Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Daily QuestionHow were the civil and political rights of certain groups in America undermined during the years after Reconstruction?Assess how whites created a segregated society in the South and how African Americans responded.Analyze efforts to limit immigration and the effects.Compare the situations of Mexican Americans and of women to those of other groups.

ObjectivesDid You Know? Ida Wells was born in Mississippi in 1862, the daughter of enslaved African Americans. She was educated in a Freedmen's Bureau school. At the young age of fourteen, Wells began to teach in a rural school. In 1884 she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she continued teaching as well as attended Fisk University. In 1891 she lost her teaching position because she had refused to give up a seat in a "whites only" railroad car. This led to a profession in journalism in which she began a campaign against lynching.

In the course of the Gilded Age, the equal rights extended to African Americans during Reconstruction were narrowed.

This move away from equality for all had a lasting impact on society in the United States.

Southern states used loopholes in the Fifteenth Amendment and began to impose restrictions that barred almost all African Americans from voting.

Resistance and Repression In 1890 Mississippi required all citizens registering to vote to pay a poll tax, which most African Americans could not afford to pay. The state also required all prospective voters to take a literacy test. Most African Americans had no education and failed the test. To allow poor whites to vote, some Southern states had a grandfather clause in their voting restrictions. This clause allowed any man to vote if he had an ancestor on the voting rolls in 1867.

Other Southern states adopted similar restrictions. The number of African Americans and poor whites registered to vote fell dramatically in the South.

In the late 1800s, both the North and the South discriminated against African Americans. In the South, segregation, or separation of the races, was enforced by laws known as Jim Crow laws.

Legalizing Segregation In 1883 the Supreme Court overturned the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The ruling meant that private organizations or businesses were free to practice segregation.Southern states passed a series of laws that enforced segregation in almost all public places.

The Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson endorsed "separate but equal" facilities for African Americans. This ruling established the legal basis for discrimination in the South for over 50 years.In the late 1800s, mob violence increased in the United States, particularly in the South. Between 1890 and 1899, hundreds of lynchingsexecutions without proper court proceedingstook place. Most lynchings were in the South, and the victims were mostly African Americans.

What was the result of the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson? (The Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson endorsed "separate but equal" facilities for African Americans. This ruling established the legal basis for discrimination in the South for over 50 years.)

Booker T. Washington, an African American educator, urged fellow African Americans to concentrate on achieving economic goals rather than legal or political ones. He explained his views in a speech known as the Atlanta Compromise.Washington also ran the Tuskegee Institute which became known as a vocational education institute.The African American Response The Atlanta Compromise was challenged by W.E.B. Du Bois, the leader of African American activists born after the Civil War. Du Bois said that white Southerners continued to take away the civil rights of African Americans, even though they were making progress in education and vocational training. He believed that African Americans had to demand their rights, especially voting rights, to gain full equality.

How did the viewpoints on solving discrimination differ between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois? Booker T. Washington urged fellow African Americans to concentrate on achieving economic goals rather than legal or political ones. Washington said African Americans should prepare themselves educationally and vocationally for full equality. Du Bois said that white Southerners continued to take away the civil rights of African Americans, even though they were making progress in education and vocational training. He believed that African Americans had to demand their rights, especially voting rights, to gain full equality.QuestionIn 1892 Ida B. Wells, an African American from Tennessee, began a crusade against lynching. She wrote newspaper articles and a book denouncing lynching's and mob violence against African Americans.

Ways in which blacks right to vote was restricted in the South:Segregation via Jim Crow laws became the norm, and blacks lost voting rights.poll taxesliteracy testsgrandfather clausesviolenceFaced with severe job discrimination, some Chinese-Americans started their own businesses.Chinese immigrants also faced racial prejudice in the West at this time.

In 1886 in the case of Yick Wo v. Hopkins, the U.S. Supreme court sided with the Chinese immigrant that challenged a C.A. law banning Chinese from owning businesses.1898, The court ruled that individuals of Chinese decent, born in the U.S. could not have his or her citizenship taken away. Turning to the Federal CourtsAfter the Mexican-American War, despite garuntees of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that Mexicans would retain their property rights. They began to loose the land they had farmed and ranched for years.The Sante Fe Ring, an association of rich Americans got the federal government to grant control of millions of acres of land in New Mexico. The new land owners propmtly began kicking the Mexicans off of their property. Sante Fe RingLas Gorras Blancas, a Mexican American group, fought for their rights by inflicting property damage on landowners and publishing grievances in their own newspaper.In the Southwest, four out of five Mexican Americans lost their land after the Mexican-American War, despite a treaty which guaranteed their property rights.Under Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the duo united two groups to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1869. The head of the NAWSA's congressional committee, Alice Paul, a Quaker social worker, used protests to force President Wilson to take action on woman suffrage. After the NAWSA became alarmed at Paul's activities, she left and started the National Woman's Party. This group picketed the White House and went on hunger strikes if arrested.

