1. Chapter 23 - APUSH Ulysses S. Grant was elected president in 1868.
Great general, bad president
Almost no political experience
Continued “Reconstruction by the Sword”
Election of 1868 – Grant is a Republican and Horatio Seymour is a Democrat.
Seymour denounced military reconstruction. Obviously most white Southerners voted for Seymour.
Republicans “waved the bloody shirt” Grant own 214 to 80.

2. After the Civil War, politics were plagued by corruption
After the Civil War, politics were plagued by corruption. Politicians and judges could easily be bought.
1869 – Jim Fisk and Jay Gould hatched a plot to corner the gold market and drive up prices. They got close to Grant through his brother-in-law. We don’t know how much Grant knew, but his administration was called “The Era of Good Stealings”
Wm. Magear Tweed – “Boss Tweed” – ran Tammany Hall, a Democratic Party political machine in New York City. He ended up stealing more than $200 million from NYC in the form of government contracts. He was eventually brought down by the cartoonist Thomas Nast.

4. Nast’s cartoons brought down Tweed in 1871 and Tweed spent the rest of his life in prison.
The New York Times was offered $5 million to keep quiet – they refused

5. Scandals in Grant’s administration:
1. Credit Mobilier Scandal – CM was a railroad company. They charged $50,000 per mile of track when it really only cost them $30,000. They bribed congressmen to keep quiet, but the scandal was exposed in 1872.
Whiskey Ring – robbed U.S. Treasury of millions in excise tax revenues. Grant’s private secretary was involved and Grant got him out of it.
Republican politicians were able to siphon off millions of dollars in federal taxes on liquor; the scheme involved an extensive network of bribes involving distillers, gaugers, storekeepers and internal revenue agents

6. 3. Secretary of War Belknap - made $24,000 selling the right to sell supplies to the Indians – the House of Representatives voted to impeach him, but Grant accepted his resignation and he didn’t get into any trouble
Election of Liberal Republicans and Democrats joined together and nominated Horace Greely (newspaper publisher) – “Turn the Rascals Out”
Republicans nominated Grant
A very nasty campaign – Grant called Greely an atheist, communist, free-lover and vegetarian
Greely called Grant a drunk and a swindler – Grant won

7. In 1872 Congress granted general amnesty to all but 50 Confederates
In 1872 Congress granted general amnesty to all but 50 Confederates. They also wanted to reduce the high tariff and they wanted civil service reform.
Economic Depression – Panic of 1873:
1. Loans to banks went unpaid – banks failed – Jay Cooke & Co. – major NY bank that failed
2. “cheap money” – people wanted more greenbacks issued – it is easier to repay debts with “cheaper money” – but “hard money” advocates convinced Grant to veto a bill to print more paper money

8. Resumption Act of 1875 – withdraw all greenbacks and return to the gold standard by 1879
Contraction – reduction in greenbacks at the same
time that the government accumulates gold stocks –
this worsened the depression
Bland-Allison Act of 1878 – U.S. Treasury will buy $2-4 million in silver each month

9. Gilded
Age
Politics

10. 1. A Two-Party Stalemate

11. Two-Party “Balance”

12. 2. Intense Voter Loyalty to the Two Major Political Parties
Voter turnout was an incredible 80% due to sharp ethnic and cultural differences in party members

13. 3. Well-Defined Voting Blocs
Democratic Bloc
Republican Bloc
White southerners (preservation of white supremacy)
Catholics
Recent immigrants (esp. Jews)
Urban working poor (pro-labor)
Most farmers
Northern whites (pro-business)
African Americans
Northern Protestants
Old WASPs (support for anti-immigrant laws)
Most of the middle class

14. Republican voters: personal morality, government should play a role in regulating economic and moral affairs – Midwest and rural Northeast - freedmen in the South and Union veterans in the North helped Republicans –
GAR= Grand Army of the Republic
Patronage = spoils system – both parties gave jobs for loyal party service

15. 4. Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt.
From  Govt. did very little domestically.
Main duties of the federal govt.:
Deliver the mail.
Maintain a national military.
Collect taxes & tariffs.
Conduct a foreign policy.
Exception  administer the annual Civil War veterans’ pension.

