| The Gilded Age, 1877-1900: Growth of Big Business
19. Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881, Republican; VP - Wheeler • Compromise of 1877 over the disputed Hayes-Tilden 1876 election—officially ends Reconstruction; remaining troops withdrawn from the South • Gilded Age Presidents are generally “Laissez-faire” in a pro-business, anti-labor kind of way • Munn v. Illinois 1876 (allows state “Granger Laws” regulating RR rates—private property, if used for the public good can be regulated—will be overruled in Wabash case) • Bland-Allison Act, 1878 (some coinage of silver at 16:1) • Railroad Strike of 1877—Hayes calls in federal troops, they shoot at rioting/striking workers—killing 70 20. James A Garfield, 1881, Republican; VP - Chester A. Arthur; Secy of State - James A. Blaine • Assassinated by C. Julius Guiteau, mentally ill disgruntled office seeker; sparks civil service reform 21. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885, Republican; Secretary of State - James A. Blaine • Pendleton Act, 1883 (set up civil service commission) • Chinese Exclusion Act bans Chinese immigrant laborers • Civil Rights Cases (1883)—Supreme Court rules that 14th Amendment does not protect against acts of individuals or private organizations 22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889, Democrat; VP - Hendricks • Knights of Labor, 1886 –Terence Powderly organizes skilled/unskilled workers in one national union • Haymarket Riot, 1886 –contributes to violent/anarchic image of labor • Wabash v. Illinois, 1886 (states cannot regulate RR rates on lines that ship interstate) • Interstate Commerce Act, 1887 –federal law regulating RRs, very weakly enforced until Progressive Era 23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893, Republican; VP – Morton; Secretary of State - James A. Blaine • Sherman Anti-trust Act, 1890—combinations in restraint of trade are illegal; supposed to regulate monopolies, instead is used against labor unions • Populist Party Platform, 1892—farmers demand free silver, gov’t ownership of RRs, telephone, telegraph, 8 hour day for workers, etc. (farm land under cultivation has increased dramatically & new technology increases production as well; causes commodity prices to drop); the Democratic Party will absorb the Populists when it takes up the “free silver” issue and the Populists decide to support William Jennings Bryan in 1896 • North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington become states, 1889; Idaho and Wyoming, 1890 • McKinley Tariff, 1890 • Sherman Silver Purchase Act, 1890—increased silver coinage (repealed in 1893 after economic panic) • Panic of 1893—the Gilded Age economy was an unstable boom/bust economy 24. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897, Democrat; Second Administration (only President to serve two non-consecutive terms); VP - Stevenson • Panic of 1893—the recession continues • Hawaiian incident, 1893—coup led by American businessmen dethrones Queen Lili • Venezuelan Boundary Affair, 1895—dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana • Pullman Strike, 1894—response to a 25% wage cut (because of depression) without corresponding cuts in rents/food prices in the company town; Eugene Debs and the American Railway Union joined the Pullman workers in a sympathy strike. Grover Cleveland sends in troops and United States Marshalls; argues that the intervention was justified b/c the strike interfered with delivery of U.S. Mail • Wilson-Gorman Tariff 1894—slight reduction in rates, plus 2% income tax (declared unconstitutional by SC in 1895) • American Federation of Labor—Samuel Gompers, Bread and Butter Unionism • Wilson-Gorman Tariff, 1894—contained small income tax, declared unconstitutional by SC in 1895 • Plessy v. Ferguson 1896—upholds racial segregation (RR cars); “separate but equal” doctrine 25. William McKinley, 1897-1901, Republican VP - Garet Hobart, 1896-1900; VP - Theodore Roosevelt; Secretary of State - John Hay • New Imperialism—America looks beyond its borders for new markets/economic opportunity; perhaps a response to the “closing” of the frontier announced in the 1890 census? Remember the Turner Thesis (The Influence of the Frontier on American History-1893) • Spanish-American War, April 1898 - February 1899 –Cuba becomes a Protectorate (Platt Amendment to Cuban Constitution gives United States influence); U.S. gets Guam and Philippines as well—war for Cuba was prompted by sympathy for Cuban independence, American investments in Cuba, and American Yellow Journalism (Hearst and Pulitzer), the spark was the sinking of the Maine in Havana Harbor • War in the Philippines (Philippines fight against U.S. control) • American Anti-Imperialist League—born out of distaste for imperialism in general and the Philippine situation in particular; Prominent Americans (Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie) ask how are we spreading democracy if we are forcing them to be under U.S. control? How are we going to defend this new empire we are building? Why are we abandoning our isolationist tradition? • The Insular Cases (1901)—a group of S.C. decisions which rule that Constitutional protections/rights do not automatically apply to United States territories (“Does the Constitution follow the flag?”) • Open Door Policy, 1899 –Sec. of State John Hay writes a note that says United States should have free access to Chinese markets; Europeans ignore it until U.S. helps suppress the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 • McKinley was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz, 1901 ________________________________________ The Progressive Era, 1900-1920: A response to problems created during Gilded Age 26. