History 2710 Quiz #19

Mugwumps

A group of renegade Republicans who supported 1884 Democratic presidential nominee Grover Cleveland instead of their party's nominee, James G. Blaine.

Tenements

Urban apartment buildings that served as housing for poor factory workers. Often poorly constructed and overcrowded.

Gilded Age

1870s - 1890s; time period looked good on the outside, despite the corrupt politics & growing gap between the rich & poor

Pendleton Act

1883 law that created a Civil Service Commission and stated that federal employees could not be required to contribute to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons

Dependent Pension Act

1890 passed in Congress and signed by President Harrison. It was the same bill that Cleveland had vetoed, allowing veterans dependent on manual labor and unable to work, whether or not the reason was connected to military service, to collect pensions. Pension rolls doubled between 18890 and 1893 causing the treasury to start draining

McKinley Tariff

1890 tariff that raised protective tariff levels by nearly 50%, making them the highest tariffs on imports in the United States history

Chinese Exclusion Act

(1882) Denied any additional Chinese laborers to enter the country while allowing students and merchants to immigrate.

The Impact of Darwinism

- Widespread acceptance of the theory of evolution by English naturalist Charles Darwin; human species evolved from earlier forms of life (apes), through process of nautral selection - Challenged biblical story of creation and religious faith - History was not a divine plan, but a random process dominated by the fiercest or luckiest of competitors - Met resistance by educators and scientists but now most believed; rise of darwinism created schism bt new cosmopolitan culture of city (receptive to new ideas) and traditional culture located in rural areas which remained w more fundamentalist religious beliefs and older values

The Granger Movement

A farmers' organization and movement that started as a social/educational association; the Grange later organized politically to pass a series of laws to regulate railroads in various states.

Panic of 1893

A serious economic depression triggered over-speculation in the railroad industry and a run on the gold supply. *Historical Significance:* Led to *Coxey's Army* and a wave of strikes including the *Pullman Strike*.

Reform Darwinism

A social philosophy that challenged the ruthlessness of Social Darwinism by asserting that humans could actively shape the process of evolutionary social development through cooperation and innovation.

Pullman Strike (1894)

A staged walkout strike by railroad workers upset by drastic wage cuts. The strike was led by socialist Eugene Debs but not supported by the American Federation of Labor. Eventually President Grover Cleveland intervened because it was interfering with mail delivery and federal troops forced an end to the strike. The strike highlighted both divisions within labor and the government's continuing willingness to use armed force to combat work stoppages.

The New Immigration

America's roaring prosperity and promise of political and religious freedom attracted waves of immigrants from every part of the globe after the Civil War. By 1900, nearly 30 percent of the residents of major cities were foreign-born.

America's Move to Town

Americans moved to towns and cities after the Civil War, many of which evolved into major metropolitan areas. People from rural areas were attracted by the jobs and excitements of city life. Many had been pushed off the land by new agricultural machinery that sharply reduced the need for farm-workers. Four farm-workers could now perform the labor that earlier had required fourteen. Immigrants especially congregated in the cities along the Atlantic and Pacific coast where they arrived on ships from Europe or Asia. While the Far West had the greatest proportion of urban dwellers concentrated in cities like San Fran and Denver, the Northeast and Midwest held far more people in huge cities. NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and others. More and more of these cities had little or no money, and nothing but labor to sell.

Saloons

Bars or taverns where mostly men would gather to drink, eat, relax, play games, and, often, to discuss politics. These were workingman's social clubs and were especially popular among male immigrants seeking companionship in a strange land. In cities such as New York, Boston, Philly, and Chicago, the customers were often Irish, German, and Italian Catholics.

