Populist Movement and American History Quiz

The Gilded Age

• The Gilded Age was a period of immense economic growth, mixed with corruption and attempted reform. Mark Twain coined the term, believing wealth masked the corruption of American society.

Types of Corruption

• Graft: Dishonest use of political office for personal gain. This often involves using insider information before the public is aware.
• Bribery: Unethical gifts or promises in exchange for favors.
• Voting Fraud: Illegitimate methods to influence election outcomes, including ghost votes and multiple votes per person.
• Spoils System (Patronage): Winning elections by rewarding loyal supporters with government jobs, regardless of qualifications.
• Conflict of Interest: Blending personal business interests with public duties.

Local Corruption: The Tweed Ring

• New York City: The Tweed Ring, led by "Boss" Tweed, used political power to enrich themselves.
• Tammany Hall: A powerful political party in New York City that the Tweed Ring manipulated.
• Corruption tactics: Included ward and precinct captains who used patronage, bribing people with jobs for votes, and kickbacks from building projects.
• Financial exploitation: The Tweed Ring defrauded the city for millions of dollars, which led to their eventual downfall. Tweed was eventually convicted and died in prison.

Thomas Nast

• A political cartoonist whose work exposed the corruption of the Tweed Ring.

Mugwumps

• Republicans who left the party due to perceived corruption.

Government Response to Patronage

• Pendleton Civil Service Act: Government jobs were based on merit-based exams; not just from political connections. It applied to police, postal, and foreign service jobs.
• Standpatters: Individuals who resisted the reforms.

Government Response to Trusts

• Laissez-faire: Early attitude of limited government intervention; Hands off.
• Interstate Commerce Act of 1887: Intended to regulate interstate commerce by controlling railroads and limiting rebates and rate discrimination.
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890: Attempted to break up monopolies and trusts, but in practice was difficult to enforce as it lacked clear definitions of "trust" and was initially used against labor unions.

Government Response to Labor Unions

• Changed from a laissez-faire attitude to one of greater concern for workers. Interventions were made to address the issues of child labor, limited work hours and regulate working conditions, as well as wages.

Industrial America: Key periods and figures

• Chronological overview of significant leaders and events during this time including, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester Alan Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt.

The Gilded Age: Continued

• Benjamin Harrison's presidency saw tariff increases and the Spanish-American War.
• Grover Cleveland was a former president credited with curbing trusts and responding to the Panic of 1893.
• Theodore Roosevelt, later president used the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to prosecute monopolies.

Farmer/Gold Controversy

• This period saw farmers struggling with economic hardship due to low crop prices, high transportation costs, and other economic factors.

Farmer Problems

• Overproduction: Low prices for farm products combined with a demand for inflation.
• Railroad practices: Large shipments and longer distances created cheaper costs, but railroad companies gave rebates (discounts) to specific large companies, creating unfair competition for farmers.
• Trusts: Farmers found costly agricultural tools, fertilizer, and raw materials expensive, which combined with high interest rates for loans and high mortgages complicated farming and led to foreclosures.
• Taxation: Farmers carried a disproportionately large tax burden relative to their wealth.

The Gold Standard

• Silverites: Advocates for using silver as a basis for currency to inflate the economy and help debtors.
• Bland-Allison Act: Limited the use of silver coinage in the US, passed in 1878.
• Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890: Required the federal government buy a set amount of silver, aiming to increase the money supply and benefit farmers and other debtors.
• Hard/Sound Money: Believers in maintaining a gold standard; Bankers, Creditors.

Populist Party

• People's Party: Formed in the 1890s due to the grievances associated with the economic hardships of farmers.
• Ocala Platform: Proposed resolutions including: free coinage of silver; subtreasury system for farmers; reducing protective tariffs, and income taxes.
• Mary Lease: An influential populist speaker.
• William Jennings Bryan: A populist orator.

Populist Rise

• The Panic of 1893 provided the immediate context for the Populist Party and its resurgence, in an attempt to address farmers' economic struggles by increasing the amount of currency in circulation.
• The repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act negatively impacted the populism movement.
• The populist party candidate William Jennings Bryan's 1896 election speech advocating for "free silver" coinage resonated deeply with many voters' frustrations.

Legacies of Populists

• Uncontrolled Industrial Capitalism: Their movement brought to light issues of economic inequality and injustice.
• Progressive Era reforms: Ideas like a graduated income tax, crop loans, and direct election of Senators were aspects from the populist movement that influenced progressive era reforms.

Culture and Literature of the Gilded Age

• Ralph Waldo Emerson: Philosopher who emphasized American individualism.
• Herman Melville: Author of the novel Moby Dick.
• Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, and James Fenimore Cooper: Key figures in American literature.
• Frederick Jackson Turner: His thesis on the significance of westward expansion had a profound impact on American history and culture.
• Helen Hunt Jackson: Chronicled injustices against Native Americans in her book "Century of Dishonor".