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3 Political Realignment in the Gilded Age Mary Evans Picture Library/Everett Collection Gilded Age politics led to a political realignment between the Democrats and Republicans as multiple interest groups struggled to have their voices heard. The banner visible above the standing man shows presidential candidate Grover Cleveland, the first Democrat to occupy the office since before the Civil War. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 67 12/18/14 3:01 PM Pre-Test 1. Like the industrialists in the Gilded Age, the presidents of this era also wielded a great deal of power. T/F 2. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 was notable for creating the first permanent federal agency. T/F 3. Whereas populist refers to anyone fighting against social and economic inequalities, the term Populists refers to a distinct political party, known as the People’s Party, in the late 19th century. T/F 4. Coxey’s Army was an armed and militant group angry about the economic downturn in the United States during the Panic of 1893. T/F 5. The Panic of 1893 turned into a nationwide depression that lasted 4 years and resulted in widespread unemployment. T/F Answers can be found at the end of the chapter.

Learning Objectives By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• Explain the major issues of political debate in the Gilded Age. • Consider the role of voluntarism and third-party politics in reshaping national politics. • Discuss the ways in which women’s participation in public life changed in the late 19th century. • Discuss the political, social, and economic oppression of southern African Americans and the Supreme Court’s response to their condition. • Explain the organization and activism of rural Americans and the formation of Farmers’ Alliances and the Grange, and discuss how their concerns fed into the populist movement. American Lives: Homer Plessy On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy bought a first-class rail ticket to travel from New Orleans to Cov - ington, Louisiana. The journey should have taken several hours, but Plessy made it only one stop before the train’s conductor approached and asked if he was in the correct car. The conductor suspected Plessy to be African American, and Louisiana law required people of color to ride in a separate car, regardless of the ticket they held. Arrested by a police detective at the next stop, he was charged with boarding a railcar designated for White passengers only. His act challenged Louisiana’s 1890 Separate Car Act, which stated in part that all railway companies carrying passengers must “provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races,” (as cited in Davis, 2012). Plessy went peacefully, for his intention had not been to travel to Cov - ington but to challenge the constitutionality of laws in Louisiana and throughout the South that segregated African Americans in public accommodations and transportation . Homer Plessy was born in 1862, in the midst of the Civil War; he grew up during the Recon - struction era, when African Americans across the South possessed civil rights thanks to the federal government’s enforcement of the 14th and 15th Amendments. Descended from a line Library of Congress, Brady-Handy Photograph Collection Homer Plessy challenged a Louisiana law that required Whites and African Americans to ride in separate rail cars.

His legal challenge was lost in 1896 when the Supreme Court ruled that separate but equal facilities for the races were permissible. American Lives: Homer Plessy bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 68 12/18/14 3:01 PM Pre-Test 1. Like the industrialists in the Gilded Age, the presidents of this era also wielded a great deal of power. T/F 2. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 was notable for creating the first permanent federal agency. T/F 3. Whereas populist refers to anyone fighting against social and economic inequalities, the term Populists refers to a distinct political party, known as the People’s Party, in the late 19th century. T/F 4. Coxey’s Army was an armed and militant group angry about the economic downturn in the United States during the Panic of 1893. T/F 5. The Panic of 1893 turned into a nationwide depression that lasted 4 years and resulted in widespread unemployment. T/F Answers can be found at the end of the chapter.

Learning Objectives By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

His legal challenge was lost in 1896 when the Supreme Court ruled that separate but equal facilities for the races were permissible. of French men and Creole women (the term came to designate those of mixed blood), Plessy had light skin and may have been only one-eighth Black.

Even before the war, none of the Plessys had been enslaved for at least two generations; his grandfa - ther and father were skilled carpenters, and Homer became a shoemaker (Davis, 2012). The Plessys and other Creole people of color, as they preferred to be called, enjoyed an elevated social status within the complicated sphere of New Orleans’s society . As Plessy came of age, Reconstruction ended and his world began to shift. Redemption, the return of con - servatives to political office, brought Democrats into power in Louisiana and across the South, and the civil rights gains of the postwar era gradually eroded. Over a period of 2 decades, southern states and localities enacted legislation restricting the rights and control - ling the political participation of African Americans.

This evolving system of racial segregation, called Jim Crow , took its name from a blackface performer in pre–Civil War minstrel shows, but it was truly an invention of the advancing modern age. States and localities used the legal system rather than social custom to systematically place African Americans in a subordinate position in society . A member of a New Orleans citizens committee deter - mined to challenge Jim Crow, Plessy had volunteered to challenge the Separate Car Act. He and other activ - ists planned to use the justice system to fight back against the impending nadir in race relations. He was ultimately convicted, and his appeals reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. The court’s decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson guided the direction of race relations in the nation for more than half a century (Hall & Patrick, 2006). Declaring that segregation in public accommodations was legal so long as “equal” facili - ties were provided, the decision spurred a host of new state and local laws separating the races in transportation, hotels, theaters and restaurants, and public education.

Following his walk-on role in one of the most significant court rulings in the nation’s history, Homer Plessy faded from the public eye. He eventually sold policies for the People’s Life Insur - ance Company, fathered several children, and then died without much notice in March 1925 (Davis, 2012) . For further thought: 1. How would you characterize Homer Plessy’s role in the evolution of the Jim Crow system? 2. How did Jim Crow segregation differ from pre–Civil War race relations in the South? American Lives: Homer Plessy bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 69 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.1 Gilded Age Politics 3.1 Gilded Age Politics The rollback of civil rights gains in the late 19th century was part of a series of political realignments occurring as various groups in society struggled for position in the age of industrialization. African Americans fought to stave off further Jim Crow laws. Industrial workers and farmers made a concerted effort to use politics to challenge the advancing capitalist system. Southern advocates tried in vain to catch up with the industrializing North. Democrats moved to consolidate political control of the South and reclaim a foot - ing for their party on the national stage. Republicans redefined their alliances, more often than not siding with business and ignoring the plights of African Americans and workers.

Women accelerated their demands for a place at the political table and especially for suf - frage rights.

Political realignments in the late 19th century caught the attention of American novelist Mark Twain, famous for literary characters such as Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

With his friend and fellow novelist Charles Dudley Warner, Twain authored a book called The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today , which satirized the greed and political corruption of the late 19th century. The novel follows the lives of a Tennessee family that seeks to gain a fortune through the sale of land. They fail, however, and a major theme of the novel is the American lust for getting rich quick, in this case through speculation in land sales. Twain and Warner bemoaned the fact that American greed permeated social and political life (Twain & Warner, 1904). The novel quickly became the symbol for the graft, corruption, and materialism of industrializing America, so much so that the era has forever after been called the Gilded Age.

National Politics The Gilded Age failed to produce a president with a dominating character, noble charisma, or even a strong individual political agenda. Following the weak presidencies of Johnson and Grant, Congress emerged as the strongest of the three government branches. Rutherford B.

Hayes (1877–1881), James A. Garfield (1881), Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885), Grover Cleve - land (1885–1889), Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893), Cleveland again (1893–1897), and finally William McKinley (1897–1901) each shared power with Congress and even state leg - islatures to an extent unheard of before the Civil War.

Presidential and congressional elections tended to be close races—1% of the popular vote divided the candidates in three presidential elections of the era (see Table 3.1), and no party controlled a majority large enough to pass substantive legislation (Summers, 2004).

Although such close races suggest a hotly divided electorate, in reality Democrats and Republicans were hardly distinguishable or unique on policy matters. This political sys - tem often failed to address the needs of many Americans and the changes of a modernizing society. Throughout the period various segments of society searched for alternatives to the mainstream parties. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 70 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.1 Gilded Age Politics Table 3.1: U.S. Presidential elections, 1876–1900 Year Candidate Popular vote Electoral vote Voter participation 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes (R) 48% 185 81.8% Samuel J. Tilden (D) 51% 184 1880 James A. Garfield (R) 48.5% 214 79.4% Winfield S. Hancock (D) 48.1% 155 1884 Grover Cleveland (D) 48.5% 219 77.5% James G. Blaine (R) 48.2% 182 1888 Benjamin Harrison (R) 47.9% 233 79.3% Grover Cleveland (D) 48.6% 168 1892 Grover Cleveland (D) 46.1% 277 74.7% Benjamin Harrison (R) 43.0% 145 James B. Weaver (People’s) 8.5% 22 1896 William McKinley (R) 51.1% 271 79.3% William Jennings Bryan (D) (People’s) 47.7% 176 1900 William McKinley (R) 51.7% 292 73.2% William Jennings Bryan (D) (People’s) 45.5% 155 Republicans defined their party in opposition to the Democrats. Claiming a role as the party of moral ideas, they believed that government power could be used to make people behave better and adopt standards of Protestant virtue. A party of ordered progress, it became natu - ral for them to align with industrialists against disruptive workers, and with antialcohol, or temperance , activists against immigrant saloon keepers. They cheered on the industrializa - tion of America, supporting development through protective tariffs, supportive monetary policies, and grants of land to railroad developers.

Republicans also sometimes “waved the bloody shirt” to argue that they had always been the party of Union, blaming Democrats for the massive loss of American life in the Civil War.

Republicans began as a northern-based regional party, and although they heavily courted the African American vote in the South (until the Jim Crow system all but completely dis - enfranchised southern African American voters), their strength remained in the Northeast, Midwest, and Far West.

