REFORM AND THE POPULIST PARTY

1892-1896

Journal Entry“Unless you can get the ear of a Senator…and persuade him to use his ‘influence’ in your behalf, you cannot get an employment of the most trivial nature in Washington. Mere merit, fitness and capability, are useless baggage to you without ‘influence’…It would be an odd circumstance to see a girl get employment…merely because she was worthy and a competent , and a good citizen of a free country that ‘treats all persons alike.” from the Gilded Age by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner

1. According to the authors, what was the best way to get a government job?2. How is the last sentence in the quotation sarcastic?

Series of Poor Presidents

Rutheford B. HayesJames A. GarfieldChester A. ArthurGrover ClevelandBenjamin HarrisonWilliam McKinley

BEGINNINGS OF REFORM

• Rutherford B Hayes (1876) starts Civil Service Reform– Used Merit System to

hire employees– Fired clerks with nothing to do

Election of 1880• Split in Republican Party—Reformers (Mugwumps and

Half-breeds) and Stalwarts (opposed reform)• Garfield (reformer) and Arthur (Stalwart) were placed on

the ticket.• When Garfield became president he gave Reformers

most of the patronage jobs• Garfield had turned down Charles Guiteau ( a Stalwart)

for a job• Guiteau wanted Chester Arthur to be president• Shot Garfield--July 2, 1881--died in Sept of 1881*

Charles Guiteau

Pendleton Act1883

• Appoint a 3 member bi-partisan Civil Service Commission

• Open competitive examination for classified jobs

Results of the Pendleton Act

• Qualified, honest, more efficient government

• Politicians lost patronage, had to find other sources for campaign funds

Farmers and the Populist Movement

• Prices received for goods fell

• Cost of manufactured goods remained high

• Had to pay high prices for shipping• Many lost farms to mortgage foreclosure

GRANGE

• Try to solve social and political problems• Fix maximum rates for storage and

regulate freight rates• Interstate Commerce Act

– Rates must be reasonable, no rebates, no long hauls cheaper than short hauls

Money Solutions

• Greenbacks– Farmers wanted an increase in the money

supply– Cheaper money makes it easier to pay debts

• Unlimited Coinage of Silver– Dollar defined as one ounce of gold or 16

ounces of silver– Also called bi-metalism favored by the “free

silverites”

Financial Reform

• Currency inflation• Graduated federal income tax• Federal loan program

Transportation Reforms

• Government ownership and operation of railroads

• Government ownership and operation of telephone

Government Reforms

• Direct Election of Senators• Single term for President and Vice-

President• Australian ballot (secret ballot)

Other Reforms

• 8 hour work day• Restrictions on immigration• Oppose subsidies to private corporations

Election of 1896

• William Jennings Bryan (Democratic Party) gives Cross of Gold Speech

• Lost election and party faded from political scene

• Many proposals adopted by other parties and enacted into law

“Cross of Gold” speech

• "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."

July 9, 1896, at the Democratic National Convention, Chicago

1. The Pendleton Act helped correct the evils of:

• a. the short ballot, • b. the spoil’s system (patronage), • c. low wages in factories, • d. high railroad rates.

2. Agrarian (farmers) discontent eventually led to:

• a. reforms in the Republican Party, • b. a strong farmer's lobby in Washington, • c. the formation of the Populist Party, • d. support from Eastern businessmen.

3. Most members of the Populist Party were:

• a. farmers, • b. industrial leaders, • c. labor leaders and feminists, • d. middle-class white collar workers.

4. The Populist platform did not include:

• a. an income tax equal for the rich and the poor,

• b. a deflated currency, • c. election of senators by popular vote, • d. the secret Australian ballot.

5. A Populist reform idea that became a constitutional amendment was:

• a. referendum, • b. secret ballot, • c. initiative, • d. graduated income tax.

6. Bryan's Cross of Gold speech emphasized:

• a. importance of cities, • b. dependency of farmers on businessmen, • c. influence of the gold standard on farmers, • d. independence of farmers.

7. Which of the following was prompted by President Garfield's assassination?

• a. the Haymarket affair, • b. civil service reform, • c. the formation of the Secret Service, • d. the appointment of Frances Perkins as

Secretary of Labor.

8. Which is true of "free silverites"?

• a. they favored bimetallism, • b. they opposed the use of gold as money, • c. they opposed the use of paper money, • d. they preferred a stable currency to

cheap money.

9. Who started Civil Service Reform?

• A. Ulysses S. Grant• B. William Jennings Bryan• C. Rutherford B. Hayes• D. William McKinley

10. Which of the following were not part of the Republican party in 1880?

• A. Mugwumps• B. Half-Breeds• C. Populists• D. Stalwarts

11. Why was Garfield assassinated?

• A. Guiteau was mad that he didn’t get a job.

• B. Arthur was a Mug-wump.• C. Hayes had fired Arthur.• D. Civil servants were tired of the work.

12. What were the results of the Pendleton Act?

• A. Gov’t officials were more qualified and honest.

• B. Politicians lost their patronage.• C. Gov’t was more efficient• D. All of the above

13. How did farmers want to increase the money supply?

• A. By printing greenbacks• B. By producing more crops• C. By encouraging the unions• D. By limiting the amount of crops

14. When did the Populist Party die off?

• A. After the election of 1896.• B. Before the Cross of Gold Speech.• C. When Garfield died.• D. After the Pendleton Act was passed.

15. What was the Grange?

A. BimetalismB. A group trying to solve the social and

political problems of the farmers.C. A member of the Stalwarts PartyD. Another type of cattle