Realism in Literature and Art

Before the Civil War, Romanticism had dominated American literature and painting. Romantics such as the transcendentalists in New England believed that fundamental truths rested in the unseen world of ideas and spirit. The most prominent writers were more concerned with romantic or biblical themes than with depicting everyday life. During the second half of the nineteenth century, a new generation calling themselves "realists" that began to challenge the Romantic tradition. The emphasis on realism matured into a full-fledged cultural force, as more and more writers and artists focused on depicting the actual aspects of urban-industrial America: scientific research and technology, factories and railroads, cities and immigrants, labor unions and social tensions. After the Civil War there was a more realistic view on life.

Hayes to Harrison

Both Republicans and Democrats had their share of officials willing to buy and sell government jobs or legislative votes. Yet as early as the 1870s, in response to the corruption uncovered in the Grant admin, each party developed factions promoting honesty in government. The struggle for "clean" government became one of the foremost issues of the Gilded Age.

Silverites versus Goldbugs

Cleveland's decision to repeal the Silver Act created an irreparable division in his party. One pro-silver Democrat labeled the president a traitor. Politicians from western states with large silver mines increased their demands for unlimited coinage of silver, presenting a strategic dilemma for Populists: should the party promote the long list of reforms it had originally advocated, or should it try to ride the silver issue into power?

The Campaign of 1884

Chester Arthur's efforts to clean up the spoils system might have attracted voters, but they did not please Republican leaders. So in 1884 the Republicans dumped the ailing Arthur and chose their nominee James Gillespie Blaine of Maine. The handsome, colorful secretary of state, former senator, and longtime leader of the Half-Breeds. Blaine secretly sold his votes on measures favorable to a railroad corporation. During the presidential campaign, more embarrassing letters surfaced linking Blaine to shady deal making. This was too much and many independent-minded Republicans refused to endorse Blaine's candidacy.

The Election of 1892

Cleveland v. Harrison, in which Cleveland won. The former was anti-protectionist tariffs, while the latter supported them. The people's party ran with Weaver, and showed their worth in this election. They did not win the presidency, but won several seats in both the house and the senate.

Civil Service Reform

Congress took action in the late 19th century to protect ethical politicians and create standards for political service; including, a civil service test for those seeking a job in government.

William Jennings Bryan

Democratic candidate for president in 1896 under the banner of "free silver coinage" which won him support of the Populist Party.

Cleveland's Reform Efforts

During his first few months in office, Cleveland struggled to keep Democratic leaders from reviving the self-serving patronage system. Cleveland was an old-style Democrat who believed in minimal government activity. During his first term, he vetoed over 400 acts of Congress, more than twice as many as all previous presidents combined.

Urban America

During the late nineteenth century, the US became a nation dominated by rapidly growing cities. Between 1865 and 1900, the urban population skyrocketed from 8 million to 30 million. In 1865, fewer than twenty cities had populations of more than 50,000; by 1900, there were four times that many. Million of European and Asian immigrants, as well as migrants from America's rural areas, streamed into cities, attracted by the plentiful jobs and excitements they offered. "We cannot all live in cities," cautioned Horace Greely, the NY newspaper editor and Democratic presidential candidate in 1872, "yet nearly all seem determined to do so" The growth of cities brought an array of problems, among them widespread poverty, unsanitary living conditions, and new forms of political corruption. How to feed, shelter, and educate was hard as neighborhoods divided by racial and ethnic background as well as social class.

Tariff Reform

Effort led by the Democratic party to reduce taxes on imported goods, which Republicans argued were needed to protect American industries from foreign competition.

Stalwarts and Half-Breeds

Factions in the Republican party that emerged by 1880; the Stalwarts, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, supported the spoils system, while the Half-Breeds claimed to represent the idea of civil service reform.

Sherman Anti-Trust

First federal action against monopolies, it was signed into law by Harrison and was extensively used by Theodore Roosevelt for trust-busting. However, it was initially misused against labor unions

Railroad Regulation

For all of his commitment to limited government intervention, Cleveland urged Congress to adopt an important new policy: federal regulation of the rates charged by interstate railroads to ship goods, crops, or livestock. He believed that railroads were charging unfairly high freight rates. States had adopted laws regulating railroads since the late 1860s, but in 1886 the Supreme Court declared in Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railroad Company v. Illinois that no state could regulate the rates charged by railroads engaged in interstate traffic. Because most railroads crossed state lines, Cleveland urged Congress to close the loophole.