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1908, Republican; VP – Fairbanks; Secretary of State - John Hay, Elihu Root • TR ushers in the “Progressive Era” on the National Level (it started at local & state level in 1890s); takes the Republican party in a new direction (using power of national gov’t to curb business abuses and protect consumers); Progressives want reform, but are NOT socialists; more interested in saving the system. • Stewardship Theory—TR’s belief that the president was a “steward” for the people; able to do anything as long as it was not specifically prohibited by the Constitution; saw himself as a Jeffersonian in his faith in the common man and a Hamiltonian in his belief in big government • DOMESTIC POLICY: "Square Deal" (what TR said he got for both workers and management in the coal strike—TR threatened to take over the coal mines if owners won’t negotiate with labor) • Environmental Conservation—set aside national parkland • Hepburn Act, 1906—stronger RR regulation • Pure Food and Drug Act, Meat Inspection Act, and "muckrakers", 1906—consumer protection • Dinner at White House with Booker T. Washington • Trust-busting—Sherman Act used to break monopolies; TR did NOT think all monopolies were bad, only those that worked against the public interest were broken up • FOREIGN POLICY: Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, 1904—Big Stick, Police Power (interventionism) • Panama Canal, 1903-1914; TR: “I took the canal and let Congress debate!” (canal was recommended by Alfred Mahan’s in The Influence of Sea Power on History—Mahan argued for a strong navy, Pacific naval fueling stations, and an isthmian canal) • Portsmouth Treaty, 1905—Russo-Japanese War (TR wins Nobel Prize) • Gentleman's Agreement with Japan, 1904—Japan will cut off emigration of workers; TR promises reduced discrimination against Japanese-Americans on West Coast • Hague Conferences, 1899 and 1907—attempt to reduce armaments and secure a world court • Venezuelan Debt Controversy, 1902— TR warns Germany to stay away (impetus for Roosevelt Corollary) • Dominican Republic Crisis, 1902—United States takes over customs duty collections to pay DR’s European debt 27. William Howard Taft, 1909-1913, Republican; VP - Sherman • Paine-Aldrich Tariff, 1909—Taft disappoints Progressives when he fails to lower duties • Pinchot-Ballinger controversy, 1909 (conservation v. reclamation) • "Dollar Diplomacy" –United States would protect investments overseas • Trustbusting—Taft breaks more monopolies than TR • 1912 Election—Progressive Party (TR) splits Republican vote, giving victory to Wilson • When Progressive Republicans bolt the party to vote for TR under the “Bull Moose/Progressive Party” ticket, conservative Republicans are left in control of the Republican Party (in the 1920s, the Republican party will be the conservative/laissez-faire/pro-business party) 28. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921, Democrat; VP - Marshall • New Freedom—Wilson’s label for his Progressive agenda • Underwood-Simmons Tariff, 1913—lowers duties, especially on consumer goods • Progressive Amendments: 16th (income tax is progressive b/c rich pay more than poor), 17th (direct election of senators increases democracy), 18th (Prohibition of alcohol is the culmination of the temperance movement going all the way back to 1830s), and 19th (women’s suffrage, again goes way back to women’s rights movement—remember Seneca Falls in 1830s—although the idea of suffrage was just a wee bit radical in the ante-bellum era) • Federal Reserve System, 1913—allows money supply to expand and contract with economic needs; yeah it’s more complicated than that but that’s all you’re gonna get • Federal trade Commission, 1914—watchdog agency to prevent formation of trusts • Clayton Anti-trust Act, 1914—anti trust law that specifically targets price fixing and interlocking directorates; also says that labor unions are not “per se” combinations in restraint of trade (Sherman Act of 1890 did not mention labor and so was often used by courts to issue injunctions against unions/strikers) • A good argument can be made that the specific goals of reformers of the Progressive Era were much more far reaching than any other reform era in American history (programs are specifically targeted to effect economic, social and political change; the N.D. is specifically economic—but will have social and political ripple effects; the Great Society is specifically economic—uplift inner cities/improve economic situation for African Americans—but again has social and political effects) • Wilson allowed segregation in federal government (begun by postmaster general); he also applauded (literally and figuratively) Birth of a Nation • Troops to Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Virgin Islands, Mexico (Moral Diplomacy) • The Lusitania, May 1915; The Sussex Pledge, The Arabic Pledge (Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare violates U.S. neutral rights; so does British interference w/ American trade, but sinking ships and killing civilians is obviously taken more seriously) • "Fourteen Points," January 1917 –plan to prevent future world war by addressing the causes of WWI; reduction of armaments, self determination, etc. (League of Nations 14th point) • Espionage Act & Sedition Act—citizens cannot interfere with war effort, raising of troops, or insult the government and/or the Constitution • Schenck v. United States—upholds conviction of man handing out anti-military pamphlets in front of a recruiting station; speech that creates a clear and present danger is not protected by 1st Am • Abrams v. United States—upholds conviction of a man handing out pamphlets arguing against U.S. intervention in Russian Revolution • Selective Service Act—the draft • War Industries Board—to control war production (under Bernard Baruch)—War Labor Board (Taft) to prevent labor disputes (AFL cooperates with war effort w/ no-strike pledge) • The Creel Committee on Public Information (war propaganda galvanizes American support of war effort) • Food Board (Herbert Hoover)—voluntary efforts (Victory Gardens, Meatless Mondays, Wheat-less Wednesdays, When in doubt, eat potatoes! Effectively cuts domestic use of farm goods (no rationing) • The Great Migration—500,000 African Americans leave the south • Treaty of Versailles, 1919-1920; ends WWI, Wilson has to compromise many of his “points” to get European powers to agree to League of Nations, but he rationalizes that as long as we have the League it will be OK—Wilson loses the battle to get the Treaty/League of Nations ratified by the Senate • The Lodge Reservations—14 reservations against the treaty; Wilson won’t budge • The Red Scare/Palmer Raids—5000 arrested, 250 deported ________________________________________ |