Prior to the Civil War, women played a large role in reform movements, including the call to abolish slavery.Susan B. Anthony voted in an election in 1872 and was arrested. Awaiting trial, she toured the nation, delivering a powerful speech on the issue.

Activists did not secure womens suffrage during the 19th century.The debate over the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments split the suffrage movement into two groups and weakened its effectiveness. By 1900 only Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado had granted voting rights to women.

The temperance movement called for the moderation or elimination of alcohol. Many progressives believed alcohol was the cause of many of society's problems. In 1874 the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was formed. At first the temperance movement worked to reduce alcohol consumption, but later it pushed for prohibitionlaws banning the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol.

ObjectivesAnalyze the issue of corruption in national politics in the 1870s and 1880s.Discuss civil service reform during the 1870s and 1880s.Assess the importance of economic issues in the politics of the Gilded Age.

7-2Why did the political structure change during the Gilded Age?

Daily QuestionDid You Know? President James A. Garfield lived for 80 days after an assassin shot him in the arm and the back. Doctors could not find the bullet lodged in his back. Alexander Graham Bell tried to find the bullet using an electrical device, but he too failed. Garfield ended up dying from an infection. At that time, there were no X-ray machines, CAT scans, MRIs, or modern antiseptics that probably would have saved Garfield's life.

President Rutherford B. Hayes attacked the practice of patronage. The "Stalwarts"a group of Republican machine politicians who strongly opposed civil service reformaccused Hayes of backing civil service reform to create openings for his own supporters. Civil service reformers were called "Halfbreeds."

It was extremely difficult for either party to push it political philosophy during the Gilded Age.Neither party could gain control of the White House or both houses of the Congress, which resulted in an uneasy balance of power in Washington D.C.This made it extremely difficult for the parties to pass effective legislation. Both the Republicans and the Democrats were well organized in the late 1800s. The presidential elections were won with narrow margins between 1876 and 1896. In 1876 and 1888, the presidential candidate lost the popular vote, but won the electoral vote and the election.

In the presidential election of 1884, Republicans remained divided over reform. Democrats nominated Governor Grover Cleveland of New York, a reformer who opposed Tammany Hall.Republicans nominated James G. Blaine, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives. Blaine was popular among Republican Party workers.A major issue in the campaign was corruption in American government. Voters focused on the morals of each candidate.

Only one president in this time period had a reputation for honesty.In 1884 President Grover Cleveland became the first Democratic President in twenty-four (24) years.ClevelandCorruption plagued national politics as many officials accepted bribes.

The Republican candidates for the election of 1880 were a Halfbreed, James Garfield for president, and the Stalwart, Chester Arthur for vice president. They won the election.President Garfield was assassinated a few months into his presidency. He was killed by a Stalwart who wanted a civil service job through the spoils system.

Under the spoils system, or patronage, government jobs went to supporters of the winning party in an election. Writers, such as Mark Twain, expressed concerns over the corruption.By the late 1870s, many Americans believed that patronage corrupted those who worked for the government. They began a movement to reform the civil service.

A Campaign to Clean Up PoliticsThis system made the political parties extremely powerful.The spoils system, in which party supporters received government jobs regardless of their qualifications, shifted power to a few.

In 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton Act and President Arthur signed it into law. This civil service reform act allowed the president to decide which federal jobs would be filled according to rules set up by a bipartisan Civil Service Commission.

Candidates competed for federal jobs through examinations. Appointments could be made only from the list of those who took the exams. Once appointed to a job, a civil service official could not be removed for political reasons.

The Pendleton ActThe Republican candidate in the 1888 election was Benjamin Harrison. His campaign was given large contributions by industrialists who wanted tariff protection. The Democratic candidate was Cleveland. He was against high tariff rates. Harrison won the election by winning the electoral vote, but not the popular vote.

As a result of the election of 1888, Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress and the White House. The Republicans were able to pass legislation on issues of national concern.The McKinley Tariff cut tariff rates on some goods, but increased the rates of others. It lowered federal revenue and left the nation with a budget deficit.

Tariffs taxed imported goods, which supported American industry but increased consumer prices.

Monetary policy disputes concerned the gold standard, where gold became the basis of the nations currency.The economic issues of tariffs and monetary policy caused debate during the Gilded Age.

ObjectivesAnalyze the problems farmers faced and the groups they formed to address them.Assess the goals of the Populists, and explain why the Populist Party did not last.

7-3What led to the rise of the Populist movement, and what effect did it have?

Daily QuestionDid You Know? During the hard times for farmers in the 1880s, many farmers left their homesteads in the West and headed back to the East. "In God we trusted, in Kansas we busted," was a sign that one wagon carried as it headed East. Another sign read, "Going home to Mother."

Millions of Americans moved west after the Civil War to pursue the American dream.

A variety of factors made their lives extremely difficult, which led to the social and political revolt known as Populismand created one of the largest third party movements in American history.

In the 1890s, a political movement called Populism emerged to increase the political power of farmers and to work for legislation for farmers' interests.

