans more easily Bankers, investors, and people with money wanted hard money because: -hold their value agains inflation Conservative --> gold standard, Agrarian radicals ---> silver
Commerce Act of 1887
designed to regulate the railroad industry, particularly its monopolistic practices
Yellow Journalism
journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create sensations and attract readers; popularized in the late nineteenth century by Jospeh Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst -probs contributed to the start of Spain- American war
Wilson- Gorman Tariff (1894)
lower duties but made some concessions
James A. Garfield
- died shot -self-made man -embodied political generation focused on spoils of office, and his nominate split Repubs unto Stalwarts and Half-Breeds
Depression of 1893-1897
- hard to find jobs -harsh winters -farm price dropped 20% -Pullman Strike -scared middle class feared bloody upheaval
Mugwumps
- political movement comprising Republicans who supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884. -They switched parties because they could not in good faith support the Republican candidate, James Blaine of Maine. -After the election was over, mugwump survived for more than a decade as an epithet in American politics, and the Mugwumps themselves continued many of their associations as reformers well into the 20th century.
William F. McKinley
-president -election ended economic battle and started Repub. domination--> war with Spain, new territory, outposts
Republicans of the time
-supported tariffs as protecting family/ females workers -support in North East, North West -Grand Army of the Republicans
Anti-Imperialist League
Group that battled against American colonization of the Philippines, which included such influential citizens as Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie
National's Colored Alliance
same as the colored one but this one is for South people - Charles Macune
Election of 1892
same ppl as election of 1888 but because of McKinley Tariff hurt Harrison and Cleaveland's gold standard support won business C won
convict- lease system
system in which southern states leased gangs of convicted criminals to private interests as a cheap labor supply. Convicts paid nothing, money went to states, and jobs taken away from labor force -basically saying the black criminals/ prisoners could be used as slaves kind of
Booker T. Washington
(1856-1915) Prominent black American, born into slavery, who believed that racism would end once blacks acquired useful labor skills and proved their economic value to society, was founder of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881. Was criticized for "accomodating" segregation.
Wilson- Gorman Tariff
-1894 act setting the tariff at 41.3%; not as low as Democrats wanted it to be. -Cleveland was outraged that it did not go by his campaign pledges. -He had to sign it to have a lower tariff, but he was annoyed with its ineffectiveness. -It also was the first bill to introduce an income tax, but that was later struck down as unconstitutional.
Currency Act of 1900
-1900 -act enacted by the Republicans which confirmed the nation's commitment to the gold standard by assigning a specific gold value to the dollar -required all currency issued by the U.S. to hew to that value REP = gold(conservative) DEM = silver
The Grange Movement
-1st movement in the populist movement -Organized by Oliver H. Kelley primarily as a social and educational organization for farmers and their families. -By the 1870s however, the Grange organized economic ventures and took political action to defend members against the middlemen, trusts, and railroads. - followed Jacksonian Belief
Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890)
-Act that was a compromise between the western silver agitators and the eastern protectionists. -The Westerners agreed to support a higher tariff and the protectionists, this bill. -It ordered the Treasury to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver monthly. - GOVERNMENT BUYING SILVER TO MINT IT AS MONEY
Cleaveland
-Laissez-faire -Tried to defend gold standard -Blamed Sherman Silver Purchase Act turned to Wall Street and bankers JP Morgan and Belmont for money (62m) - saved gold standard like that - favored tariff but congress didn't =>Wilson- Gorman Tariff (1894)
WCTU
-Led by Frances Willard, the WCTU (Woman's Christiam Temperance Union) was an organization of women intended to mold women into a political force. -They vehemently opposed alcohol. -They were largely unsuccessful in politics, however. CULTURAL & POLITICAL
Why did some people want greenbacks and silver dollars? Why did others oppose these kinds of currency?
-Many did not want greenbacks and silver dollars because of the Panic of 1873 - At the end of the war --> $450 million dollars was issued but was not used for right reasons. - Some wanted it because they believed that more money meant cheaper money causing rising prices and easier to pay debts. -Hard money advocates persuaded Grant to veto a bill to stop printing out more money. - The westerners from silver mining states joined the debtors with the Crime of 73 which was a demand for more greenbacks. - Soon after the treasury began to accumulate the gold stocks against the appointed day for resumption of money payments so soon a policy called contraction was created. Contraction made the depression even worse and worse.