Democrats styled themselves as the party of reunion, claiming that the divisions of the Civil War were in the past, but they tended to support a vision of the nation that excluded Afri - can Americans. Although they embraced liberty rather than financial progress, it was a lib - erty that extended almost exclusively to White men, which they believed was in line with the vision of the founders (Summers, 2004). bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 71 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.1 Gilded Age Politics In urban areas, Democrats supported the rights of immigrants and Catholics, because their opponents did not. Democrats saw a chance to increase their political power with the grow - ing voting block of ethnic Americans. They defended immigrants and their cultural traditions (some of which embraced alcohol consumption) against the abuses of industrial employers and the Republican Protestant temperance reformers. In the South, where the Democratic Party controlled every state government after 1877, they supported the rise of Jim Crow laws, such as the one Homer Plessy and his fellow activists challenged in 1892.

Until the 1890s both Democrats and Republicans operated primarily as state or regional enti - ties, responding to the needs of their individual constituents. Representatives from farming districts might favor railroad regulation; those from cities with heavy immigrant populations would likely oppose bills prohibiting or limiting alcohol sales and consumption. Reacting to local needs, Republicans and Democrats regularly espoused similar positions on important or controversial issues. Most politicians of both parties embraced laissez-faire economics, believing that the government should take a hands-off approach in most economic matters.

Serving industrial leaders well, this philosophy argued that government intervention in the economy would inhibit all important progress.

Despite this local focus, there were issues of national importance that divided Democrats and Republicans in the Gilded Age. Among the most significant were the tariff and the currency.

The Tariff Republicans supported a tax on imports, called a tariff , to protect businesses and farmers from foreign competition. Tariffs raised the prices of imported goods, thus preventing them from underselling domestically produced goods. During the Civil War, when Republicans dominated Congress, they enacted a high tariff to protect the Union interests and fund the war. Southerners and westerners generally objected to the tariff after the war. Both regions relied more heavily than the North on imports because manufacturing concentrated in the Northeast, and the tax raised the prices they paid. Other nations also began to retaliate by taxing American farm exports and purchasing smaller quantities of wheat and corn, hurting farmers.

Democrats, who were strongest in the South and West, likewise generally objected to the Republicans’ tariff policy. However, support for tariffs became a complicated matter, and leg - islators often accommodated local interests. Depending on the industry, Democrats could come out in favor of specific tariffs. Additionally, since the elimination of the income tax in 1872, tariffs, along with excise taxes on commodities like liquor and tobacco, provided vital revenue for the federal government.

Currency The nation’s currency was another complicated issue occupying the political parties in the Gilded Age. During the Civil War the U.S. government printed more than $450 million green - backs, paper money backed only by the faith of the government. This was controversial because paper currency was traditionally supported with deposits of specie—gold or silver— that would guarantee its value. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 72 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.1 Gilded Age Politics After the war debate arose over the removal of the greenbacks from circulation. Resump - tionists , largely Republicans concerned about reducing federal spending and the national debt, wanted to return the nation to the gold standard, which would reduce the amount of paper currency in circulation until those traded had the backing of specie in the vaults. This conservative move would severely restrict the amount of money in circulation, making it dif - ficult to obtain credit and causing prices to fall. Businessmen and industrialists in stable seg - ments of the economy supported a return to the gold standard so that business transactions would occur at the highest currency. Other industrialists, especially those small farmers and workers who owed large debts, opposed returning to the standard, fearing it would worsen the economy. Greenbackers went further, advocating printing even more paper currency without the backing of gold. They argued that leaving greenbacks in circu - lation would make more funds available for invest - ment and place control of currency in the hands of the federal government, not independent bankers.

On this issue, as with the tariff, Republicans and Democrats divided depending on their local constit - uencies. Moderates in both parties supported some currency inflation, but not necessarily unlimited greenbacks. Many came to suggest a compromise of adding less valuable silver as well as gold to the specie standard to introduce a little more flexibility in the currency market.

Controversy stirred after Congress passed the Coinage Act of 1873 , barring the use of silver to back the nation’s currency. Western mining inter - ests, including those mining hundreds of pounds of silver at Nevada’s Comstock Lode and other sites, were outraged and called the bill the “Crime of ‘73.” Defenders of gold, however, feared that a flood of silver would devalue the nation’s currency and lead to wild speculation and lost profits for banks and northern industrialists. The Greenback-Labor Party, later called the Greenback Party, formed briefly to fight the resumption of the gold standard, but in 1879, $300 million in greenbacks were converted to gold (Ritter, 1997). Support for silver remained strong, however, especially as the economy fluctuated, and it would return as a major issue in the presidential election of 1896.

Reform and Realignment Politics in the Gilded Age took two forms. The traditional party system of Republicans and Democrats, in which male voters dominated and political operatives and officeholders doled out patronage positions, continued with only minor changes from the prewar era. The period MPI/Stringer/Archive Photos/Getty Images Greenbacker political propaganda during the 1870s accused Republicans and Democrats of using racial politics to divert attention from issues of the economy, specifically the use of gold and silver to back American currency. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 73 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.1 Gilded Age Politics also saw the rise of a new form of political voluntarism and activism in which women began to demand voting rights and workers and farmers organized to put their cause above custom - ary party alliances.

The Spoils System and Machine Politics It is not surprising that Gilded Age politics came under criticism and scorn for its corruption.

Elected officials from the local level to the president enjoyed the advantage of the spoils sys - tem , which allowed them to dole out patronage in the form of jobs and minor political offices. In fact, the president’s time was heavily occupied with the demands of making thousands of political appointments. For instance, the president appointed Native American agents to oversee western tribes and even local postmasters, many of whom were inept or corrupt.

Executive correspondence was flooded with letters requesting patronage, and sorting it all out diverted time from effective governance.

Whether at the local or federal level, the beneficiaries of patronage were loyal to those elected officials who put them in their jobs, perpetuating a culture of political corruption. With their livelihoods directly linked to party affiliation and personal alliances, government employees had a strong incentive to vote in favor of one party and to encourage others to do the same. It was even common for candidates to pay voters for their support in close elections. Newspa - pers were also highly partisan and presented a slanted view of events. In some cities and states, well-organized political machines controlled almost all aspects of government oper - ations by controlling the patronage and voting systems.

Most famously, New York’s Tammany Hall machine mobilized and controlled Democratic voters, many of whom were immigrants and recently naturalized citizens. The Society of St. Tammany began in New York in 1788 as an organization of craftsmen, and its primary function was to assist many of the immi - grants who came to America to find a better life.

Tammany Hall, as it was known, helped them to gain citizenship, and the immigrants returned the favor by offering their lifelong support at the ballot box.

Over time Tammany Hall gained extraordinary political power for the Democrats, especially in the mid-19th century under the leadership of William “Boss” Tweed. The political machine courted the votes and support of the city’s workers and immi - grants, offering in return assistance to immigrant families, minor jobs, and low-level political appoint - ments. But with power came corruption, as was shown in the contract to build the Tweed Court - house. Construction began in 1858 and was still not complete in 1870. In 1873 the New York courts tried and convicted Tweed for grand larceny due to outrageous overspending associated with the proj - ect (Dunbar & Jackson, 2005). The Art Archive/SuperStock William “Boss” Tweed, shown here in a photo taken by Mathew Brady, built his power in Tammany Hall by ensuring his friends were placed in important political positions. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 74 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.1 Gilded Age Politics Civil Service Reform To address the corruption inherent in machine politics, reformers on both sides of the party system began to call for an end to the spoils system and the implementation of a testing system for public employees. In an era of industrialization and technology, many aspects of society began to professionalize, including fields such as architecture and engineering, and reform - ers sought similar professionalization in the public sector. Reform of the civil service slowly gained popularity with both Democrats and Republicans. However, removing the power of patronage appointments would also reduce the power of the executive branch, so this impor - tant realignment faced stiff resistance from some quarters.

The assassination of a president finally turned the tide of support for civil service reform, exposing in the most horrific way the potential abuses of the spoils system and the climate of ineptitude it fostered. In 1881, less than a year into his presidency, James A. Garfield was shot and fatally wounded by Charles Guiteau, a disappointed office seeker. The new president, Chester A. Arthur, himself a longtime recipient and supporter of patronage, was faced with a scandal in the postal service and the public trials of several high-level officials, which led him to abandon the spoils system and support reform.

At Arthur’s urging Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883, creating the independent Civil Service Commission and implementing a competitive examination process for federal employees (Cashman, 1993). At first the act covered only a few federal jobs and did little to reduce corruption. Over time, however, more appointed positions funneled into the examina - tion system. Through a ratchet provision, outgoing presidents could protect their political appointees by transferring positions into the civil service system, thereby ensuring employ - ment continued beyond the president’s term. The law applied only to federal positions, how - ever, and did nothing to curb the corruption of machine politics at the state and city levels.

Voluntarism and Popular Politics The problems of industrializing society, including political corruption and scandals, over - crowded cities, massive influxes of immigrants, and a general sense of moral decline, extended well beyond the civil service, however, and sparked political interest from segments of society outside the political mainstream.