Interstate Commerce Commission

Former independent agency of the U.S. government, established in 1887; it was charged with regulating the economics and services of specified carriers engaged in transportation between states. Surface transportation under the it's jurisdiction included railroads, trucking companies, bus lines, freight forwarders, water carriers, oil pipelines, transportation brokers, and express agencies. After his election in 1904, Theodore Roosevelt demonstrated support of progressive reforms by strengthening this.

Patronage

Granting favors or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support

Republican Activism Under Harrison

Harrison owed a heavy debt to Civil War veterans, whose votes had been critical to his election, and he paid it by signing the Dependent Pension Act. The Republicans took advantage of their control of Congress to pass a cluster of significant legislation in 1890;

A Surge of Newcomers From Europe

Immigration has always been one of the most powerful forces shaping American history. This was especially true between 1860 and 1900, as more and more immigrants, most of them poor, arrived from eastern and southern Europe. The number of immigrants rose from just under 3 million annually in the 1870s to more than 5 million per year in the 1880s. In 1890, four out of five New Yorkers were foreign-born. Rapidly growing industries seeking low-wage workers, including mines, railroads, mills, and factories, sent recruiting agents abroad to stir up interest in migration to the US. The so called "old immigrants" who came before 1880 were mainly Protestants and Roman Catholics from northern and western Europe. New Immigrants came from Southern and eastern Europe, especially Russia, Poland, Greece, and Italy. They made up a majority of the newcomers, and by the first decade of the new century, they formed 70 percent.

Farmers' Alliance

In 1873 the Grangers founded this. Their goals promote social gatherings/education opportunities, organize against abuse, form cooperative/women played a significant role, and wanted political pressure. This later led to the founding of the populist party. They wouldn't intergrate not only because of racism but also because black farmers were tenants and sharecroppers rather than landowners.

Repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, 1893

In 1893 President Grover Cleveland, who stood for the gold standard, succeeded in having the Sherman Silver Purchase Act repealed over the strong objections of William Jennings Bryan. However, little gold was in the treasury; thus, the panic of 1893 could not be avoided and the crisis remained until 1896.

A Presidency Cut Short

In his inaugural address, Garfield gave an impassioned defense of civil rights, arguing that "the elevation of the negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship is the most important political change we have known since the adoption of the Constitution of 1787." In the continuing feud between the Half-Breed and Stalwart factions of the Republican party, Garfield chose the Half-Breeds. He appointed James G. Blaine as secretary of state over the objection of Grant. Garfield would have no time to prove himself as president. On July 2, 1881, after only four months in office, he was walking through the Washington D.C., he was shot in the arm and back by Charles Guiteau, a former Republican who had been turned down for a federal job. On Sept. 19th, after 79 days, Garfield died of complications resulting from inept medical care. During a sensational ten-week trial Guiteau said that God had ordered him to kill the president. But he was found guilty.

Political Stalemate

In the 1880s and 1890s, neither party had control. The presidency shifted. Republicans usually had the senate and Democrats the House. Both parties worked hard to get out the vote. Bosses ordered men how to vote in saloons and clubs, and businesses and farms shut down on election day. Turnout was very high (about 80 percent), which spoke to party discipline. However, this 80% represented a small amount of people as their was no universal suffrage. The South restricted the black vote. Most states were reliably for one party. There were six swing states including NY, OH, PA, IL.

Money Question

Late-nineteenth-century national debate over the nature of U.S. currency; supporters of a fixed gold standard were generally money lenders, and thus preferred to keep the value of money high, while supporters of silver (and gold) coinage were debtors, they owed money, so they wanted to keep the value of money low by increasing the currency supply (inflation).