16. 5. The Presidency as a Symbolic Office Senator Roscoe Conkling
Party bosses ruled.
Presidents should avoid offending any factions within their own party.
The President just doled out federal jobs.
1865  53,000 people worked for the federal govt.
1890  166,000 “ “ “ “ “ “
Senator Roscoe Conkling

17. Election of 1876 – Rep. compromise candidate was Rutherford B
Election of 1876 – Rep. compromise candidate was Rutherford B. Hayes from Ohio
Dems nominated Samuel Tilden who wanted civil service reform
Tilden got 184 of 185 votes needed - votes in 3 southern states were contested – all 3 sent in 2 sets of returns – one Democratic and one Republican
Compromise of 1877 – Electoral Count Act – set up an electoral commission of 15 men selected from the Senate, House and Supreme Court (8 Republicans and 7 Democrats)

18. Here’s the deal:
Democrats agreed to let Hayes be president if:
1. All federal troops leave the South
2. Republicans promised Democrats gov’t jobs
3. Republicans would support internal improvements in the South (railroads, bridges)
Election was only settled 3 days before the inauguration.
The Republican party abandoned civil rights for blacks in the South in return for their guy to be president!

19. Evolution of the Jim Crow South
Disenfranchisement of African Americans
g Grandfather Clause
g Poll Tax
Literacy Test
g Intimidation and Fear

20. “The First Vote”
Harpers Weekly
Magazine

21. Systematic State-Level Legal Codes of Segregation
Jim Crow Laws
Systematic State-Level Legal Codes of Segregation
g Transportation
g Schools
g Libraries
g Drinking Fountains
g Morgues and Funeral Parlors

22. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 – supposedly guaranteed equal accommodations in public places and prohibited racial discrimination in jury selection
But in the Civil Rights Cases (1883), the Supreme Court declared that the 14th Amendment prohibited only government violations of civil rights, no the denial of civil rights by individuals

23. Plessy vs. Ferguson
The Case: Homer Plessy, ___________, was arrested for sitting in the “white car” of a Louisiana train in violation of that state’s “Separate Car Act.” The case was appealed to Supreme Court.
1/8 black

24. Supreme Court Ruling 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson
The Ruling: _________ facilities were lawful as long as they were ____________.
Justice John Harlan, the lone dissenter wrote, “Our Constitution is color-blind.”
SEPARATE
EQUAL
Supreme Court in 1896

25. Plessy v. Ferguson Jim Crow
The Result: Legalized _____________ Segregation until 1954 (Brown v. Board of Education)

26. President Rutherford B. Hayes
Family was very religious – no alcohol in White House – “Lemonade Lucy”
Labor riots – railroad strikes – he had to call out federal troops – Pullman Strike (he is a friend of big business)
Influx of Chinese in California – works on railroads – Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 – almost fully stopped Chinese immigration into the U.S. until 1943

27. 1880 Presidential Election: Republicans
Half Breeds
Stalwarts
Sen. James G. Blaine Sen. Roscoe Conkling (Maine) (New York)
compromise
Wanted:
1. protective tariff 2. civil service reform
Arthur is loyal to Conkling
James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur (VP)

28. 1880 Presidential Election: Democrats
Civil service reform
Tariff for revenue only
Hancock was a Union general – wounded at Gettysburg

29. Garfield won – his friends bugged him for jobs, but he fought w/the Stalwarts
July 2, 1881 he is shot by Charles Guiteau (a Stalwart)
Garfield died on September 19, 1881
Chester Arthur had no qualifications to be President. He wouldn’t give the Stalwarts jobs because he was for civil service reform
Pendleton Act of 1883 – merit system for jobs and it set up the Civil Service Commission. This act drove politicians to big business.