Democrats of the time
-South -supported low government spending -opposed tariffs -attacked gov. economic interference -opposed prohibition -supported church school and immigrants - said tariffs hurt families -Laissez-faire
GAR
-The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organisation composed of veterans - veterans from the Union Army, US Navy, US Marines, and the US Revenue Cutter who served in the American Civil War. - main goal was to aid fellow veteran's families, and to try to obtain pension increases. -also adopted Memorial Day in 1868. The Republican party was influenced by them greatly until 1900.
Sherman Anti- Trust Act of 1890
-This act banned any formations that would restrict trade, not distinguishing between bad and good trusts. - showed that the government was slowly moving away from laissez faire ideals.
Greenbacks Party
-This party formed in the 1870s - platform included various measures like expanding money supply to benefit farmers in the W and S. -In 1878 Greenback candidates got more than 1 million votes and 14 seats in Congress. -The party faded in 1878
The Alliance Movement
-began in the late 1870s and was triggered by a agricultural depression. It was farm radicalism that stressed cooperation . The Alliances eventually bonded together to create a national party, the Populist party. -issues with crop-lien system, sharecropping
Panic of 1873
-caused by railroads bankruptcies - and Grant's "tight" monetary system --> revival of issue of greenback currency. Greenbacks were less valuable than gold, so people spent them first. Government tried to retire these greenbacks in this monetary policy. -caused inflation
Carpetbagger
-derogatory term applied to Northerners - migrated south during the Reconstruction to take advantage of opportunities to advance their own fortunes by buying up land from desperate Southerners -manipulating new black voters to obtain lucrative government contracts.
Pendleton Civil Service Act
1883 - law that created a Civil Service Commission -stated that federal employees could not be required to contribute to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons -set up commission to establish standards of merit --> forbade politicians soliciting contributions from them -only 10% of federal employees at first
McKinely Tariffs Bill
1890 -bill calling for the highest peacetime tariff yet: 48.4 percent. - It gave a bounty of two cents a pound to American sugar producers, and raised tariffs on agricultural products. - The duties on manufactured goods hurt farmers financially.
Philipine Gov. Act
1902 federal law that established a governor and a two house legislature for the Philippines, with the governor and members of the legislature's upper house appointed by the US
Rutherford B. Hays
19th president of the united states, was famous for being part of the Hayes-Tilden election in which electoral votes were contested in 4 states, most corrupt election in US history. Republican. recognised temperance for WCTU
Grant's Scandal (an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877).)
5 major scandals: whiskey ring --> Distillers told tax collectors they would pay them money in order to avoid being taxed. Grant's personal secretary involved and Grant swears to put every one to justice. But pardons his personal secretary and hypocritically changes mind and pardons top people involved. credit mobilier --> Company was stealing profits to build a railroad and to keep it quiet they bribed congress. They overspent money tax special agent sanborn --> Williams Richardson (Grant's secretary of treasury) hired a private citizen, Sanborn, to collect unpaid taxes. Took money black friday -->James Fisk and Gould bought a lot of gold and made a profit by selling a little at a time. Very good friends with Grant and public was very aware of this. belknap bribery -->Belknap was the secretary of war and was accepting bribes for a license to sell on Indian Land.
Grandfather clause
A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867
National Colored Farmer's Alliance
An alliance of farmers designed to attract black farmers, however, it was difficult for white and black farmers to work together
Winfield S. Hancock
Democrat
Election of 1888
Demos --> campaigned for Cleveland & lower tariff Repub--> Benjamin Harrison & high tariff - said lower tariff would wreck business prosperity - North a lot ppl agreed Repub Wone
subtreasury plans
Devised to help farmers store their nonperishable commodities in government warehouses, receive low-interest loans using the crops as collateral, and then sell the stored commodities when market prices rose.
Compromise of 1877
Ended Reconstruction. Republicans promised to 1) Remove military from South, 2) Appoint Democrat to cabinet (David Key postmaster general), 3) Federal money for railroad construction and levees on Mississippi river
Half-Breeds
FRACTION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY; led by James G Blaine; favored reform; against patronage
Stalwarts
FRACTION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY; led by Roscoe Conkling; favored machine politics; support patronage (the power to control appointments to office or the right to privileges) - against civil service reforms
Resumption Act
It pledged the withdrawal of greenbacks from circulation and the redemption of all paper money in gold.