Grand Old Party (GOP)

Longstanding nickname for the Republican Party; ironically, bestowed early in the party's history, in the 1870's

The Nativist Response

Many native-born Americans saw the newest immigrants as a threat to their jobs and way of life. Many nativists were racists who believed that "Anglo-Saxon" Americans, people of British or Germanic background, were superior to the Slavic, Italian, Greek, and Jewish newcomers. By 1880, some 75,000 Chinese fromed about a ninth of the population of California. They were the first non-European and non-African group to migrate in large numbers to America. Chinese immigrants were easy targets for discrimination. They were not white, not Christian, and many could not read or write.

Leisure For Women

Married working-class women had even less leisure time than working-class men. Many were working for pay themselves, and even those who were not were frequently overwhelmed by housework and child-rearing responsibilities. Single women, many of whom worked as domestic servants "maids" and had more leisure time than working mothers, flocked to dance halls, theaters, amusement parks, and picnic grounds. Movie theaters became the most popular form of entertainment for working women.

Farmers and the Money Problem

More than tariffs, trusts, and efforts, to clean up political corruption, national politics during the Gilded Age was preoccupied with monetary issues. The nation's money supply had not grown along with the expanding economy. Such currency deflation raised the cost of borrowing money as the shrinking money supply enabled lenders to hike interest rates on loans. Farmers in the Midwest, Great Plains, and South, and miners in the West, demanded more paper money and the increased coinage of silver, which would inflate the currency supply, raise commodity prices and provide them with more income. In 1876, several farm organizations across the nation had organized the independent "Greenback" party to promote the benefits of paper money over gold and silver coins; Breenbackers won fifteen seats in Congress in 1878, illustrating the significance of currency issues to voters. Although the Greenback party died out, the demands for increasing the money supply survived. All six-western states admitted to the Union in 1889 and 1890 had substantial silver mines, and their new congressional delegation, largely Republican, wanted the federal government to buy more silver for minting as coins.

Nativists

People who wanted to preserve the country for white, American-born Protestants

Local Politics and Party Loyalties

Perhaps the most important feature of Gilded Age politics was its local focus. Most political activity occurred at the state and local levels. Unlike today, the federal government was an insignificant force in the daily lives of most citizens, in part because it was so small. Americans during this age were intensely loyal to their political party. Party members paid dues to join and party leaders regularly demanded large campaign contributions from the captains of industry and finance.

Political Culture

Political life during the Gilded Age was shaped by three main factors: The balance of power between Democrats and Republicans The high level of public participation in everyday politics. The often corrupt alliance between business and political leaders at all leaders of government. Job Stevenson said "Members of the House of Representatives were so often selling their votes to Big Business lobbyists that it should have been renamed an auction room. The most important political issue of the Gilded Age, however, was the growing conflicts between city and country, industry and agriculture. Million of financially distressed farmers felt ignored or betrayed by the political process. By the 1890s, discontented farmers would channel their frustrations into political action and enliven a growing movement to expand ("inflate") the nation's money supply as a way to relieve economic distress.

Tariff Reform and the Election of 1888

President Cleveland's most dramatic challenge to Big Business focused on tariff reform. During the late nineteenth century, the government's high tariff policies, shaped largely by the Republican party, had favored American manufacturers by effectively shutting out foreign imports, thereby enabling U.S. corporations to dominate the marketplace and charge higher prices for their products.

Hayes and Civil Service Reform

President Rutherford B. Hayes brought to the White House in 1877 both a lingering controversy over over the disputed election results. Hayes appointed a Democrat as postmaster general in an effort to clean up an office infamous for trading jobs for political favors.

Gilded Age Politics

Pro-business, minimal interference in regional issues, weak federal government, machine politics, weak presidents, weak bills. More political corruption than political innovation. The real movers and shakers were the owners of giant corporations. They would buy elections and favors from all levels of governments.

