Issues of the Gilded Age 1877 1900 Segregation

Issues of the Gilded Age 1877 -1900

Segregation after Reconstruction After the election of 1876, where Hayes won, he took the troops out of the South The Southern government established Jim Crow Laws to segregate blacks and whites in jury boxes, bibles, drinking fountains, restaurants, parks, beaches, hospitals etc. However, some Southerners were against segregation because the state had to provide two of everything.

Ways to prevent Blacks from voting. . . Jim Crow Laws Poll Tax: Started in GA, it would cost voters $1 -2 to vote. Literacy Test: Had to test to prove you “understood” Grandfather Clause: You could only vote if your ancestors had voted prior to 1866. White Primaries: were primary elections in the Southern States in which any non-White voter was prohibited from participating. As a result of these laws, black registration in LA went from 130, 000 in 1894 to 1, 300 in 1904. On the eve of WWII, only 3% of southern blacks in the South could vote.

Moderates use the system “Fight The System” Write these Plessy v Ferguson – 1896, The Supreme Court said separate but equal was constitutional. Certain blacks protested and fought back. Booker T Washington said that blacks should live with segregation and work on their reputation as hardworking and honest. He helped establish the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama that was similar to a vocational schools. . . ”Economic Security. ” W. E. B Du. Bois wanted full and immediate equality and thought that blacks should not be limited to vocational education…he thought they should get the right to vote

Ida B Wells: Civil Rights Champion She owned a paper called “Free Speech. ” She attacked the practice of lynching as being legalized murder. For a time she was banished from Memphis because of the editorial she wrote and she made her goal to get rid of lynching nationwide.

Wilmington Race Riot 1898 A group of white supremacists overthrew the government in Wilmington, NC using the Gatling gun. 1 st and only time in history in which a municipal government was overthrown. The governor and President Mc. Kinley knew about it but did nothing. 22 blacks and several whites were killed. They wanted to restore the (D) party. (D) got power and passed Jim Crow Laws

Women and their struggles for independence Susan B Anthony was fighting for the right to vote and in 1872, she voted in NY and was arrested. In 1869, Anthony and Stanton founded the National Women’s Suffrage Association. Frances Willard founded the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement to get rid of alcohol but she also petitioned for voting rights, public health, and welfare reform.

Corruption in politics during the Gilded Age Hayes won his Chester Arthur election in 1876 by a deal took over after James Garfield was assassinated but didn’t even get his party’s (R) nomination in 1884. Grover Cleveland won in 1884 as a (D) In 1888 Benjamin Harrison lost the popular vote but won in the electoral college beating Cleveland…Cleveland would win again in 1892 There was a balance between the two parties where neither had a big majority but with the exception of Cleveland, lots of politicians were unethical.

Political Corruption exposed to the Public w/Political Cartoons Joseph Keppler drew “The Bosses of The Senate” to show the corruption. Thomas Nast drew cartoons to show the working of Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall

Spoils System vs. Civil Service System The spoils system was first used by Andrew Jackson by giving jobs to loyal party workers regardless of qualifications. In the 2 nd system people would get their jobs based on qualifications and would keep them regardless of who was in office.

Garfield Assassinated Reform came about when President Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau who was mad that he didn’t get a government job. Chester Arthur took over and signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act in 1883 which established a commission that administered an exam that would qualify you for a government job.

Economics Issues as Producers Gold Standard – using gold as the basis for the national currency was a big issue. 27 Tariffs were a big issue – Republicans wanted them because they thought it would help industry. Democrats didn’t want tariffs because it increased cost for consumers and made it hard for farmers to sell overseas. Government stopped printing greenbacks (inflation) 29 There was a dilemma on whether to use silver or gold coins…bankers didn’t want silver, farmers did.

Farmers hurt b/c of Big Money Cotton and wheat weren’t worth as much and the more they planted the more prices declined To compete, farmers had to buy new machinery so they took out loans Some mortgaged their farms so they b/c tenant farmers Railroads had monopolies so they could charge whatever they wanted to ship and banks set interest rates. Also, most of the people elected came from backgrounds of industry

It’s a bird, it’s a plane it’s…Oliver H Kelley A farmer and businessman created The Grange in 1867 that attracted about 1 million and they wanted to provide education on new farming techniques and regulation of Railroads and grain elevator rates. They petitioned to have the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), to oversee interstate transportation IL, WI, MN passed max rates for shipping and grain storage

Farmers as producers. . . band together (rural workers) Southern Farmers Alliance: – This remained strong as The Grange went away. They tried to collectively sell their crops and tried to get low interest rates…GA alliance led a boycott vs. manufacturers who raised the price of cords Colored Farmers Alliance – started by R. M. Humprey with the help of black and white farmers…about 1 mil blacks joined by 1891.

Farmers of the universe…Unite All this teamwork culminated in the formation of the Populist Party (people’s party) in 1892 They created their platform in Omaha, NE in 1892 (Omaha Platform) and it warned about political corruption, inadequate $ supply and unresponsive gov’t They wanted coinage of silver and gov’t ownership of RR, graduated income tax and banks regulated

Limited Success To run for pres (1892), they nominated James B. Weaver from Iowa (the North) and James Field from Virginia as Weaver’s running mate (the South). They also tried to get factory workers and blacks in the South to join to unite against the elite. They ended up winning 3 governor races and putting some people in Congress in 1892 and continued in 1894

Cross of Gold Speech and the election of 1896 (D) nominated William Jennings Bryan and the populists thought they could win He delivered a speech called the Cross of Gold Speech where he said that we should not rely on the Gold Standard and we should use silver also 35 He now had a similar platform to the Populists and they endorsed him

The Bought Presidency William Mc. Kinley (R) won the election and beat him again in 1900 but Bryan did do his own campaigning although Mc. Kinley had 30 x’s the fund Bryan did. After this, the party lost steam and populists went back to the (D) party.