People moving to the West and South in the late 1800s knew that their lives would not be easy. Problems facing the farmers of the West and Southlow prices for cropshigh transportation, equipment, and loan costsdroughtreduced influence in politicsThey did not anticipate many problems that made survival nearly impossible.

Frustrated by these problems, farmers began to organize.

The nation's money supply concerned farmers. To help finance the Union in the Civil War, the government issued millions of dollars in greenbacks, or paper currency that could not be exchanged for gold or silver coins. This rapid increase in the money supply without a rapid increase in goods for sale caused inflationa decline in the value of money. The prices of goods greatly increased.To get inflation under control, the federal government stopped printing greenbacks and started paying off bonds. Congress also stopped making silver into coins. As a result, the country did not have a large enough money supply to meet the needs of the growing economy. This led to deflationor an increase in the value of money and a decrease in the general level of prices.Deflation forced most farmers to borrow money to plant their crops. The short supply of money caused an increase in interest rates that the farmers owed.

Some farmers wanted more greenbacks printed to expand the money supply. Others wanted the government to mint silver coins.

Grangers put their money together and created cooperativesmarketing organizations that worked to help its members. The cooperatives pooled members' crops and held them off the market to force the prices to rise. Cooperatives could negotiate better shipping rates from railroads.

Farmers created groups to address their problems. These groups formed a network called the Granger movement. The Grange was formally organized by Oliver H. Kelley in 1867 and gained a million members. The Grange declined after the 1870s, but Farmers Alliances became important reform organizations that continued the Granges goals.How did the Grange try to help farmers? (Some Grangers pressured state legislatures to regulate railroad and warehouse rates. Others joined the Independent National Party, or Greenback Party, to pressure the government into printing more greenbacks to increase the money supply. Grangers also formed cooperatives to help farmers market their crops for higher prices and negotiate better shipping rates.)

The Farmers' Alliance was formed in 1877. By 1890 it had between 1.5 and 3 million members with strength in the South and on the Great Plains.

The Farmers' Alliance The Alliance organized large cooperatives called exchanges for the purpose of forcing farm prices up and making loans to farmers at low interest rates. These exchanges mostly failed. Many exchanges overextended themselves by loaning too much money at low interest rates that were not repaid. Wholesalers, manufacturers, railroads, and bankers discriminated against the exchanges. The exchanges were too small to dramatically affect world prices for farm products.

Members of the Kansas Alliance formed the People's Party, or Populists, to push for political reforms that would help farmers solve their problems.Most Southern leaders of the Alliance opposed the People's Party because they wanted the Democrats to retain control of the South. One Southern leader, Charles Macune, came up with a subtreasury plan to set up warehouses where farmers could store their crops to force prices up.

In 1890 the Farmers' Alliance issued the Ocala Demands to help farmers choose candidates in the 1890 elections. The demands included the adoption of the subtreasury plan, the free coinage of silver, an end to protective tariffs and national banks, tighter regulation of the railroads, and direct election of senators by voters.

The Rise of Populism By early 1892, Southern members of the Alliance began to realize that Democrats were not going to keep their promises to the Alliance and they were ready to leave the Democratic Party and join the People's Party.

In July 1892, the People's Party held its first national convention where it nominated James B. Weaver to run for president. The People's Party platform called for unlimited coinage of silver, federal ownership of railroads, and a graduated income tax, one that taxes higher earnings more heavily. It also called for an eight-hour workday, restriction of immigration, and denounced the use of strikebreakers.

The Panic of 1893 was caused by the bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroads. It resulted in the stock market crash and the closing of many banks. By 1894 the country was in a deep depression.

President Cleveland wanted to stop the flow of gold and make it the sole basis for the country's currency, so he had Congress repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. This caused the Democratic Party to split into the goldbugs and the silverites. Goldbugs believed the American currency should be based only on gold. Silverites believed coining silver in unlimited amounts was the answer to the nation's economic crisis.

The debate over monetary policy was an important issue of the day. Those who wanted a gold standard were on one side. Those who wanted to use silverincluding the Populist Partywere on the other.

The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidential election of 1896. He strongly supported the unlimited silver coinage. Populists also supported Bryan for president.The Republicans nominated William McKinley of Ohio for president. He promised workers a "full dinner pail." Most business leaders liked McKinley because they thought the unlimited silver coinage would ruin the country's economy.

. The Election of 1896 In 1896, a young lawyer named William Jennings Bryan spoke at the national Democratic convention. Commonly called the Cross of Gold Speech.The speech, with its Populist message of free silver, moved Democrats to nominate Bryan. The Populist Party chose to give him their support.McKinley won against Bryan in 1896 and in 1900.

Bryans emphasis on money reform wasnt popular with urban workers.

The Populist Party was weakened by supporting William Jennings Bryan on the Democratic ticket. It survived another decade, but its viability as an alternative to the two major parties was over.Many of the reforms sought by the Populists became a reality.The new campaigning style used by Bryan became the norm.The Populist platform, outlined at the partys 1892 convention in Omaha, NE, called for:coinage of silveran income taxgovernment ownership of railroadsbank regulations