The Election of 1896

Republican William McKinley defeated Democratic-Populist "Popocrat" William Jennings Bryan. 1st election in 24 years than Republicans won a majority of the popular vote. McKinley won promoting the gold standard, pluralism, and industrial growth.

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

Required the government to purchase an additional 4.5 million ounces of silver bullion each month for use as currency.

Growth in All Directions

Several Advances in technology helped city buildings handle the surging populations. In the 1870s, heating innovations, such as steam radiatiors, enabled the construction of much larger apartment buildings, since coal-burning fireplaces were expensive and were no longer needed to be installed in each apartment. In 1889, the first electric elevator was installed. There were skyscrapers in the 1880s Cities grew out as well, as horse drawn streetcars and commuter railways let people live farther away from their downtown workplaces. In 1873 San Francisco became the first city to use cable cars. Some cities ran steam-powered trains on elevated tracks 1890s electric trolleys were preferred Underground subways were built Commuter trains and trolley allowed a growing middle class to retreat from down tow. To the Suburbs. As their population grew, cities became dangerously congested and plagued with fires, violent crimes, and disease.

National Politics

Several factors gave national politics during the Gilded Age its distinctive texture. First was the close division between Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Most voters cast their ballots for the same party year after year. Party loyalty was often an emotional choice. Party loyalties reflected religious, ethnic, and geographic division. The Democrats were a more diverse coalition of conservative southern whites, northern Catholics of German or Irish Catholic backgrounds, and others repelled by the Republicans' claim to be the "party of morality".

People's Party (Populists)

Started as Farmer's Alliance, farmers came together and became organized, translated into Populists. Wanted to unite farmers of south/west/poor blacks and whites and industrial/factory workers

Agricultural Unrest

The 1890 congressional elections revealed a deep-seated unrest in the farming communities of the South on the plains of Kansas and Nebraska, and in the mining towns of the Rocky Mountain region. Over the previous 20 years, corn prices had fallen by a thrid, wheat by more than half, cotton by 2/3. The drastic decline in prices was caused by overproduction and growing international competition in world food markets. The vast new lands brought under cultivation in the plains as a result of the extension of rail lines and the use of new farm machinery poured an ever-increasing supply of grains into the world markets driving prices down.

New Third Parties

The Alliances called for third-party political action to address their concerns. in 1890 farm activist in Colorado joined with miners and railroad wokers to form the Independent party, and Nebraska farmers formed the People's Independent Party. In the South, the Alliance movement forced Democrats to nominate cnandidates who supported its farm program and succeeded in electing four of them as governors, forty-four as congressmen, and several as US senators, as well as seven pro-Alliance state legislatures. Among the most respected of the sotuhern Alliance leaders was Thomas E. Watson, a lawyer from Georgia. The son of prosperous slaveholders who had lost everything after the war.

Social Darwinism

The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion.

Crowds, Dirt, Disease

The wonders of big cities, electric lights, streetcars, telephones, department stores, theaters, and many others attractions were magnetic lures for rural youth bored by the routines of isolated farm life. Thousands moved to the cities in search of economic opportunity and personal freedom. Yet with 2.3 million people, 2/3 of the city's population were living in overcrowded, often filthy tenement housing. These cities had poor hosing, unhealthy living conditions, and frequent infectious diseases and fires. Tenement buildings were usually 6-8 stories tall, lacked elevators, and were jammed so tightly together that most apartments had little or not natural light or fresh air. They typically housed twenty-four to thirty-two families, usually with lots of children. On average there was only one toilet. The child-mortality rate was as high as 40% Streets were filled with contaminated water, horse urine and manure, and roaming pigs. Garbage and raw sewage were dumped into streets and waterways, causing epidemics of infectious diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, and yellow fever. In one poor Chicago district at the end of the century, 3 of every 5 babies died before their first birthday. So called sanitary reformers, eventually created regulations requiring more space per resident as well as more windows and plumbing facilities. They also lobbied for new water and sewage systems and for regular trash collection. Also lobbied to ban slaughterhouse and raising hogs and cattle within city limits. Horse-drawn street cars were replaced with electric-powered streetcars or trolleys.

