Front | Back |
Party Loyalty: Regionalism
|
Democrats: South ("Solid South")Republicans: North
|
Party Loyalty: Religion/Ethics
|
Democrats: - Catholic - support immigration & the poor (felt that Republicans were assaulting their people & culture)
Republicans: - N. Protestants - want to restrict immigration - supported the middle class - favored temperance legislation |
Leaning to the "Right"
|
Conservative (Republicans)
|
Leaning to the "Left"
|
Liberal (Democrats)
|
Reasons for Party Loyalty
|
- high voter turnout (78%) - party identification (more cultural than economic)
|
Stalwarts v. Half-Breeds
|
- competed against one another for control of the Republican party --> threatened to split the party - interested in augmenting patronage - Pres. Hayes tried to please both --> failed - nominate James Garfield (half-breed) as pres and Chester Arthur (stalwart) as VP
|
Stalwarts
|
- led by Roscoe Conkling (NY) - favored traditional, professional machine politics - Arthur succeeds Garfield after his assassination --> keeps most of his appointments & supports civil service reforms
|
Half-Breeds
|
- led by James G. Blaine (Maine) - favored reform - Garfield elected w/ a stalwart but defied stalwarts in his appointments/civil service reforms --> later assassinated by crazed stalwart
|
Pendleton Act (1883)
|
- sparked by assassination of Garfield - first nat'l civil service measure - required some federal jobs to be filled by competitive written examinations rather than by patronage - at first, few offices fell under civil services, but by mid-20th century, most federal employees were civil servants
|
Mugwumps
|
- significant in the election of 1884 - some believed Republican candidate (James G. Blaine) was corrupt --> left for the Democratic party and dubbed "mugwumps" - helped to seal Cleveland's victory
|
Interstate Commerce Act of 1887
|
- passed despite Cleveland's disapproval - designed to curb railroads - first large-scale legislation passed by fed. gov't to regulate corporations in the interest of society ~ set the precedent for future regulatory commissions in the 20th century - prohibited rebates & pools; required railroads to publish their rates openly - forbade unfair discrimination against shippers and charging more for short hauls than long ones - set up the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to enforce and administer the act
- positive result: provided an orderly forum where competing business interests would be resolved in peaceful ways |
Conflicts with Election of 1888
|
- tariff ("McKinley Tariff") ** - trusts - railroad
|
Election of 1888: McKinley tariff
|
Republicans: favored a high tariff - stimulated American industry - benefited all Americans (wealth will "trickle down" to the lower classes) - wanted to support big businesses --> refuse to reduce the tariff
Democrats: favored a low tariff - i.e. Cleveland - wanted lower prices for consumers and a less monopolistic system - primary issue in the election of 1888 - hurts the consumer (lack of competition --> easier for business to raise prices) - Republicans interpreted victories in the House & Senate as a mandate for the tariff --> tariffs increased |
Election of 1888: Railroads
|
- also a major problem during Cleveland's presidential term
Democrats: wanted more control over railroad - court case: US v. E.C. Knight |
US v. E.C. Knight
|
- 98% of manufacting of refined sugar ~ from E.C. Knight - effort to gov't to apply Sherman Anti-Trust Act --> Supreme Court refused b/c sugar was not involved in interstate industry
|