Cities versus Farms America at the end of the 19 th Century

City Culture

Immigration Old v. New Immigration – Old – NW Europe, mostly Protestants, mostly English speaking, literate and skilled – New – S and E Europe, religious diverse, variety of languages, many illiterate and unskilled – Peak of New Immigration Restricting Immigration – Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 – “Undesirable” restrictions; Ellis Island – BUT no Quota Acts until the 1920s

Building New Cities Streetcars Skyscrapers Parks – Frederick Law Olmstead Public Services – Sewage – Street lighting – Public water – Police and Fire Departments

Ethnic Neighborhoods Jacob Riis How the Other Half Lives Dumbbell tenements No building codes Defacto Segregation – North End, 5 Points, China Town, Southie, etc… Start of “white flight”

City Politics Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall

Entertainment in the City – Leisure Time Amusement Parks Vaudeville Professional sports – Baseball, boxing, basketball, football Amateur sports – Bicycling, golf, tennis, athletic clubs

Gilded Age Politics Close elections between Democrats & Republicans Massive party patronage – leading to corruption

Rutherford Hayes Republican Ended Reconstruction – removed troops from the South Temperance reformer “Lemonade Lucy” Pledged to serve only 1 term

James Garfield – Republican Garfield was a “Halfbreed” and his VP Chester Arthus was a “Stalwart” Garfield was overwhelmed with patronage job seekers An angry Stalwart shot Garfield in 1881 – Garfield died 11 weeks later

Chester Arthur Republican Tried to reform civil service

Grover Cleveland Democrat Known as an honest politician Frugal & limited government New civil service system – Pendleton Act of 1881 – Civil Service Commission Money – growing issues Tariffs

Money Issues Should the money supply be expanded? More Money/Soft Money – favored by debtors, farmers, small businesses – Borrow money at lower interest rates – Pay off loans more easily with inflated dollars Less Money/Hard Money – supported by bankers, creditors, investors, & big business, support for the gold standard – Dollars would hold their value against inflation – The value of the dollar would increase

Greenback Party Greenbacks – paper money not backed by specie (gold or silver) Greenback Party – supporters of paper money Goal – increase amount of money in circulation

Gold or Silver? 1870s – Congress stopped coining of silver (Crime of 1873) Bland-Allison Act (1878) – allowed limited coinage of silver (16:1) Supporters of soft money called for UNLIMITED COINAGE OF SILVER

Benjamin Harrison Republican Won election of 1888 with tariff issue – Republicans supported high tariff – Democrats supported lower tariff

Billion-dollar Congress Republican control of the White House and Congress McKinley Tariff of 1890 Increased pensions to Civil War veterans Sherman Antitrust Act Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890

The Populist Party Movement Rose of the Grange and Farmers Alliance movements

Omaha Platform 1892 Direct election of US senators Initiatives and referendums Unlimited coinage of silver Graduated income tax Public ownership of RRs Public ownership of telegraph & telephone system Federal loans for farmers 8-hour work day

Grover Cleveland Reelected in 1892 Panic of 1893 – Stock market crashed – Over speculation – Increased foreclosures (esp. farms) – High unemployment – Last 4 years – GC’s response – laissez-faire and support of the gold standard

Coxey’s Army 1894 March to Washington Thousands of unemployed Led by Populist Jacob Coxey of Ohio Demanded a public works program to create jobs Coxey and others were arrested – the army left Washington

Election of 1896 Democrats – William Jennings Bryan – “Cross of Gold” – Unlimited coinage of silver – Took over many Populist issues Republicans – William McKinley – Conservative politics – Industry – Marcus Hanna – big business political boss

William McKinley Republican Economic recovery Gold standard became official 1900

Why did Populism decline? 1. The economy experienced rapid change. 2. The era of small producers and farmers was fading away. 3. Race divided the Populist Party, especially in the South. 4. The Populists were not able to break existing party loyalties. 5. Most of their agenda was co-opted by the Democratic Party.