Populist Party

U.S. political party formed in 1892 representing mainly farmers, favoring free coinage of silver and government control of railroads and other monopolies

The Depression of 1893 and the "Free Silver" Crusade

While farmers were funneling their discontent into politics, a fundamental weakness in the economy was about to cause a major collapse and a social rebellion. Just ten days before Grover Clevelan was inaugruated in the winter of 1893, the Philadelphia and reading Railroad declared bankruptcy, setting off a national financial crisis, now called the Panic of 1893. It grew into the worst depression the nation had ever experienced Other railroads collapsed, taking many banks with htem. European withdrew their investments from America A quarter of unskilled urban workers lost their jobs Farm foreclosures soared in the South and West By 1900 a third of all American farmers rented their land rather than owning. By 1894 that nation's economy had reached bottom But the depression laster another four years, with unemployment hovering at 20 percent.' Cleveland's response was consrvative: Congress to return the nation's money supply to a gold standard by repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, a move that made the depression worse. The weak economy needed more money in cirulation rather than less.

Garfield, Arthur, and the Pendleton Act

With Hayes choosing not to pursue a second term, the Republican presidential nomination in 1880 was up for grabs. Former President Grant wanted a nomination. Garfield had been a minister, a lawyer, and a college president before serving in the Civil War as a Union army general. In an effort to please the Stalwarts and also win the crucial swing state of New York, the Republicans named Chester A. Arthur, whom Hayes had fired as head of the NY Customs House as their candidate for vice president.

Coxey's Army

a protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by the populist Jacob Coxey. They 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

Mary Elizabeth Lease

became well known during the early 1890's for her actions as a speaker for the populist party. She was a tall, strong woman who made numerous and memorable speeches on behalf of the downtrodden farmer. She denounced the money-grubbing government and encouraged farmers to speak their discontent with the economic situation.

Civil Service Commission

government agency created by the Pendleton Act of 1883 to fill federal jobs on the basis of merit In their grief over Garfield's death, Americans blamed Roscoe Conkling and the Stalwart Republicans. Not many people believed in much from the new president, Chester A. Arthur, who had been Roscoe Conkling's trusted lieutenant. Yet Arthur distanced himself from Conkling and the Stalwarts. Very little is know about President Arthur. Just before he died, he had all his official papers and correspondence burned. Why he did so remains a mystery. The Pendleton Act was a limited first step in cleaning up the patronage process. It was sorely needed, in part because the federal government was expanding rapidly.

New Immigrants

immigrants who had come to the US after the 1880s from southern and eastern Europe, especially Russia, Poland, Greece, and Italy. Their languages and cultural backgrounds were markedly different from those of most old immigrants or of most native-born Americans. The dominant religions of the new immigrants, for example, were Judaism, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholicism, whereas Protestants still formed a large majority of the total US population. Immigrants were usually poor and needed to find jobs, quickly. Many were greeted at the docks by family and friends, others were met by representatives of immigrant-aid societies or by company agents offering low-paying and often dangerous jobs in mines, mills, sweatshops, and on railroads. As strangers in America, most immigrants naturally wanted to live in neighborhoods populated by people from their homeland. The largest cities had vibrant immigrant districts with names such as Little Italy, Little Hungary, and Chinatown.

Cultural Life

new colonial population had grown and matured to the point that the arts and other aspects of living began to flourish

Party Bosses

party leaders, usually in an urban district, who exercised tight control over electioneering and patronage

Thomas E. Watson

ran for vp on Populist Party ticket, in later life he became a racist