Chapter 23: Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age (1869-1896)

Graft and Industry expanded after the Civil War, so newly wealthy businessmen who often exchanged Corruption Spread cash for favors with politicians in the Postwar Years: President Grant Was well-liked for his performance in the Civil War, but was politically inexperienced Was honest and upright and refused to believe that his politician friends were not the same 1861 California chartered the Central Pacific Railroad starting from Sacramento, and 1862 The Credit Congress chartered the Union Pacific Railroad starting from Omaha; the two would meet in Mobilier Scandal the middle to create the nations first transcontinental railroad Because of the importance of the project, the government gave generous subsidies to the railroad companies But some stockholders who controlled the Union Pacific Railroad formed the construction company the Credit Mobilier in order to make a profit by charging much more than what a construction job cost Some congressmen owned stocked in the Credit Mobilier company because the stockholders had bribed them with it to block investigations The Salary Grab and Tax Scandals 1873 Congress voted to raise their salaries 150% and to receive two years of back pay; this salary grab outraged the public, so was quickly repealed 1874 secretary of the Treasury William A. Richardson signed a contract with private citizen John D. Sanborn that gave Sanborn the authority to collect overdue federal taxes and keep half of what he collected Sanborns assistants, or influential politicians who had helped him gain the contract, also received a share But the contract was completely legal at the time, so a new law made it illegal, and Richardson resigned New secretary of the Treasury Benjamin H. Bristow discovered a ring of public officials blackmailing 90% of liquor distillers because they failed to pay revenue taxes on their liquor, so would have to pay a double tax if caught 1876 was exposed that Secretary of War William W. Belknap had accepted bribes from a trader in Fort Sill for the trader to retain trading rights to the area that Belknap would have otherwise given to a friend; despite the evidence, Belknap failed to be impeached, because Senators argued that he was not subject to trial since he had already resigned The Secretary of the Navy sold business to ship builders and suppliers The Secretary of the Interior consorted with land speculators Though President Grant did not participate in the illegal activities, many blamed him for allowing his friends to hide behind his good name Corruption worsened as the localness of the government increased 1868 the owners of the Erie Railroad (Daniel Drew, James Fisk, Jr., and Jay Gould) wanted to sell additional stock, so Gould bribed New York state politicians to legalize the sale 1860s to 70s the dictatorship of uneducated NYC mayor William M. Tweed with democratic organization Tammany Hall: Tweed came to power by being friendly to immigrants and having his followers vote multiple times under different identities

Graft in the Federal Governments

Other Scandals

 Practiced cronyism, demanded kickbacks from those seeking city jobs, demanded bribes from companies that wanted to provide city services, overcharged for construction projects Reasons for Corruption Was a continuation of war practices, in which cost was secondary to national survival, so things had to get done quickly Rapid growth of large-scale industry, so the owners were more impersonal, so was easier for them to get away with dishonesty

Late 1860s and early 1870s, political cartoonist Thomas Nast of Harpers Weekly lampooned A Start is Made politicians abuses Toward Restoring Strong demand for the spoils system (established by Andrew Jackson, in which government Honesty to jobs were given to political favorites) to a merit-based system in which those who scored the Government: highest in examinations would get the civil service jobs Growth of the Reform Movement 1871 in response to popular demand, Congress set up a Civil Service Commission to study the problem and propose solutions, but did not have President Grants support, so 1875 was discontinued 1872 the Democrats and the reform-minded Liberal Republicans nominated newspaper editor Horace Greeley as their presidential candidate against Republican candidate Grant in the election of 1872, but Grant won easily The Liberal Republicans wanted to fight political corruption and enact civil service reform The reform movement lost power after the defeat in 1872, but regained strength with new public scandals and 1874 the Democrats winning of the majority of the House The confident Democrats nominated NY Governor Samuel J. Tilden, famous for breaking up the Tweed ring, and demanded civil service reform and an end to public graft The Republicans nominated OH Governor Rutherford B. Hayes who promised civil service reform and the end of the troubled reconstruction period Both Tilden and Hayes were wealthy and had associations with industrialists and businesses, but Hayes was also associated with scandal The messed up election: Tilden had a majority electoral vote, but missed the required electoral majority by 1 vote Normally, the House would settle the matter, but four states had messed up their vote counts, so that the 20 electoral vote from those states were being claimed by both candidates Tilden needed one of the twenty votes to win; Hayes needed all twenty The one vote from Oregon was given to Hayes, but the other 19 remained unsettled The Constitution said that the votes had to be recounted So Congress formed an Electoral Commission of 5 Senators, 5 Representatives, and 5 Supreme Court Justices Originally, was to have 7 Democrats, 7 Republicans, and one independent, but independent Justice Davis Davis resigned and was replaced by a Republican So the Commission, being mostly Republican, recounted the votes and swung the presidency to Hayes Was an example of successful compromise and process of orderly government