Clara Barton
Launched the American Red Cross in 1881. An "angel" in the Civil War, she treated the wounded in the field.
Greenbacks
Name for Union paper money not backed by gold or silver. Value would fluctuate depending on status of the war
Election of 1896
Repub won - McKinley => NE/MW (repub) Bryan (Demo) only South
Election of 1894
Repub won (immigrants abandones Demos)
Panic of 1893
Serious economic depression beginning in 1893. Began due to rail road companies over-extending themselves, causing bank failures. Was the worst economic collapse in the history of the country until that point.
Atlanta Compromise
Speech made by Washington in Atlanta that outlined the philosophy that blacks should focus on economic gains, go to school, learn skills, and work their way up the ladder and that Southern whites should help out to create an unresentful people.
Plessy v. Ferguson
Supreme Court case about Jim Crow railroad cars in Louisiana; the Court decided by 7 to 1 that legislation could not overcome racial attitudes, and that it was constitutional to have "separate but equal" facilities for blacks and whites.
Pollock v. Farmer's Loan and Trust Co.
Supreme Court ruled that the unapportioned income taxes on interest, dividends and rents imposed by the Income Tax Act of 1894 were, in effect, direct taxes, and were unconstitutional because they violated the provision that direct taxes be apportioned.
lynching
The practice of an angry mob hanging a percieved criminal without regard to due process. In the South, blacks who did not behave as the inferiors to whites might be lynched by white mobs.
Hard or Sound Money
The specie dollar was known as hard money. -Panic of 1873. -was in opposition with greenbacks/folding money. -The issuing of the greenbacks was overdone and the value depreciated causing inflation and the Panic of 1873. "Hard-money" advocates looked for the complete disappearance of the folding money.
Munn v. Illinois
This 1876 Supreme Court case seemed like a victory for the Grangers movement and represented a step toward greater governmental regulation of the economy. -court decided that states had the right to regulate commerce within their states (particularly railroad and grain elevator companies), but this decision was largely overturned 10 years later by the Wabash case.
Platt Amendment
This amendment to the new Cuban constitution authorized U.S. intervention in Cuba to protect its interests. Cuba pledged not to make treates with other countries that might compromise its independence, and it granted naval bases to the United States, most notable being Guantanamo Bay.
Manifest Destiny
This expression was popular in the 1840s. Many people believed that the U.S. was destined to secure territory from "sea to sea," from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This rationale drove the acquisition of territory.
Teller Amendment
This proviso was passed after Congress essentially declared war on Spain for its actions in Cuba. This legislation declared to the world that the US had overthrown Spanish misrule and would give Cubans their freedom. The US honored it in 1902, and withdrew from Cuba.
annexation of Hawaii
U.S. wanted Hawaii for business and so Hawaiian sugar could be sold in the U.S. duty free, Queen Liliuokalani opposed so Sanford B. Dole overthrew her in 1893, William McKinley convinced Congress to annex Hawaii in 1898
William Jennings Bryan
United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925)
Laissez-faire
do not want the government to interfere in business matters, or if governments do involve themselves in business matters, to keep government influence to a minimum
populist party
formed in 1892 by members of the Farmer's Alliance, this party was designed to appeal to workers in all parts of the country. Populists favoured a larger role of government in American Society, a progressive income tax, and more direct methods of democracy. - platform --> workers with low tariffs, gratuated income tax, public ownership on RRs -died out because price better
James Weaver
greenbacks -people's populist party was created --> then got elected
Homestead Strike
one of the most violent strikes in U.S. history. It was against the Homestead Steel Works, which was part of the Carnegie Steel Company, in Pennsylvania in retaliation against wage cuts. The riot was ultimately put down by Pinkerton Police and the state militia, and the violence further damaged the image of unions.
Dingley Tariff (1897)
passed in 1897, proposed new high tariff rates to generate enough revenue to cover the annual Treasury deficits. Replaced the Wilson-Gorman law and raise more revenue, raising the tariff level to whopping 46.5 percent.
Civil Rights Act of 1875
passed legislation that guaranteed access to transportation and hotels for all blacks; repealed blacks codes and removed restrictions on workers; prohibited racial discrimination in jury selection; became a watered down bill that the Supreme Court eventually struck down <-- however government declared it unconstitutional and only protect blacks from gov. not citizens
Wabash case
prohibited states from regulating interstate RR rates and ICC followed (set rates in RR)