Traditionally seen as a masculine calling, the public sphere of politics was technically off limits to women. Although a national movement for women’s rights had been active from the middle of the 19th century, in the Gilded Age women began to organize themselves into voluntary associations in order to engage in politics more directly. Voluntary associations eventually came to blur the lines between the domestic sphere, partisan politics, and the movement for woman suffrage , or the right to vote. However, by recruiting mainly educated middle-class women, many organizations continued to reflect the biases of the White Protes - tant mainstream.

Organized in 1873 to curb the abuse of alcohol, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) offers a clear example of this political evolution. The brainchild of Frances Willard, the WCTU grew to become one of the largest women’s political organizations of the 19th cen - tury and eventually spread internationally. It endorsed the vote for women, allied with the nation’s leading labor unions, and campaigned against child labor and in favor of the 8-hour bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 75 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.1 Gilded Age Politics workday. Boasting more than 150,000 members and dozens of local chapters by the 1890s, the organization forced politicians to respond to their agenda as they advocated prison reform, public morality, literacy, and improving the conditions of workers (Tyrell, 1991). Challenges to the political status quo emanated from those supporting the agenda of the labor - ing classes as well. Economist Henry George, the author of Progress and Poverty (1879), a best- selling examination and critique of the industrial system, ran against the Tammany Hall candidate for New York mayor in 1886. George endorsed the Knights of Labor and advocated taxing property and redistributing the wealth so that American workers could live in comfort. He gained broad appeal among ethnic New Yorkers—including the Irish and German Americans who formed the backbone of the city’s labor movement—and of Tammany’s usual electoral base (Moss, 2008).

Tammany activists destroyed thousands of ballots cast in his favor, but George still finished second.

His candidacy served as a warning to New York’s powerful political machine. Under pressure from its constituents, mostly laborers and immigrants, Tammany adopted a pro-labor stance and pushed for labor reform. In these ways and others, new constituencies forced traditional political par - ties and institutions into realignments that were more responsive to the needs of a modern indus - trial society (Welch, 2008). Critics of the System Other challenges to partisanship came from third parties. Historian Mark Wahlgren Summers (2004) argues that between the Civil War and the turn of the century, the two-party system was “more like a two-and-a-half party system” (p. 28). A number of regional and national third parties arose during the Gilded Age, some of which gained enough strength to put for - ward presidential candidates.

Those opposing a return to the gold standard formed the Greenback Party in 1876. Dis - affected farmers ran candidates in the Midwest, while New England farmers and workers formed the Labor Reform Party. Workingmen’s parties in multiple localities, two of which managed to field presidential candidates in 1888, drew support from disaffected work - ers and their allies. The Prohibition Party ran candidates who promised to go further than the established parties to ban the sale of alcohol, earning it the endorsement of the WTCU (Summers, 2004). Culver Pictures/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY This 1874 Currier and Ives print titled, “Woman’s Holy Warrior” depicts a woman waging a battle against the consumption of alcohol. It was etched the same year that the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union formed. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 76 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.2 The New Cultural Order Few of these political movements won much electoral success, but they demonstrated that the existing major parties were failing to meet the needs of a rapidly changing electorate. The proliferation of third parties also reflected a lack of confidence in the Democrats and Repub - licans to tackle the important issues of the day. Movements such as the Greenbackers and Prohibitionists did not reject the idea of party organization; their concern was that the exist - ing parties failed to address concerns over the money supply and inflation, as well as social problems such as drunkenness.

Critics existed within the parties as well, and in some cases, particularly at the state level, a faction garnered enough support to swing an election from one major party to another.

During the presidential election of 1884, for example, a group of Republicans known as mugwumps (a Native American word for “war leader”) bolted from their party to sup - port Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland. Arguing that James G. Blaine, the Republican nominee, was too closely associated with the spoils system and financial corruption, they chose morality over party loyalty. Possibly due to the mugwumps’ support in New York State, Cleveland won one of the tightest elections in history, with a plurality of fewer than 30,000 votes (Cashman, 1993).

When the dominant political parties failed to meet the needs of reformers, they sought new means of making their voices heard, and the loudest voices urging political realignment and reform came from the newly emerging professionals and middle class.

3.2 The New Cultural Order A growing middle class of professionals with expanded knowledge, new skills, and social concerns accompanied the rapid industrialization of U.S. society. These groups included established professions such as doctors and lawyers, but also the newly professionalizing occupations of teachers, social workers, and eventually sociologists, psychologists, and other college-educated academics. Their ranks were joined by new types of white-collar workers, middle managers, and corporate employees who increasingly occupied a middle stratum between laborers and industrialists. They formed a movement that sought change through both intellectual study and grassroots activism (Cashman, 1993).

Gilded Age Social Philosophy The impulse to remedy the social and political conditions of the Gilded Age inspired a num - ber of social thinkers to suggest a host of solutions. For example, Henry George, the author of Progress and Poverty , moved many followers with his economic philosophy known as Geor - gism, which suggested that people own the value of their own labor and of the things they create and that nature and land belong to all humanity. Most famously he advocated a “single tax” on land only, not on the structures or improvements to the land, to prevent the formation of land monopolies (George, 1886). bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 77 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.2 The New Cultural Order Socialism offered another path to reform. Many Americans found their first introduction to socialism through Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward, 2000–1887 , a utopian science-fiction novel in which the main character, Julian West, awakens in the year 2000 and finds himself in a Socialist paradise. The government owns the industries, and the citizens all receive an equal distribution of wealth and resources. Bellamy’s ideas, which he called “nationalism,” inspired dozens of clubs whose members hoped his vision could reshape the industrial United States (Lipow, 1982). His followers believed that the gap that seemed to be ever widening between the wealthy and poor could still be bridged and that there might be a compromise whereby material gain could exist while economic inequality was muted.

Women’s Activism The growing profession of social work offered a different and more grounded response to the problems of a modernizing society. Although it would not fully flourish until after the turn of the 20th century, the reform agenda of social workers brought many middle-class women to the forefront of activism in the late 19th century. Until that time middle-class women, though often well educated, could follow few career paths other than teaching. The most prominent among the new social workers was Jane Addams, who, along with Ellen Starr, founded the nation’s first settlement house , called Hull House, in Chicago to offer English classes and other services to the city’s growing population of recent European immigrants.

Modeled after comparable facilities in Great Brit - ain, Hull House sparked a national movement. By the end of 1891, there were at least six similar organizations in other American cities, and within a few years there were more than two dozen (Brands, 1995).

The settlement houses combined intellectual study with community-based activism. Addams’s philoso - phy aimed to serve the needy among the immigrant working class through classes and lectures on lit - erature, the arts, and practical domestic activities such as sewing and food preservation. At the same time, she and fellow social workers collected data in the interest of developing a scientific understanding of the causes of poverty and dependence. Florence Kelley, who lived at Hull House from 1891 through 1899, was among the first to use the settlement house as the focal point for studying urban prob - lems, eventually publishing a six-volume survey of urban conditions in Chicago that became important ammunition for social reformers (Cashman, 1993). Everett Collection/SuperStock Jane Addams, founder of Hull House and a social worker, offered basic services to Chicago immigrants in the hopes of helping them succeed. In addition to her work at Hull House, Addams became an advocate for woman suffrage because she felt that if women had the right to vote, they would support urban reform. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 78 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.2 The New Cultural Order Addams and other settlement house workers realized that urban reform required legislation, and they were confident that once women—especially middle-class women—possessed the right to vote, their moral force would bring it about (Traxel, 1998). Social workers’ campaigns against child labor and for the reform of urban sanitation and industrial working conditions thus strengthened the movement for woman suffrage. As the goals of social reformers and settlement house workers began to merge with those of longtime woman suffrage advocates, they reflected yet another attempt at political realignment in the Gilded Age.

Woman Suffrage in the Gilded Age Emanating from the pre–Civil War abolition movement, advocates of women’s voting rights gained strength after 1870. The previous year woman suffragists had split into factions.

One group, including Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe, formed the American Woman Suf - frage Association, which worked toward gaining the vote state by state. Shying away from controversial issues, the organization focused on an incremental push for woman suffrage.

The group maintained ties with the Republican Party and sought the aid of men in their cause.

Early success came in 1869 when the Wyoming territory granted women the right to vote.

After it became a state in 1890, Wyoming also had some of the earliest female officeholders.

Before the Gilded Age ended, other western states followed suit: Idaho, Utah, and Colorado granted women the right to vote in statewide elections (Baker, 2005).

The more radical woman suffrage advocates, led by longtime activists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. Also organizing in 1869, this group condemned both the 14th and 15th Amendments, believing their exclusion of women in citizenship and voting rights was a mistake. Seeing suffrage as an important first step to achieving political and civil equality with men, these women argued that voting was a natural right.

They focused their campaign on the benefits of suffrage. Women could work toward an improved America once they held the power of the ballot. They could work for a revision in laws that barred them from universities; revise marriage, child custody, and divorce laws; and clean up the cities and the corrupt political system. In 1876 Anthony argued, “Woman needs the ballot as a protection to herself; it is a means and not an end. Until she gets it she will not be satisfied, nor will she be protected” (as cited in Baker, 2005, p. 8).

Women did not gain the right to vote nationally in the Gilded Age, but the suffrage movement did win growing support. Stanton and Anthony were particularly visible, traveling the coun - try to speak to hundreds of audiences large and small about the benefits of woman suffrage.

Realizing their common cause, the two organizations merged in 1890 to create the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Millions were drawn to the cause, but support for the ideal of expanded citizenship was waning for women just as it would for African Americans.