The Election of 1876

Settling the Dispute

 Difficulties for Hayes

Hayes' presidency was difficult The Democrats controlled the House and, for the later two years, the Senate as well The election of 1876 split the Republican party in to the Stalwarts, AKA the Old Guard who opposed Hayes and reform, and the Half-Breeds, who under James G. Blaine and John Sherman supported Hayes and reform To end reconstruction, Hayes named a former Confederate leader to his Cabinet and removed the last troops from the South Now, Southern Democrats allied with the Northern Democrats against the Radical Republicans

Hayes' Battle for Was the first president to seriously try to reform the civil service Reform Refused to follow the patronage precedent Investigated those who Congress recommended for jobs, ex. fired prominent Republican NY Collector of Customs Chester A. Arthur for his questionable political activities Hayes Cabinet member Republican Carl Schurz introduced the merit system The Election of 1880 Early on, Hayes announced that he would not seek reelection, so the Stalwarts tried to nominate Grant, but the Half-Breeds blocked them and nominated General James A. Garfield with Stalwart Chester A. Arthur as VP The Democrats nominated General Winfield S. Hancock Neither party addressed the problems of the new industrial age, ex. labor legislation, regulation of railroads and big business, money, and income tax; instead, the GreenbackLabor party would address them Garfield won the election by a wide electoral margin but a close popular one July 2, 1881 Garfield was shot by a Stalwart government job seeker and would die in September The assassination shocked the public into awareness of the corruption of the spoils system Stalwart VP Arthur became president So 1883 the Pendleton Act: Set up a commission to test those seeking government jobs Started out covering 12% of government jobs, but the President could and did broaden the list Forbade the party in power from asking for campaign donations from federal officeholders Was supported by Arthur Was a big step towards more honest and efficient government Arthur wanted to run for president, but the Stalwarts had lost faith in him because he supported the Pendleton Act, so instead Half-Breed leader James G. Blaine was nominated, but had many political enemies who accused him of serving special interests The Mugwumps were Republicans who were dissatisfied with Blaines nomination so supported the Democrats The Democrats nominated NY Governor Grover Cleveland, known to be virtuous and stubborn The campaigns focused on mudslinging and not on pressing issues Blaine and Cleveland were neck and neck until, on the eve of the election, a Protestant speaker called the Democrats the party of um , Romanism [Catholicism], and Rebellion [alliance between the Northern and Solid Southern Democrats]

Civil Service Reform

The Election of 1884

 So Cleveland won the election, becoming the first Democrat to gain the presidency in 28 years; memories of the Civil War were fading Efforts at Political Reform Move Forward: Cleveland took a firm stand on important issues despite losing support from his own party Cleveland's Firm because believed that a public office is a public trust Stand Reformed civil service by doubling the number of federal jobs on the classified list Recovered much public land illegally held by railroads, lumber companies, and cattle ranchers 1887 created a federal Division of Forestry Blocked fraudulent pension grabs by Union army veterans, so angered the veterans organization the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Important Laws 1886 the Presidential Succession Act said that if both the President and VP died, the Cabinet members would succeed them in the order in which their offices were created 1887 the Electoral Count Act said that if a state sent in more than one set of electoral returns, Congress would accept the returns approved by the states governor in order to prevent a repeat of the election of 1876 1887 the Interstate Commerce Act responded to small businesses and farmers complaints against the unfair business practices of the railroads But Congress refused to lower the tariff, as Cleveland recommended Cleveland lost support because of his reform activities and desire for lower tariffs Cleveland ran for a second term and won the popular vote, but lost the electoral vote to Republican Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison, grandson of former president William Henry Harrison, was a weak president because believed that his job was to follow the wishes of Congress, who followed the wishes of the people Harrison reversed many of Clevelands policies: Replaced most Democratic officeholders with Republicans Doubled the numbers of pensioners and their dependents 1890 the McKinley Tariff made the highest protective tariff ever The Republicans also passed laws to appeal to farmers, laborers, miners, small businesses, and the public in general: 1890 the Sherman Silver Purchase Act to increase the amount of money in circulation 1890 the Sherman Antitrust Act protected the public from abuses of free enterprise, ex. monopolies, that had followed the growth of industry Despite the 1890 acts, the public grew more dissatisfied with the Republican administration; blamed rising prices on the McKinley Tariff, and farmers joined labor organizations Many Americans, esp. small business owners, wage earners, and western farmers, were concerned about the wide income gap between the few wealthy and the many poor 1879 Henry George's Progress and Poverty argued that the gap was caused by control of the nation's natural resources by the few, and proposed a new system of taxing land 1894 Henry Demarest Lloyd's Wealth Against Commonwealth said the gap was caused by the new giant corporations and business enterprises

The Election of 1888 Cleveland's Policies Reversed

Growing Dissatisfaction

 The Election of 1892

Both the Republicans and Democrats supported reform 1891 farmers created the Populist Party, which by election time had become surprisingly powerful Despite widespread criticism, the Republicans nominated Harrison to run for a second term The Democrats nominated Cleveland because was a known supporter of reform Cleveland won the election, and the Democrats also gained control of Congress Despite its youth, the Populist Party had remarkable support 1893 the Wilson-Gorman Bill was introduced in the House that was intended to lower the tariff But over 600 amendments were added to it, often because of pressure from lobbies such as the American Sugar Refining Company (AKA the sugar trust), to raise tariffs on particular products Though the average tariff was lower, it was still a high tariff, so Cleveland refused to sign, but it went into law anyway The Democrats lost the support of many Americans because Cleveland had failed to lower the tariff as promised