30. 1880 Presidential Election

31. 1881: Garfield Assassinated!
Charles Guiteau: I Am a Stalwart, and Arthur is President now!

32. Pendleton Act (1883) Civil Service Act.
The “Magna Carta” of civil service reform.
1883  14,000 out of 117,000 federal govt. jobs became civil service exam positions.
1900  100,000 out of 200,000 civil service federal govt. jobs.

33. Republican “Mugwumps”
Reformers who wouldn’t re-nominate Chester A. Arthur.
Reform to them  create a disinterested, impartial govt. run by an educated elite like themselves.
Social Darwinists.
Laissez faire government to them:
Favoritism & the spoils system seen as govt. intervention in society.
Their target was political corruption, not social or economic reform!

34. The Mugwumps
Men may come and men may go, but the work of reform shall go on forever.
Will support Cleveland in the 1884 election – even though they are Republicans

35. 1884 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland James Blaine * (DEM) (REP)

36. A Dirty Campaign
Ma, Ma…where’s my pa? He’s going to the White House, ha… ha… ha…!

37. Little Lost Mugwump
Blaine in 1884

38. Rum, Romanism & Rebellion!
Led a delegation of ministers to Blaine in NYC.
Reference to the Democratic Party.
Blaine was slow to repudiate the remark.
Narrow victory for Cleveland [he wins NY by only 1149 votes!].
Dr. Samuel Burchard

39. 1884 Presidential Election

40. Cleveland’s First Term
The “Veto Governor” from New York.
First Democratic elected since 1856.
A public office is a public trust!
His laissez-faire presidency:
Opposed bills to assist the poor as well as the rich.
Vetoed over 200 special pension bills for Civil War veterans! (Mrs. White’s great grandma was 19yrs. old and married a 65 yr old man! They married in 1902 – she got a pension until 1953! SCANDAL!
He wanted to lower the tariff because the U.S. Treasury had a $145 million surplus!

41. The Tariff Issue
After the Civil War, Congress raised tariffs to protect new US industries.
Big business wanted to continue this; consumers did not.
1885  tariffs earned the US $100 mil in surplus!
Mugwumps opposed it  WHY???
President Cleveland’s view on tariffs????
Tariffs became a major issue in the 1888 presidential election.

42. 1888 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison (DEM) * (REP)

43. Coming Out for Harrison

44. 1888 Presidential Election

45. Harrison won 233 to 168 (Republicans accused of buying votes) Cleveland had more popular votes.
Legislation under Cleveland:
Dawes Act – designed to assimilate Indians into American society
Interstate Commerce Act – curb the railroad monopolies – 1887 – early attempt

46. Republican Speaker of the House, Thomas B. Reed
Reed dominated the “Billion-Dollar” Congress – the first in history to appropriate that sum – the Republicans wanted to keep the tariff high, so they had to spend some money!!
Pension Act of 1890 – pensions for all Civil War veterans – must have served at least 90 days and no longer able to do manual labor – helped to secure Republican votes and keep the tariff

47. McKinley Tariff Bill of 1890 – upped the tariff to 48
McKinley Tariff Bill of 1890 – upped the tariff to 48.4% - raised duties on agricultural products, but it didn’t help farmers
In November of 1890 Democrats got a majority of seats in Congress (remember, they hate the _______) Most farmers were Democrats.
tariff
William McKinley
John Sherman

48. Theodore Roosevelt – head of the Civil Service Commission – he is NOT loyal to the Republican bosses at all – he wants to clean up corruption
Sherman Silver Purchase Act – 1890 – Treasury to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver per month
Farmers had immense debts that could not be paid off due to deflation caused by overproduction, and they urged the government to pass the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in order to boost the economy and cause inflation, allowing them to pay their debts with cheaper dollars (it put more money in circulation – cheap money) – it was repealed after the Panic of 1893