The existing political system was unwilling to respond to the modern demands of women, and their suffrage cause temporarily stalled. For women, the era’s political realignments would fall short. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 79 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.3 The New South The Social Gospel The work of female social workers and the WCTU found support in the Social Gospel move - ment. Ministers in the movement—which was strongest among Unitarians, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists—sought to make their denominations more appealing to the urban poor, particularly immigrant workers. Proponents of the Social Gospel denied the tenets of Social Darwinism (see Chapter 2) that declared society’s economic inequalities were a natu - ral reflection of the superiority of some individuals over others. Influenced by social philoso - phers of the era, they argued that poverty was not simply an unavoidable result of misfortune or incompetence, but was a social problem that could be treated (Cashman, 1993).

Proponents of the Social Gospel believed they had a divine mandate to perform benevolent ministry, especially in the growing cities. Combining religious dogma, secular social science, and politics, they set about to reform society. Some created committees to study urban pov - erty; others formed home missions to work directly with the poor. Although historians have long focused on the role of men (especially ministers) in the Social Gospel movement, more recent scholarship confirms that women such as Frances Willard of the WCTU worked jointly with men to build a just society and ameliorate the era’s shocking urban and industrial condi - tions (Edwards & Gifford, 2003).

3.3 The New South Women’s reform movements and proponents of the Social Gospel concentrated most of their efforts in the Northeast, where industrialization and immigration were bringing rapid change.

The southern states attracted few immigrants, and efforts there concentrated on hurrying to catch up with the industrial North. When the final federal troops were removed from the South in 1877, the region entered into an era of rebuilding and redefining its economy and its social system. In this so-called New South , investors put their money into sawmills, textile mills, and coal mines. Railroads connected cities and countryside, and advocates hoped that new technologies would bring the region closer to the modern transformation occurring in the North (Ayers, 2007).

New South Industry The New South witnessed an explosion of industrial activity. In 1860 there were just over 20,000 manufacturing firms in the South. By 1880 there were almost 30,000, and by the end of the century there were nearly 70,000. Most of these were textile mills, tobacco factories, or steel mills located in a southern industrial belt that extended from the mineral fields around Birmingham, Alabama, to the Carolina Piedmont region.

As before the war, southern industry focused largely on the processing of the region’s agri - cultural products. In 1880 just 8.7% of the region’s population lived in an urban area; by the start of the 20th century, this had increased to 20%. The economic devastation the region suf - fered during the war, however, meant that there was not sufficient regional capital to support industrialization. With the exception of tobacco manufacture, most New South industries bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 80 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.3 The New South depended on northern investors. Encouraging northern investment was essential to building an industrial South, but it also left key decision making and planning in the hands of investors from outside the region.

Steel mills figured prominently in the New South’s industrial growth. In 1880 Virginia and Alabama produced 205,000 tons of pig iron, a commodity in high demand because of the nationwide expansion of railroads. Rich deposits of iron ore in north Alabama made that state a natural location for the industry. With demand increasing, the southern mineral belt expanded production to more than 1.5 million tons by 1892.

Even capitalists in the North began to take notice of the progress and promise of southern industrialization. As steel magnate Andrew Carnegie observed in 1889, “The South is Penn - sylvania’s most formidable industrial enemy” (as cited in Ayers, 2007, p. 110). In fact, north - ern investors controlled much of the industry, and men like Carnegie manipulated the prices of southern steel to protect his Pittsburgh plants and retain northern customers.

The steel mills were magnets for rural African Americans, who migrated to southern cities such as Birmingham to seek employment. Filling as many as 90% of the unskilled positions, African Americans regulated the flow of molten iron in the furnaces, used heavy sledges to break up iron globules, and hauled iron bars weighing up to 100 pounds. African Americans performed the most dangerous, hot, and dirty tasks in the mills, but the industry still became an important conduit for them to escape rural poverty.

Mill owners recruited skilled White workers from the North to fill the more skilled and super - visory jobs and encouraged animosity between the races. Fearing that industrialists might substitute African Americans in their skilled positions, boilermaker lodges and other union organizations barred African Americans from membership. One Birmingham lodge adver - tised its membership was open to only “white, free-born male citizens of some civilized coun - try” (Zieger, 2007, p. 21). Textile mills were even more central to the New South economy. Taking advantage of the abundance of water power and the nearby supply of raw materials, especially in the North Carolina Piedmont, textile mills pro - duced cotton thread, sheeting, and other fabrics. Unlike in the steel indus - try, however, African Americans could not gain a foothold even in the cotton mills’ unskilled positions. Employers preferred poor Whites who migrated from the surrounding countryside.

Many mill owners advertised the work as being suitable for White women, many of whom had never worked out - side the home (Hall et al., 1987). They emphasized that the new mills were Photori images/SuperStock To promote their textile mills as safe and respectable places for White women and girls to work, mill owners excluded African American workers to lessen concerns of possible race mixing at work. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 81 1/9/15 9:07 AM Section 3.3 The New South safe, respectable, and modern; any chance of building a female- or family-dominated work - force required the exclusion of African Americans.

Late in the 19th century African Americans temporarily gained the favor of mill operators after union activism threatened to disrupt production. Believing African Americans to be more loyal than Whites and less likely to strike, some mills began hiring African American operatives. One newspaper editor remarked, “the colored man is now knocking at the door of cotton mills asking for work at lower wages than white men would think of ” (as cited in Zieger, 2007, p. 21). However, amid a rising climate of racial tensions, including fear of mis - cegenation, or race mixing, White textile workers objected strenuously to the introduction of African Americans. Ultimately, African American employees performed only the most menial of tasks.

Despite some real advances, the industrial development of the New South failed to compete with the far greater scale of development in the North, and the region remained largely agri - cultural. Although some capital investment brought industry to the South, with the exception of a few pockets—such as Birmingham’s steel mills—development remained linked with the agricultural economy. Textile mills depended on cotton production. Furniture making relied on timber harvesting. Racial divisions also contributed to the slower pace of industrialization, as the color line continued to divide workers and prevented the organization of the southern labor force.

Politics of the New South Politically, as in most other facets of life, the South divided along racial lines: Most Whites were loyal Democrats, whereas African Americans supported the party of Lincoln and remained steadfast Republicans. The conservative Democrats who came to dominate politics in the region included members of the former planter class and the new entrepreneurs and indus - trialists who pushed for economic growth. Southern Democrats supported White domination of politics and society, and they reacted against the civil rights gains of Reconstruction by cutting taxes and reducing public services, including education. Their intention was to keep African Americans at the lowest rung of society, thereby ensuring both White supremacy and maintaining a dependent labor force.

The South was not immune to the third-party coalitions such as those formed by discontented citizens in the North and West, however (Cashman, 1993). The sharecropping system that tied people to the land ensnared both White and African American farmers in cycles of debt and left them desperate for relief. And though southern African Americans experienced racial discrimination after Reconstruction, the Jim Crow system of segregation that Homer Plessy and others protested did not instantly materialize upon the withdrawal of federal troops from the South. In some cases White farmers crossed racial lines to form political alliances with African Americans. Occurring in each state of the former Confederacy, these alliances threat - ened the status quo that had always defined Whites as superior regardless of their economic position in society. © Bettmann/Corbis A White member of Virginia’s Readjuster Party courts the vote of an African American man. A biracial political party, the movement lasted well past Reconstruction, bringing voters together on important issues such as public debt and education. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 82 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.3 The New South safe, respectable, and modern; any chance of building a female- or family-dominated work - force required the exclusion of African Americans.

The South was not immune to the third-party coalitions such as those formed by discontented citizens in the North and West, however (Cashman, 1993). The sharecropping system that tied people to the land ensnared both White and African American farmers in cycles of debt and left them desperate for relief. And though southern African Americans experienced racial discrimination after Reconstruction, the Jim Crow system of segregation that Homer Plessy and others protested did not instantly materialize upon the withdrawal of federal troops from the South. In some cases White farmers crossed racial lines to form political alliances with African Americans. Occurring in each state of the former Confederacy, these alliances threat - ened the status quo that had always defined Whites as superior regardless of their economic position in society. © Bettmann/Corbis A White member of Virginia’s Readjuster Party courts the vote of an African American man. A biracial political party, the movement lasted well past Reconstruction, bringing voters together on important issues such as public debt and education. A particularly important biracial coalition, the Readjuster Party , gained control of Virginia politics between 1879 and 1883, electing a governor, two U.S. senators, and representa - tives in 6 of the state’s 10 congressional dis - tricts. This partnership of African American and White Republicans and White Democrats sought to readjust (lower) that state’s debt and support public education (Dailey, 2000).

Readjusters also supported African American suffrage, officeholding, and jury service, thus providing a dangerous example in the eyes of those who sought to reclaim the South for the White majority. Historian Jane Dailey (2000) argues that the success of groups such as the Readjusters inspired a movement to exclude African Americans from public influence by the end of the Gilded Age. The rise of Jim Crow and the escalation of violence against African American southerners “grew out of white southerners’ specific and concrete encoun - ters with black social, economic, and political power” (Dailey, 2000, p. 2).