The WilsonGorman Tariff

Decision Against The original Wilson-Gorman Bill would have sharply lowered the tariff, so would be a loss in government revenue an Income Tax So the House added a clause providing for a 2% income tax on incomes of more than $4,000 Despite violent debate, was passed, but 1895 the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional because it was a direct tax not apportioned among the states by population Many Americans saw the Supreme Court's decision as evidence for the government's favor for big business Financial Panic May 5, 1893 a financial panic began on Wall Street and spread to the rest of the country; would be one of the worst in American history Caused failed businesses, closed factories, 4 million unemployed, extremely low prices on produce

Culture: The Birth of Jim Reconstruction ended with white Democrat Redeemers retaking power in the Solid South Crow in the Post- and quickly suppressing the blacks Blacks were forced into sharecropping and tenant farming, often under their former masters, Reconstruction and through the crop-lien system were kept in perpetual debt South The Jim Crow laws officialized the informal separation of blacks and whites that began immediately after the war ended To keep blacks from voting, literacy tests, voter-registration laws, and poll taxes were enacted 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson ruled that separate but equal facilities for blacks were constitutional because of the equal protection of the 14th Amendment But the separate facilities, ex. schools, rail cars, theatres, and bathrooms, were grossly inferior to those of the whites Southern Whites used harsh means, ex. lynching, to maintain the new order Class Conflicts and Ethnic Clashes 1877 the four largest railroads jointly decided to lower their employees' wages by 10%, so mass strikes of railroad workers and other working-class, but were put down by federal troops sent by Hayes The labor movement was weakened by racial and ethnic disunity, esp. between the Irish and

Chinese in CA Chinese immigrants: By 1880, made up 9% of CA's population Most were poor, uneducated, single males come to dig for gold or lay railroad track After the gold supply dwindled and the tracks were laid, as much as half of them returned to China Those who remained had to work menial jobs and had few women and, unlike other immigrant communities, few children to help them assimilate In San Francisco, the Irish Kearneyites under Denis Kearney terrorized the Chinese because saw them as competitors for jobs 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act that prohibited all further immigration from China; would stay in effect until 1943 1898 Supreme Court case U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark ruled that the 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship to America-born Chinese because citizenship was based on birthright (jus soli), not parents' nationality (jus sanguinis) Makers of America: The Chinese 1565 the first Chinese had arrived in Spanish America, but the vast majority came over after the 1848 discovery of gold in CA Meanwhile in China, the Chinese Empire was falling apart, landlords seized control of nearly all farmland, and European imperial powers forced their way in So 1840 to 1900, 2 million Chinese left for ex. Southeast Asia, Peru, Hawaii, and Cuba, with more than 300,000 of them entering America Most of them were unskilled country males, with some merchants and artisans Some families pooled their money to pay for a son's passage, but most travelers received advance fare from Chinese middlemen in exchange for promising to work off the debt in America (pig selling) Few Chinese women of good repute were to be found, and many had been deceived into coming over by the false promise of honest jobs Chinatowns sprang up in cities, where Chinese could speak their own language, enjoy the fellowship of their countrymen, and find safety from prejudice and violence Established many immigrant clubs, adapting the Chinese tradition of loyalty to clan or region Tongs (meeting halls) were secret organizations that earned a sinister reputation for being composed of the poorest and shadiest of the Chinese immigrants

The Drumbeat of 1892 the People's Party (AKA the Populists) was founded by Western and Southern farmers Discontent and wanted inflation through unlimited coinage of silver, graduated income tax, government ownership of railroads, telegraph, and telephone, direct election of U.S. Senators, a one-term limit on the presidency, more direct involvement of citizens in legislature, and immigration restriction The Populists nominated General James B. Weaver for their presidential candidate Summer of 1892, an epidemic of strikes, ex. at Andrew Carnegie's steel plant at Homestead and at the silver mines in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; both were put down violently In the presidential election of 1892, the Populists made a surprisingly large showing, garnering 22 electoral votes from six mid-Western and Western states Blacks and the election of 1892: Southern black farmers organized the Colored Farmers' National Alliance and shared many complaints with the poor white farmers The Populists, ex. Tom Watson, reached out to the black community for their votes The white Southerners were unwilling to support the Populists because of their alliance

with the blacks Reminded of blacks' potential political power, the Southern whites oppressed them further: Increased use of poll taxes and literacy tests Introduced the grandfather clause that exempted from the poll tax and literacy test those whose ancestor(s) had voted in 1860 Introduced the Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in public places and that were enforced by violence, ex. lynching Ironically, the Populists would become racist, advocating black disfranchisement