49. Election of 1892
Dems. Nominated Grover Cleveland (again!) = remember he got elected in 1884, then lost to Harrison in 1888
Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison for re-election
Populist Party (farmers) nominated General James Weaver – they wanted to join farmers with angry workers (strikes at Homestead and in Idaho) – got 22 electoral votes (best of any 3rd party ever!)
Cleveland won- 22nd and 24th President

50. Causes of the 1893 Panic Begun 10 days after Cleveland took office.
Several major corps. went bankrupt.
Over 16,000 businesses disappeared.
Triggered a stock market crash.
Over-extended investments.
Bank failures followed causing a contraction of credit [nearly 500 banks closed].
By 1895, unemployment reached 3 million.
Americans cried out for relief, but the Govt. continued its laissez faire policies!!

51. Here Lies Prosperity

52. Written by a Farmer at the End of the 19c
When the banker says he's broke And the merchant’s up in smoke, They forget that it's the farmer who feeds them all. It would put them to the test If the farmer took a rest; Then they'd know that it's the farmer feeds them all.

53. Depression of 1893 (lasted 4 years) caused by:
1. Overbuilding and overspeculation
2. Labor disorders
3. Current agricultural depression
4. Gold surplus dropped below $100 million (there was $350 million in paper money in circulation) – 1893 Cleveland repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act

54. The Farmers Alliances
Begun in the late 1880s (Texas first  the Southern Alliance; then in the Midwest  the Northern Alliance).
Built upon the ashes of the Grange.
More political and less social than the Grange.
Ran candidates for office.
Controlled 8 state legislatures & had 47 representatives in Congress during the 1890s.

55. United We Stand, Divided We Fall
In 1889 both the Northern and Southern Alliances merged into one—the Farmers’ Alliance.
The race issue though, will be one of the factors that kills the Populist Party by 1896

56. The Populist (Peoples’) Party
1890 Bi-Election:
So. Alliance  wanted to gain control of the Democratic Party.
No. Alliance  ran 3rd Party candidates.
1892  800 met in St. Louis, MO
majority were Alliance members.
over 100 were African Americans.
reps. of labor organizations & other reformers (Grange, Greenback Party).

57. Omaha Platform of 1892 – Peak of the Populist Party
Populists are farmers who are upset by the economic
instability in the agricultural economy. They are getting
lower prices for their crops, but are having to pay more
for mechanization (steel plows, etc) and for crop storage
and shipment
System of “sub-treasuries” instead of the BUS
Direct election of Senators (this becomes the 17th Amendment)
Govt. ownership of RRs, telephone & telegraph companies.

58. 4. Government-operated postal savings banks.
5. Restriction of undesirable immigration.
6. 8-hour work day for government employees.
7. Abolition of the Pinkerton detective agency.
8. Australian secret ballot.
9. Re-monitization of silver – “free silver”
10. A single term for President & Vice President.

59. Sharecropping in the South ensured that farmers would stay in poverty
Poor little farmer man has to deal with “agribusiness” and rising prices on everything!

60. Labor Problems
1894 – gold reserve is at $41 million – Cleveland sold government bonds in exchange for gold
1895 – J.P. Morgan & friends lent the government $65 million in gold! Crazy! They charged $7 million in interest – people criticized Cleveland for making the deal
1894 Pullman Palace Car Co. – Eugene Debs helped organize the American Railway Union – Pullman cut wages by 1/3, but kept rent and prices in company town the same
Attorney General Olney urged federal troops to put down the strike – Pullman attached a mail car to each rr car

61. Tariff
Dems want a new tariff bill, but the new bill included a 2% income tax on anyone making over $4,000 – they came up with the Wilson-Gorman Tariff bill which lowered tariff from 48.4% to 41.3%
Supreme Court struck down the income tax part of the bill in 1895
Republicans won back control of Congress in 1894