The Supreme Court and the Rise of Jim Crow In the turmoil of the post-Reconstruction era, African Americans’ alliances with Whites were deliberately undermined to divide the southern working class, and the New South came to espouse virulent racism. Simultaneously, in a series of important decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court made it easier for White southerners to roll back the civil rights gains of Reconstruc - tion. The court overturned the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which had guaranteed equal access in public accommodations. Its rulings in the Civil Rights Cases (1883) further declared that neither the 13th nor the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution empowered the federal government to protect African Americans from the actions of individuals.

Those amendments applied, according to the court, only to discrimination by state or local governments. The federal government had no ability to protect African Americans from discrimination practiced by individuals or businesses. Southern business owners quickly responded, enacting new Jim Crow policies to prevent African Americans from riding in rail - cars with Whites and separating the races in restaurants, schools, hospitals, and even public toilet facilities. “Whites Only” signs began to appear across the region and would be sanc - tioned by the U.S. Supreme Court 13 years later. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 83 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.3 The New South The challenges that Homer Plessy and others brought to the advancing policies of legal seg - regation brought no change in the Gilded Age and may have actually sped the advance of Jim Crow. The 1896 Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson made “separate but equal” pos - sible across the South and enabled the introduction of even more restrictive segregation. The decision became a landmark case , one that sets a legal precedent by which other rulings are measured. Three years after the decision, the court applied the separation policy to public schools in Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education , allowing states and districts to establish separate schools for African American and White children even where facilities for African American students did not exist.

The voting rights of African American men came under attack across the South as well. Even before the Plessy decision, Southern states enacted literacy tests and imposed poll taxes aimed at restricting the franchise to Whites. Literacy tests required potential voters to read and interpret documents as a qualification for voter registration. Poll taxes required voters to pay a certain sum, usually $1, before voting, a hurdle that disproportionately affected African Americans. Poor and illiterate Whites were exempted from the laws through the implemen - tation of a so-called grandfather clause : Those whose grandfather had voted were entitled to maintain the right without qualification. The supporters of grandfather clauses aimed not just to stop African Americans from voting, but also to dissuade poor Whites from finding allies across the color line.

The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the poll tax and literacy test in 1898. Support for racial discrimination even spread outside the South, with a number of states outside the region passing legislation separating African Americans and Whites in schools and many pub - lic settings and banning interracial marriage.

Additionally, some areas of the United States deprived African Americans of equal rights through customary, or de facto, segregation policies. Although not codified in law, de facto discrimination could be a powerful restriction on the lives of African Americans. In some northern regions African Americans were subjected to residential segregation, forced to clus - ter in the poorest housing. Residential segregation often led to school segregation, even in communities without formal segregation policies.

Ida B. Wells and the Antilynching Campaign Those opposing African American rights argued that allowing African American political participation would lead to miscegenation, and they expressed the need to protect “White womanhood.” As the 20th century approached, violence against African Americans grew exponentially.

Race riots were not uncommon. One of the more infamous occurred in Wilmington, North Carolina, in November 1898. Aiming to oust the mayor, who supported African American vot - ing rights, and to rid the city of a biracial city council, more than 1,000 White Democrats attacked African American businesses and citizens, resulting in several deaths. In the after - math more than 2,000 African Americans fled the city, and those who remained were disfran - chised (Cecelski & Tyson, 1998). bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 84 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.3 The New South As industry attracted workers, many of them single African American men, into growing cit - ies, fear of crime and vice exacerbated racial tensions. Violence against African Americans took the lives of hundreds as White southerners, facing the economic and political disrup - tions of the era, increasingly lashed out. Lynching , a race-specific murder perpetrated by an individual or a group, was of special and growing concern because many Whites saw it as necessary retribution against the decay of society. These horrific crimes could include hang - ings, severe beatings, physical torture, and often mutilation or burning of the victim’s body.

Lynchings were also often public spectacles. Announced in newspapers, they would attract hundreds of onlookers, including middle-class and upper class families. Even when carried out privately by small groups of vigilantes, participants often took photographs, which were shared as evidence of what many southern Whites believed to be “divinely sanctioned acts” (Wood, 2009). In the late Gilded Age, especially after 1892, more than 100 African Americans were lynched each year.

Ida B. Wells, an African American newspaper editor from Memphis, Tennessee, led the cam - paign against lynching. Dismayed when a mob lynched three successful African American businessmen in Memphis, including a close friend, Wells penned an editorial condemning the violence. Her outspoken activism led to death threats and her eventual move to the North, where she began to collect data on lynching and grew alarmed at its increasing frequency.

She traveled across the United States and Europe, educating audiences about the insidi - ous crime through speeches and pamphlets. She persuaded British activists to form an antilynching organization and gained the respect of important African American leaders, including Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and T. Thomas Fortune, the publisher of the nation’s leading African American newspaper, the New York Age (Barnes, 2012). Wells argued that the myth of African American men raping White women, often used to justify lynching, hid the reality that mob violence against African Americans was closely related to shifting economic and social structures of the New South. Her care - fully assembled data proved that very few victims were actually accused of rape. Like her friend in Memphis, many lynching victims had committed no crime at all, save for representing a challenge to the all-embracing system of racial domination.

Wells demonstrated that southern White men used lynching to make up for their loss of control over African Americans at the end of slavery and that it was a means to maintain the region’s patriarchal control over White women and African American men. Compiling statistics to back her assertions, Everett Collection/SuperStock Journalist Ida B. Wells waged an international campaign to stop the violence of lynching. In the Gilded Age more than 100 African Americans were lynched each year. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 85 1/9/15 9:08 AM Section 3.4 The Populist Movement Wells was the first activist to gain a broad audience on the subject. Lynching did not end in Wells’s lifetime, but she did articulate the issue, bringing it to the attention of the nation (Bay, 2009). Her campaign for a federal antilynching law earned the respect of many reformers on both sides of the color line.

Wells’s activism during the Gilded Age also offers another important example of women’s political activism. Her crusade sparked the growth of voluntary associations among African American women, namely the National Association of Colored Women , which championed woman suffrage and fought against lynching and Jim Crow laws. Like the WCTU and other White women’s associations, the National Association of Colored Women came to fight for education and social improvements, eventually garnering 300,000 members.

3.4 The Populist Movement Despite the dramatic growth of American cities in the late 19th century, most of the nation still lived a rural, agrarian lifestyle. However, life on the farm—the place that best represented the nation’s heritage—seemed to present new challenges and threats every day. Many farm - ers faced debt and bankruptcy due to economic panic, overproduction, and steep declines in prices, and they looked to the government for support. When none came, they decided to take their political future into their own hands by forming a new political party. As the United States stood on the cusp of a transition from its agrarian past to an industrial future, the farm - ers of America joined with workers to speak out against an unresponsive government and the crises of the 1890s.

The Roots of Populism The expansion of settlement into the West extended land ownership to more Americans, but it also resulted in a more competitive farm economy. In terms of simple supply-and-demand economics, the increase in agricultural output drove down prices, which in turn decreased farm earnings. To make up for lost profits, farmers planted even more, further glutting national and international markets for wheat, corn, and especially cotton. In the South the merchants who controlled land and credit pushed small tenant farmers further and further into debt as they planted additional cotton in an attempt to free their families from debt peonage.

In the Midwest and Great Plains, farmers became dependent on the railroad to ship their commodities to distant markets, but rail lines often charged smaller producers higher trans - portation fees, offering only large farmers discount rates for shipping in higher volume.

The inequities in the economy and especially the agricultural sector fostered a populist movement that brought farmers and others together in a crusade to make the advancing capitalist system more responsive to their needs.

The Rise of the Populist Coalition This populist, or people’s, movement grew quickly in the 1880s, soon developing into the larg - est grassroots political insurgency in U.S. history. It began with anger over the crop lien and bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 86 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.4 The Populist Movement sharecropping systems in the South. Poor White and African American farmers came together in a cooperative organization called the Southern Farmers’ Alliance, which demanded free - dom from the exploitive interest rates charged by merchants. Farmers’ Alliances formed in dozens of communities and helped spread the populist message.

The message quickly gained momentum in the rural farming belt of the Great Plains, where organizations such as the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry protested high shipping rates. Although some organizations experienced a decline in membership, by 1890 the movement coalesced into a political movement with a national platform (Holmes, 1994).

The Grange The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, or the Grange , was one of the most important com - munity organizations to come to the farmers’ aid. A Granger was any farmer who sought improvement in his work - ing conditions. The Granger move - ment, which reached its peak in the Gilded Age, focused on the key drivers of agrarian discontent: abusive railroad practices, unfair businessmen who organized monopolies, and corrupt politicians (Nordin, 1974). Like their southern counterparts, the Grangers created cooperatives or alliances that allowed small farmers to combine the sale and shipping of their crops.

They also struck back at the railroads through both the ballot box and the court system. Grangers put candidates forward in many Midwest political contests and championed a political platform that was strongly against laissez-faire economics and what they called the “do-nothing” policies of the government. They sought protection for all laboring classes against the growing power of capitalists, and they believed that political cooperation would help them achieve their agrarian goals. In 1868 there were 10 Granges in America; just 7 years later, there were more than 1,000, with nearly 1.5 million members (Woods, 1991).

The Grangers focused their reforms at the state level, seeking laws that would establish maxi - mum railroad shipping and grain storage rates. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a series of rulings between 1876 and 1877 called the Granger Cases , which upheld several important © Corbis This 1873 promotional print for Grange members shows idealistic scenes of farm life. Grangers tried to protect this life by fighting against Gilded Age politics. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 87 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.4 The Populist Movement challenges that made state railroads offer fair rates to all shippers. In some states railroads skirted court rulings and intimidated farmers through discriminatory policies (Cashman, 1993). Moreover, the Grangers were unable to challenge the monopolistic national railroads.

