Chapter 19

"Do everything" policy

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Social Darwinism

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Social Darwinism

(C) -Applied Darwin's theory of natural selection and "survival of the fittest" to human society -the poor are poor because they are not as fit to survive -used as an argument against social reforms to help the poor.

Frances Willard

(C) -became leader of the WCTU -worked to educate people about the evils of alcohol -urged laws banning the sale of liquor ; worked to outlaw saloons as step towards strengthening democracy.

Acres of Diamonds

(C) -lecture written by Russell Conwell that advocated Social Darwinism -justified the rich being rich and the poor being poor -called people not to help the poor since it was their fault, thus promoting a laissez faire ideal.

Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

(C/P) -1874 ; advocated for the prohibition of alcohol, using women's supposedly greater purity and morality as a rallying point. -found common cause with activists elsewhere, especially in Britain, and in the 1880s they founded the World Women's Christian Temperance Union - sent missionaries around the world to spread the gospel of temperance.

Blue Laws

(C/P) -regulation that prohibited certain private activities people considered immoral, such as drinking alcohol on Sundays -strict code of morality

Colored Farmers' Alliance

(C/P) -started because they couldn't be a part of the all with southern alliance -more than 1 million southern black farmers organized and shared complaints with poor white farmers -history of racial division in the South, made it hard for white and black farmers to work together in the same org.

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

(E) -1890 ; passed so that the treasury would buy 4.5 million ounces of silver monthly and pay those who mined it in notes that were redeemable in either gold or silver. -doubled the amount of silver that could be purchased under the Bland-Allison Law of 1878.

Benjamin Harrison

(P) -1889 to 1893 ; previously served as a senator from Indiana -administration best known for a series of legislation including the McKinley Tariff and federal spending that reached 1bill $s -Democrats attacked the "Billion Dollar Congress" and defeated the GOP in the 1890 mid-term elections, as well as defeating Harrison's bid for reelection in 1892

Election of 1888

(P) -Cleveland (tariff reduction) vs Republican Benjamin Harrison (protection) -clear economic differences between parties corrupt election: Cleveland wins popular but Harrison wins electoral - passive administration

Bland-Allison Act of 1878

(P) -Coinage Act of 1873 "Crime of '73" embraced gold standard ; silver coinage out of circulation -B-A Act required US treasury to put certain amount of silver coinage into circulation -became law Feb 28, 1878 after overriding Prez Rutherford B Hayes's veto

William Jennings Bryan

(P) -Democratic candidate ran for president most famously in 1896 (and again in 1900). -goal of "free silver" (unlimited coinage of silver) won him the support of the Populist Party. -gifted orator ; lost the election to Republican William McKinley

Election of 1880

(P) -James A. Garfield Republican over Hayes (hated by own party), vs Democrat War Hero Winfield Scott -soon after Garfield was elected he was assassinated by Charles Guiteau -death of Garfield shocked politicians into reforming the spoils system

Election of 1884

(P) -Republican James Blaine (steamy politics) vs Democrat Grover Cleveland (hated corruption) -Samuel Burchand called Democrat Party one of "rum, Romanism, and rebellion" but Blaine too slow to deny --> Democrats accused Blaine of tolerating slander of Catholic Church - Cleveland won -minimal gov't, did not deal with social/economic problems, lower tariffs

Stalwarts

(P) -Republican in the 1870s who supported Ulysses Grant and Roscoe Conkling -accepted machine politics and the spoils system and were challenged by other Republicans called Half-Breeds, who supported civil service reform.

Mugwumps

(P) -Republican political activists who supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884 -switched parties because they rejected the financial corruption associated with Republican candidate, James Blaine. -organized in the 1880s ; group of civil-service reformers - gov officials should be chosen on a merit basis, not for their political connections

Plessy vs Ferguson (1896)

(P) -The U.S. Supreme Court decided that a Louisiana law mandating separate but equal accommodations for blacks and whites on intrastate railroads was constitutional. -decision provided the legal foundation to justify many other actions by state and local governments to socially separate blacks and whites.

Coxey's army

(P) -a protest march by unemployed workers from the United States -led by the populist Jacob Coxey. -marched on Washington D.C. in 1894, the second year of a four-year economic depression that was the worst in United States history to that time

Significance of "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion"

(P) -attacked the Democratic party: rebellion = civil war, romanism = catholicism(anti), rum = drinking -anti immigrant party, an insult made against NY Irish-Americans by a republican clergyman in the 1884 election -Blaine's failure to repudiate this statement lost him NY and contributed to his defeat by Grover Cleveland.

Significance of the 14th Amendment

(P) -big companies and corporations took a look at the Constitution and made the argument that because of the 14th Amendment, their companies should be treated as people.

"Readjusters"

(P) -challenged the Bourbons. -demanded that states revise their debt payment procedures to make more money for state services. -In 1879 the won control of the legislature.

Populism

(P) -farm-based movement of the late 1800s that arose mainly in the area from Texas to the Dakotas and grew into a joint effort between farmer and labor groups against big business and machine-based politics. -became a third party in the election of 1892.

Pendleton Act of 1883

(P) -federal legislation which created a system in which federal employees were chosen on the basis of competitive examinations -making merit, or ability, the reason for hiring people to fill federal positions

Civil Service Commission

(P) -in 1883, the new president, Chester A. Arthur signed the Pendleton Act which created this -includes the most government jobs, except elected positions, the judiciary, and the military. -fill jobs on the basis of value; Jobs went to those with the highest scores of examinations.

Farmers' Alliance of the Northwest and the National (or Southern) Farmers' Alliance

(P) -most powerful and largest organizations were the Farmers' Alliances -understood the need for unity among farmers and pursued similar objectives, the three organizations remained independent of each other. -new movement strove to protect farmers from the capitalistic and industrial powers of monopolies (such as railroads) and unsympathetic public officials. -Northern Alliance sought to enact a more equitable tax system on mortgage property, pass income tax law, abolish free travel passes to public officials, and regulate interstate commerce by Congress.

Halfbreeds

(P) -opposed repub party during this era -Favored tariff reform and social reform, major issues from the Democratic and Republican parties ; not dedicated members of either party. -Between Stalwarts and Mugwumps -less patronage-oriented than the Stalwarts, but not as reform-minded as the Mugwumps.

Grover Cleveland

(P) -served two terms (22nd and 24th) divided by the single term of Benjamin Harrison ; 2nd term began during a long depression. -Democrat -fought corruption, vetoed hundreds of wasteful bills, achieved the Interstate Commerce Commission and civil service reform, violent suppression of strikes

"Cross of Gold" speech

(P/E) -address given by Bryan, the Democratic presidential nominee during the national convention of the Democratic party -criticized the gold standard and supported the coinage of silver. -popular with debt-ridden farmers.