Ch 11 Notes
World History
Sec 1
Patronage- gov’t jobs given to supporters of the winning party (spoils system)
- led to corruption, not the best people in jobs
-
assassination of
o assassin thought the VP might give him a job
o leads to the Pendleton Act-
§ a bi-partisan civil service commission helps Pres do the hiring
Economic Reform-
- people were upset that big businesses got major refunds from the RR’s
- states tried to force reform at first, but only the Fed can do it
- led to- Interstate Commerce Commission
o forced RR’s to charge “reasonable” rates
Tariffs- tax on imports
- after Civil War- were high, to make people in US buy US goods
-
now-
-
high
- McKinley Tariff- lowers some tariffs so we can sell to other countries
o Amount to gov’t revenue goes down
o Spending stays at same level
o Result is deficit spending- spend more than you make, borrow the rest
- doesn’t do much at first (like the ICC), not enforced
o sets precedent so gov’t could do more later
Sec 2
Populism- increases farmer’s political power
- causes-
o farm prices drop b/c new technology allows to produce more (supply up, demand the same = low prices)
o high tariffs on goods- expensive to buy foreign goods + hard to sell US crops overseas
o banks set high interest rates, RR’s charge high prices
$- during the Civil War, US printed paper money, causes inflation (value of money down, prices increase)
- after the war, US stopped printing paper money, causes deflation (value of $ goes up, prices go down)
- Deflation = bad for farmers
o Higher interest rates
o Crop prices down
o Amount you pay back is worth more than what you borrowed
- Farmers- want to mint more silver (we have a lot more of it than gold), base the value of the dollar on silver
o Since we have more silver, demand goes down, causes inflation
Grange- a farmer’s union
- pressured states to regulate the RR- Constitution blocks it
- wanted paper $ (to cause inflation)
- created cooperatives- farmers go together to start their own business (so they get the breaks big business gets)
o grain elevators- buy seed in bulk, combine crops to ship out- also bulk rate
-
why not hold out for
higer prices?
o Too
many farmers, too much competition
o Everyone
out for themselves
Farmer’s Alliance- organization of farmers
- negotiated prices on market, shipping rates, etc
- eventually became political- the Populist party
Populism- as a party
- wanted silver coins
- no more tariffs
- gov’t controlled banks
- regulation of the RR’s
- direct election on US senators (instead of by state legislatures)
- Pressure seems to work
o Some elected to state offices
o Silver Purchase Act- helps slow deflation
1892 election- Weaver nominated for Pres on Populist ticket
- loses, but not bad for a 3rd party
- the big parties will have to appeal to their voters next time
Panic of 1893- some RR’s declared bankruptcy, stock market crashed-
- depression- high unemployment (15%-20%)
Gold vs. Silver- becomes a national issue
- nation’s gold supply is dwindling (deflation, b/c it/$ is worth more)
- should economy be based on gold or silver
Election of 1896-
- Repubs- McKinley- support from industry
- Democrats- decide to take up the Populist ideas
o Nominate
Wm. Jennings Bryan, from KS but born in
- Dems lose
o Populism only appealed to rural areas (small states for electoral vote)
o Couldn’t get the union workers to buy in
Decline- new gold finds make gold more abundant in US
- US adopts the gold standard, gold in more plentiful = inflation anyway
Wizard of Oz-
- Henry Littlefield wrote an article in the 1950s saying The Wizard of Oz was supposed to reflect populism
- Baum (the author) was a supporter of populism in the late 1800s
-
Dorothy- lives in
o In book, her family is poor despite how hard they farmed
o Represents the American people
- The Wizard- is supposed to solve her problems
o Actually, he can’t do anything
o Represents William McKinley
-
How to get to the Wizard- the
o The Gold standard
- How to actually get home- use the Ruby Slippers that she’s been wearing the whole movie
o In the book, the Ruby slippers were Silver
o Supposed to show, the people have had the power to solve their problems themselves all this time
- The Tin Man- placed under a spell by the Wicked Witch of the East
o Everytime he swung his ax, he cut himself and was fixed by tin smiths
o Supposed to represent an eastern factory worker, works so hard he ceases to be human, and is instead a machine
- Wicked Witch of the West-
o Supposed to be the RR barons
- Wicked Witch of the East-
o Eastern bankers
- The Cowardly Lion-
o Loud roar, but not scary
o Reps
-
11.3
Most southern blacks- sharecroppers- farmers, paid rent with % of crop
- Agreement left them with very little money
- Several decide to leave farms and move to cities, west
Exodusters- southern blacks that moved west to farm in Kansas, Nebraska, etc
Political power- white farmers formed the farmers alliance, southern black farmers formed a similar group
- Populism- many blacks joined the People’s Party/Populist Party (b/c they were poor farmers, like the whites)
Southern Democrats- afraid a coalition between black/white farmers would make populist party stronger than S. Democrats
- Used racism to divide the white/black farmers- said the populists would bring back “black Republican” rule in the south like during reconstruction
- Also, worked to keep blacks from voting
Preventing the black vote-
- Only property owners can vote
- Must pass a literacy test to vote (but separate tests for whites)
- Poll taxes- pay to vote
- Also hurt poor whites, but oh well, they would have voted for the Populists anyway
- Grandfather clauses- can vote if you had an ancestor vote in 1867 (before blacks got the right)
Segregation- separation of the races
- Jim Crow Laws- local/state laws that enforced segregation
o Separate schools, drinking fountains, train cars
o Challenged in Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson
§ Sup Court says the laws are OK, separate is OK if equal facilities (“separate but equal”)
- Violence vs. blacks escalates in the south
o Many lynchings- executions without trials, usually hangings
o 70% of lynching victims were black, 187 per year
Future-
- Booker T. Washington
o Says blacks should focus on economic goals first, not political goals
o Once $ comes in, power will follow
o Improve yourself economically through education
§ Equality will evolve, it can’t be forced on the people
- W.E.B. DuBois
o Blacks should demand their rights, politically