Despite their successes, the Grange rather quickly fell into decline as cooperatives failed and many farmers suffered financially and became disillusioned.

Railroad Regulation Even as the Grange faded, however, ongoing demands for railroad regulation cemented the populist coalition. The importance of railroads to the growing U.S. economy made regulation not just a regional farmers’ issue, but a national concern, and it united Gilded Age voters.

More than 30 regulatory bills were introduced between 1874 and 1885, but all failed in the face of conservative courts that sided with the railroads. The failure offered another example of a political system more responsive to the needs of industry than the demands of the Ameri - can people.

Momentum for regulation increased, however, after the Supreme Court reversed its ruling in one of the Granger Cases , Wabash v. Illinois , in 1886. Declaring that state laws could not con - trol the traffic of a railroad that passed through more than one state, the court ruling spurred a new movement for reform. The first federal legislation came the following year, when Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act. The law created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) , which aimed to oversee railroad regulation, ensure fair rates, and elimi - nate rate discrimination against small shippers.

However, as courts shifted toward a probusiness interpretation of the law, and Republican and Democratic politicians remained deeply divided on the issue of regulation, the ICC proved an ineffective vehicle for ending discriminatory practices (Cashman, 1993; Calhoun, 2010).

For example, it could not stop the railroads from raising prices and then offering substantial rebates to large shippers. The legislation did set an important precedent for later reform, though, as the tide of public opinion would continue to press for regulation.

The People’s Party Even though the Granger movement declined and railroad regulation failed to make signifi - cant headway, the impulse for economic and social reform continued to thrive. In 1890 the leaders of several important chapters of the Farmers’ Alliance met in Ocala, Florida, and agreed to some basic principles for a new third-party movement.

Up to this point, Farmers’ Alliance members had operated by bringing their unique issues to play within the established political parties. Members of the Southern Alliance tended to work through the Democratic Party, whereas midwestern alliances favored the Repub - licans. Likewise, alliance members ran for political positions throughout the United States as both Republicans and Democrats. Working through the parties this way, alliance mem - bers became governors in six states and senators in three, and they held 50 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although most of these victories were among those running as Democrats, it was clear that the alliances were gaining increasing political power in both parties (Goodwyn, 1979). bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 88 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.4 The Populist Movement On the heels of this success, the strongest political activists among the alliances, the Knights of Labor, and the Colored Farmers’ National Alliance met in St. Louis in 1892 and formed a distinct political party with the express aim of fielding a populist presidential candidate.

They called themselves the People’s Party , and their supporters the Populists. As the 1,300 Populist delegates endorsed the movement and its party, they stood beneath a banner that read simply, “We do not ask for sympathy or pity. We ask for justice” (as cited in McMath, 1992, p. 161). Their platform included a call for an 8-hour workday, immigration restriction, a graduated income tax, and government ownership of railroads, banks, and telegraph lines (McMath, 1992).

Convening a larger convention at Omaha, Nebraska, in July, the People’s Party nominated James B. Weaver of Iowa, a former Union officer, as its candidate in the 1892 presidential elec - tion. To balance the ticket, Confederate veteran James Field of Virginia filled the vice presi - dent’s spot. The convention produced the Omaha Platform , which called for a wide range of social and economic reforms. Provisions called for an 8-hour workday, direct election of U.S.

senators, single terms for president and vice president, and nationalization of the railroads. A major plank called for the free and unlimited coinage of silver and abandonment of the gold standard altogether.

More than a million Americans voted for the People’s Party, which was greater than 8.5% of the popular vote. Weaver received more than 50% of the vote in Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, North Dakota, and Kansas, many of which were silver mining states. Though Weaver lost the presidential election, the results gave the party some incentive to continue its work, and in succeeding years it successfully elected 10 representatives, 5 senators, and 3 governors.

Through the remainder of the 1890s, though, it became increasingly difficult for the varied and sometimes divergent interests of farmers and industrial workers to unite on policy direc - tions. For example, the needs of a Knights of Labor union member were far different from those of a small farmer. Other disagreements occurred among the Populists in the South.

Some of the more progressive members wanted to let African Americans into the party, but others staunchly opposed it.

Apart from these growing differences, the party’s showing in 1892 was significant. Winning 22 electoral votes (a first for any third party since the Civil War), the Populists may have swayed the election in favor of former Democratic president Grover Cleveland, who won a second term over incumbent Republican Benjamin Harrison.

The Panic of 1893 Farmers and industrial workers were not the only Americans experiencing economic distress in the 1890s; the once booming railroad industry continued to suffer as well. A frenzy of stock market speculation in the 1880s drove railroad stock prices to wild heights (Steeples & Whit - ten, 1998). The first sign that the railroad industry was not as strong as investors believed came in February 1893, when the Philadelphia and Reading railroads declared bankruptcy.

Similar speculation happened around the world as stock and currency markets rose and then collapsed, leading to crises in such far-flung locations as Argentina, Italy, and Australia (Bryan, 2010). Just before Cleveland’s second inauguration, the U.S. economy fell into a simi - lar panic. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 89 12/18/14 3:01 PM Section 3.4 The Populist Movement American Experience: Coxey’s Army The hunger, hardship, and desperation initiated by the Panic of 1893 caused social unrest throughout the nation. One of the best examples of this began in Massillon, Ohio, where Jacob S. Coxey decided that the government should help those left penniless by the economy. Coxey was a well-off owner of a sand quarry and a farm in Ohio, and a breeder of racehorses in Kentucky. After hearing a Populist speak in Chicago about the need for government to take responsibilit y for public works projects to boost the economy, he became convinced of the importance of the idea. He could not get local officials to take him seriously, and the only way he thought that he could get the president listen to him was through a dramatic march from Ohio to Washington, D.C. Those who followed him there became known as Coxey’s Army . One of Cleveland’s first acts of his term was to convince Congress to repeal the Sherman Sil - ver Purchase Act, which restricted the amount of inexpensive silver in the currency flow.

When the economy failed to recover immediately, Americans rushed to remove their deposits from banks. Multiple banks failed as a result, and the Populists used the crisis to gather support for their movement, declaring that the Panic of 1893 was the fault of industrialists and bankers (Wicker, 2000). In addition to bank failures, the stock market declined precipitously. Before the economic catastrophe ended, 74 railroads, 600 banks, and 15,000 busi - nesses collapsed. The panic turned into a nationwide depression that lasted for 4 years and left more than a million industrial workers (or 20% of the workforce) unemployed. Fami - lies starved and in the winter had no money for heat. Many more lost their homes to foreclosure and stole rides on trains, looking for work in whatever city was next on the tracks. Farmers struggled to survive as prices for crops plummeted.

The depression in Europe further worsened the conditions in the United States, and the panic and depression demonstrated how closely tied the entire U.S. economy was to global markets. It seemed that for the first time, there was no escaping the failing economy. Whether someone farmed the land or toiled in industry, every - one suffered together. Everett Collection/SuperStock The Panic of 1893 inspired this 1896 Broadway production, The War of Wealth. According to the advertisement, the run on the bank depicted in the play is “the most animated & realistic scene ever shown on the stage.” (continued) bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 90 1/9/15 9:09 AM Section 3.4 The Populist Movement As he gathered his army, Coxey pro - hibited weapons of any kind, though he did create symbols that designated “officers” of various ranks. The members of the group left Ohio in a cold rain on Easter morning, March 25, 1894, and by May 1 they had walked the entire way to the nation’s capital. Over that distance the marchers had swelled in numbers from 100 to 500. Nearly 20,000 people awaited their arrival, but the end was not what they had hoped for—police arrested Coxey and other leaders for walking on the grass of the Capitol lawn.

They spent 20 days in jail and were denied an opportunit y to present their ideas to Congress.

Despite the disappointment, Coxey brought attention to the plight of the unemployed and preached a message that if societ y had caused suffering, the government should assume responsibilit y for pro - viding aid (Folsom, 1991). This idea of national welfare would come to the forefront again in the 20th century. For the 1890s Coxey’s Army was an important indication that neither the government nor the third-part y movements of the Gilded Age would or could do much to solve the economic problems facing the nation.

For further reading, see:

Schwantes, C. A. (1985). Coxey’s Army: An American odyssey . Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. American Experience: Coxey’s Army The hunger, hardship, and desperation initiated by the Panic of 1893 caused social unrest throughout the nation. One of the best examples of this began in Massillon, Ohio, where Jacob S. Coxey decided that the government should help those left penniless by the economy. Coxey was a well-off owner of a sand quarry and a farm in Ohio, and a breeder of racehorses in Kentucky. After hearing a Populist speak in Chicago about the need for government to take responsibilit y for public works projects to boost the economy, he became convinced of the importance of the idea. He could not get local officials to take him seriously, and the only way he thought that he could get the president listen to him was through a dramatic march from Ohio to Washington, D.C. Those who followed him there became known as Coxey’s Army . Corbis Members of Jacob S. Coxey’s “army,” shown here, marched from Ohio to Washington, D.C., to demand better treatment of America’s unemployed workers. Election of 1896 In the midst of the depression and massive unemployment, the nation elected a new presi - dent. In many ways the election of 1896 was a referendum on the silver question and marked an important crisis year in modern U.S. history. The election pitted gold-standard advocate William McKinley, an experienced politician and former governor of Ohio, against 36-year-old William Jennings Bryan, a charismatic and controversial champion of free silver, the populist movement, and the Social Gospel. His candidacy linked the traditional Democratic Party and the People’s Party when he earned the presidential nomination of both of them. His popular - ity elevated the ire of his opponents, who characterized him as a Socialist radical and pre - dicted the downfall of America should he be elected. American Experience: Coxey’s Army (continued) bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 91 1/9/15 9:23 AM Section 3.4 The Populist Movement Bryan’s dual nomination came after he made bimetallism and particularly the coinage of silver the centerpiece of his campaign. This made him widely popular with workers, farm - ers, and those struggling with debts and reduced credit. At the 1896 Democratic National Convention, he delivered his impassioned Cross of Gold speech in which he decried the restrictions the gold standard placed on the economy: “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold” (as cited in Kazin, 2007, p. 47). Opponents seized his bold words and turned them against him, calling him the Antichrist and publishing political cartoons ridiculing both Bryan’s speech and the free silver movement. McKinley won the election with just over 50% of the popular vote and a margin of 95 electors. The election seemed to form a referendum on the Peo - ple’s Party and the populist movement’s ability to achieve lasting economic reform. It seemed that the nation could not swallow such a dramatic political realignment. In many ways McKinley’s election set - tled the fears of the middle and upper classes that disgruntled farmers and workers might overtake the United States.

The currency question was put to rest in the Gold Standard Act of 1900, which firmly returned the nation to the more conservative metal. The Populists disbanded and the voice of dissent was silenced. A series of international crop failures brought a new demand for food, which American farmers hap - pily rushed to fill. As the prices for their products increased, they slowly climbed their way out of debt.

Banks once again were solvent, and the economy began to improve (H. W. Morgan, 2003). In decades to come Americans would look back to the Populists and their demand for a social safety net to protect average Americans in times of economic downturn and depression. It would take the Great Depression of the 1930s before such reforms were realized. Everett Collection/SuperStock William McKinley urged a conservative return to the gold standard to end speculation in the U.S. economy. William Jennings Bryan, his opponent, argued for a more liberal free silver coinage policy. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 92 1/9/15 9:13 AM Summary and Resources Summary and Resources Chapter Summary • In the Gilded Age the U.S. political system struggled to meet the new needs of a mod - ernizing, industrial society but failed in crucial ways. The nation’s politicians were frequently inept or corrupt. • When the existing parties, the Democrats and Republicans, were unable or unwilling to meet their demands, various interest groups formed their own political organiza - tions to lobby for realignments of federal, state, and local politics. • Third parties formed around such issues as currency reform, workers’ rights, tem - perance, and debt relief. The most significant third party combined the concerns of farmers, workers, and advocates of the coinage of free silver into the Populist, or People’s, Party. • The Populist challenge came closest to gaining a voice for its concerns in the election of 1896, but the failure of its candidate to win the presidency led to the decline of the movement. • Following the election, the final political alignment of the era saw more traditional Republicans and Democrats reemerge as the main agents for political expression, primarily siding with large corporations on economic matters. • Amidst the struggles for political realignment, many segments of society pursued interests of their own. • The New South moved diligently to catch up to the industrial North but also strove to return African Americans to a subservient position through the imposition of Jim Crow laws and through violence and intimidation. • Women sought more public roles as reformers and social workers through the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, settlement houses, and other organizations addressing society’s ills. Their activism sparked renewed interest in woman suffrage that would continue to grow in the new century. • Social philosophers and their followers dreamed of a utopian society in which cor - porate capitalism grew less brutal and wealth was more evenly distributed. • The gold veneer of the Gilded Age wore thin by 1900, and in the first decades of the 20th century, many in the United States turned their attention toward finding real solutions to the problems brought by rapid industrialization, urbanization, and mas - sive waves of immigration. • The economic and social problems were emblematic of the failure of political realignments in the Gilded Age. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 93 12/18/14 3:01 PM 1873:

Tammany Hall boss William Tweed is convicted of corruption. 1873:

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union forms to endorse woman suffrage and other political concerns. July 2, 1881:

President James Gar�ield is assassinated by a denied of�ice seeker. 1883:

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Civil Rights Cases erodes the civil rights protections of the Fourteenth Amendment.

1889:

Jane Addams establishes Hull House in Chicago to offer services to immigrants. 1886:

The Interstate Commerce Commission is created to oversee railroad regulations and ensure fair rates. 1893:

The Panic of 1893 causes bank failures and business closures, resulting in a 4-year depression. June 7, 1892:

Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to vacate a Whites-only rail car in Louisiana. March 25–May 1, 1894:

Coxey’s Army marches from Ohio to Washington D.C., to demand economic justice for the unemployed. May 18, 1896:

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson establishes the policy of “separate but equal,” permitting racial segregation. 1 870 1 9 00 The Art Archive/SuperStock Everett Collection/ SuperStock Culver Pictures/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY Library of Congress, Brady-Handy Photograph Collection © Corbis Everett Collection/SuperStock MPI/Getty Images Summary and Resources Chapter 3 Timeline 1873:

Tammany Hall boss William Tweed is convicted of corruption. 1873:

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union forms to endorse woman suffrage and other political concerns. July 2, 1881:

President James Gar�ield is assassinated by a denied of�ice seeker. 1883:

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Civil Rights Cases erodes the civil rights protections of the Fourteenth Amendment.

1889:

Jane Addams establishes Hull House in Chicago to offer services to immigrants. 1886:

The Interstate Commerce Commission is created to oversee railroad regulations and ensure fair rates. 1893:

The Panic of 1893 causes bank failures and business closures, resulting in a 4-year depression. June 7, 1892:

Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to vacate a Whites-only rail car in Louisiana. March 25–May 1, 1894:

Coxey’s Army marches from Ohio to Washington D.C., to demand economic justice for the unemployed. May 18, 1896:

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson establishes the policy of “separate but equal,” permitting racial segregation. 1 870 1 9 00 The Art Archive/SuperStock Everett Collection/ SuperStock Culver Pictures/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY Library of Congress, Brady- Handy Photograph Collection © Corbis Everett Collection/SuperStock MPI/Getty Images bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 94 12/18/14 3:02 PM Summary and Resources Post-Test 1. A common component of third parties in the Gilded Age is that they:

a. focused on a single issue of concern to their constituents. b. dealt mostly with foreign policy issues. c. had significant success in presidential elections. d. focused only on corruption in American politics. 2. Civil service reform, which required applicants for government jobs to pass exami - nations, was enacted in order to:

a. allow the government to compete with private industry for employees. b. support the implementation of public employee unions. c. eliminate corruption and patronage in government hiring. d. support urban political machines. 3. Journalist Ida B. Wells is most closely associated with:

a. exposés focusing on the plight of poor immigrants in New York. b. making the world aware of the horrors of lynching in the South. c. exposing the abuses of the Standard Oil Company. d. the formation of the People’s Party. 4. What was the main purpose of Hull House?

a. To earn women the right to vote on the national level. b. To earn women the right to vote on a state-by-state level. c. To offer language, humanities, and domestic education to immigrant women. d. To offer domestic violence victims a place to restart their lives. 5. The Readjuster Party in Virginia formed in order to:

a. support the policies of the Greenback Party and currency reform. b. foster the quick enactment of Jim Crow segregation laws. c. uphold the Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson . d. foster a biracial coalition that governed the state of Virginia from 1879 to 1883. 6. Which of the following was NOT an element influencing Gilded Age politics?

a. Business and politics remained separate. b. None of the presidents of the era emerged as a strong leader. c. Politics was often seen as a way to gain an office through the spoils system. d. Voter turnout was high, with as many as 75% of eligible voters or more turning out for national elections. 7. What was the main idea expressed in the campaign of William Jennings Bryan in 1896?

a. The restriction of the nation to the gold standard. b. The laissez-faire operations of the government and economy. c. The free and unlimited coinage of silver. d. The abolishment of joint stock companies and trusts. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 95 12/18/14 3:02 PM Summary and Resources 8. From 1876 to 1900 political control of the federal government:

a. was dominated by a host of third-party movements. b. reflected a stalemate between the major parties. c. was dominated by the Democrats. d. was dominated by the Republican Party. 9. In the landmark decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson , the U.S. Supreme Court held that:

a. African American former slaves were ineligible for citizenship. b. Segregated schools were unconstitutional and the practice would be banned after January 1, 1897. c. Literacy tests and poll taxes were permissible qualifications for voting. d. Separate but equal facilities for African Americans and Whites were permissible. 10. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union advocated for all of the following issues except:

a. an 8-hour workday b. against child labor c. returning to the gold standard d. prison reform Answers: 1 (a), 2 (c), 3 (b), 4 (c), 5 (d), 6 (a), 7 (c), 8 (d), 9 (d), 10 (c) Critical Thinking Questions 1. Why did Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner label this era the Gilded Age rather than the Golden Age? 2. Historians have argued that the election of 1896 was the most significant since the end of the Civil War. Consider how this election changed American politics. 3. Did the removal of government support or enforcement of civil rights lead to a decline in racial quality? 4. Did the populist movement offer an effective answer to the nation’s problems in the Gilded Age? 5. In what ways did women and African Americans negotiate the political system in the Gilded Age? Explain whether their actions were successful within or outside the realm of mainstream politics. Additional Resources Petition of Susan B. Anthony to the U.S. Congress ht tp://w w w.archives.gov/education/lessons/woman-suffrage/anthony-petition.html Woman suffrage activist Anthony petitions Congress for return of a $100 fine she paid for illegally voting in 1872.

Interstate Commerce Act ht tp://w w w.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=49&page=transcript This act created the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate railroad commerce. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 96 12/18/14 3:02 PM Summary and Resources Transcript of Pendleton Act ht tp://w w w.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?f lash=true&doc=48&page=transcript This act, passed in 1883, created an exam-based federal civil service system that aimed to replace the spoils-ridden appointment system.

Transcript of Plessy v. Ferguson ht tp://w w w.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?f lash=true&doc=52&page=transcript This landmark Supreme Court case of 1896 fostered the onset of legal segregation in the U.S South.

Southern Horrors by Ida B. Wells ht tp://w w w.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14975 The full text of Wells’s lengthy pamphlet outlining the horrors of southern lynching.

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall by George Washington Plunkitt ht tp://w w w.gutenberg.org/files/2810/2810-h/2810-h.htm The full text of an exposé uncovering the inner workings of the Tammany Hall political machine.

Speech of Frances E. Willard of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union ht tps://prohibition.osu.edu/willard/speech Excerpt of a speech on temperance reform by the WCTU founder.

Answers and Rejoinders to Chapter Pre-Test 1. False . While the presidency was important in the Gilded Age, it was a very different type of office with limited power. Presidents in this era were expected to maintain momentum for their party and ensure a continued stream of support (money and votes) for future elections. Presidents did not formulate or direct the policy of their parties and often served as symbols. 2. True . The act created the Civil Service Commission, the first permanent federal agency. It was a government oversight commission that ensured that a certain per - centage (only 14% at the time) of government jobs went to those who legitimately competed for the job and were qualified for it. 3. True . The Populist or People’s Party was a distinct political party in the late 19th century. There were two main types of Populists. The first were those com - mitted to improving society by making alcohol illegal. The second were farmers and urban wage workers who fought against big business, corruption, and monop - olies in the 1890s. 4. False . Though Jacob S. Coxey and his “army” wanted the government to take the responsibility for public works projects to boost the economy, as he gathered his so- called army he prohibited weapons of any kind. Therefore, they were not militant. 5. True . The economic crisis began when stockholders started to demand that their shares be exchanged for gold. The economic panic spread, leading to the collapse bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 97 12/18/14 3:02 PM Summary and Resources of multiple railroads, numerous banks, and industrial operations. Before the crisis ended, as much as 20% of the working population was unemployed. Rejoinders to Chapter Post-Test 1. The many third-party coalitions of the era focused on a single issue of concern to the party’s members. For example, the Greenback Party was focused on currency reform. 2. Put in place by the Pendleton Act, the federal Civil Service Commission created a competitive examination process for the hiring of federal employees that aimed to replace the corrupt spoils system with objective hiring procedures. 3. A journalist from Memphis, Tennessee, Wells became the most articulate critic of lynching, which led to the death of more than 100 African Americans every year during the Gilded Age. Wells’s activism turned into an international campaign against lynching. 4. The first settlement house, Hull House combined intellectual study with community- based activism. It aimed to provide the immigrant working class with classes and lectures on literature, the arts, and practical domestic activities such as sewing and food preservation. 5. The Readjuster Party was a biracial party that sought to lower the state’s debt and support public education. 6. Throughout the Gilded Age, politics and business became increasingly linked as court decisions, the president and Congress supported big business at the expense of workers and consumers. 7. Gaining the Democratic and People’s Party nominations in 1896, Bryan’s supporters tended to be farmers, workers, small land owners, or even those investing in silver mines. Bryan advocated the free coinage of silver, which would create inflation that would raise the price of agricultural commodities and boost the buying power of the working class. 8. The Republican Party won five of seven presidential contests during this era and held control of at least one house of Congress during each election cycle. This assured that the ideology of the Republican Party had long influence through judicial and other appointments. 9. This landmark decision declared that segregation was legal so long as separate but equal facilities were provided for both races. The ruling led numerous states and localities to enact Jim Crow laws. The ruling (and segregation) held for more than 50 years. 10. Organized in 1873 to curb the abuse of alcohol, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union campaigned against child labor and in favor of the 8-hour workday, and advo - cated prison reform, public morality, literacy, and improving the conditions of workers. Key Terms Civil Rights Cases A series of five decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that overturned the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The rulings decreed that the 13th and 14th Amend - ments did not apply to discrimination by individuals. Coinage Act of 1873 Passed by Congress, this act barred the use of less valuable silver as backing for U.S. currency. Supporters of the gold standard feared that a flood of silver into the market would lead to speculation. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 98 12/18/14 3:02 PM Summary and Resources Coxey’s Army A protest march of unem - ployed workers led by Ohioan Jacob S. Coxey in 1894. Marching on Washington, D.C., they demanded that the government create jobs to provide relief from the unemploy - ment caused by the nationwide economic depression.

Creole A designation, especially in Loui - siana, that referred to individuals of mixed racial heritage.

grandfather clause A provision in which an old rule applies in some existing situations, and a new rule applies in future cases. In the Gilded Age, southern White men who were unable to pass literacy tests or pay poll taxes were still permitted to vote if their grandfa - thers had voted during the Civil War era.

Grange Also known as the Order of Patrons of Husbandry; a Gilded Age organization of farmers and small producers concerned with improving their economic position in society, and especially with regulating rail - road shipping rates.

Greenbackers Individuals who opposed a return to the gold standard and instead wanted to continue printing paper currency without the backing of gold.

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) A government commission created to oversee railroad transportation, especially to ensure fair rates and to eliminate discrimi - nation against small shippers.

Jim Crow A system of legal segregation in the South that excluded African Americans from sharing public accommodations with Whites on public conveyances or in restau - rants, hotels, and eventually education.

laissez-faire An economic system in which private exchange and corporate transac - tions are free from government regulation or restraint. landmark case A judicial ruling by which future cases are measured, establishing a legal precedent.

literacy tests The practice of testing the ability of voters to read and comprehend, and requiring voters to pass a reading test before being allowed to cast a ballot in local and state elections.

lynching Racially based murder, often car - ried out by a mob. Often involves a hanging death, but also such heinous acts as burning at the stake or shooting.

mugwumps Members of the Republican Party who deserted the party to support Democratic nominee Grover Cleveland in 1884.

New South Reference to the southern states of the United States in the period after 1877, especially to differentiate the era of indus - trial economic development from the era of slavery before the Civil War.

Omaha Platform The 1892 platform of the Populist Party that demanded an 8-hour workday, direct election of U.S. senators, national ownership of railroads, and other reforms.

Panic of 1893 A nationwide economic depression beginning with the collapse of railroad construction and leading to a series of bank failures. The worst economic depression the nation had ever experienced, it sparked a call for currency reform, and especially for the coinage of free silver.

Pendleton Act Also known as the Civil Ser - vice Reform Act; an act passed by Congress in 1883 implementing a system of objective test - ing to award federal government jobs on the basis of merit. It negated the spoils system. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 99 12/18/14 3:02 PM Summary and Resources People’s Party Also known as the Popu - list Party; a political coalition of workers, farmers, and rural Americans that sought to bring about economic change for working- class Americans.

Plessy v. Ferguson A landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. It decreed that segregation of the races was legal so long as equal facilities were provided for African Americans. The “separate but equal” principle became the standard against which other laws were measured, allowing for the spread of Jim Crow laws.

political machines A political organization in which a political boss or small group of individuals exchange political appointments or other favors in return for political sup - port. Machines were common in large cities and some state political systems.

poll taxes Fees assessed before southern - ers were permitted to cast a ballot. It was especially aimed at disenfranchising African Americans.

populist movement A political philosophy supporting the rights and power of “the peo - ple” against the elite in society. The populist movement of the Gilded Age sought to make the evolving industrial capitalist system more responsive to the needs of workers and farmers.

Readjuster Party A political movement in Virginia that involved biracial cooperation, supporting African American political rights, and aiming to reduce or “readjust” the state’s debt and support public education. Resumptionists Individuals who wanted the nation to return to the gold standard so that the amount of paper currency in circu - lation would be backed up by gold deposits in the nation’s banks.

settlement house A type of house estab - lished by a social reform movement begin - ning in the 1880s; there social workers provided education and cultural and social services to the urban poor.

spoils system Under this system, politi - cians, including the president of the United States, were able to dole out patronage in the form of jobs and minor political offices.

tariff A tax on imported goods. Tariffs aim to protect the goods manufactured in the United States from foreign competition.

temperance A movement that aimed to stop the spread of the sale, production, and consumption of alcohol.

woman suffrage The right of women to vote; a movement supporting women’s vot - ing rights gained momentum in the Gilded Age.

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) Organized in 1873, this social and political organization was founded by women to curb the abuse of alcohol. It eventually became a political movement endorsing woman suffrage, allied with labor unions, and campaigned against child labor. bar82063_03_c03_067-100.indd 100 12/18/14 3:02 PM