Chapter Twenty

1. Chapter Twenty Commonwealth and Empire, 1870—1900

2. Part One: Introduction

3. "O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle-be Thou near them! With them-in spirit-we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring. Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it-for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him who is the Source of Love, and who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen." Mark Twain

4. This chapter covers the conflicts between the populists and those groups that held the wealth and power. Mass political movements of farmers and workers were organized. These movements were also actively supported and shaped by women in addition to struggling for their own rights. There was a moment of democratic promise that was lost when Americans might have established a commonwealth based on agreement of the people for the common good. Instead a national governing class and a large bureaucratic state emerged. While debating their future, most Americans seemed united in pursuing an empire. Anti-imperialists lost as the U.S. acquired numerous territories and took an interventionist stance toward others.

5. "One of the things that I got out of reading history was to begin to be disabused of a notion of what democracy is all about. The more history I read, the more it seemed very clear to me that whatever progress has been made in this country on various issues, whatever things have been done for people, whatever human rights have been gained, have not been gained through the calm deliberations of Congress or the wisdom of presidents or the ingenious decisions of the Supreme Court. Whatever progress has been made in this country has come because of the actions of ordinary people, of citizens, of social movements. Not from the Constitution." Howard Zinn

6. "The Bill of Rights says nothing about the right to work, to a decent wage, to housing, to health care, to the rights of women, to the right of privacy in sexual preference, to the rights of peoples with disabilities. . . . We should look beyond the Bill of Rights to the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says that all people, everywhere in the world, are entitled to work and decent wages, to holidays and vacations, to food and clothing and housing and medical care, to education, to child care and maternal care." Howard Zinn

7. "We are living in a dangerous world. Our state of civilization is such that mankind already is capable of becoming enormously wealthy but as a whole is still poverty-ridden. Great wars have been suffered. Greater wars are imminent, we are told. Do you not think that in such a predicament every new idea should be examined carefully and freely?" Bertolt Brecht [What he was prevented from saying to the House Committee on Un-American Activities] His plays include:Galileo, The Good Woman, Mother Courage

8. "Liberties are not given; they are taken." Aldous Huxley One day in London Marx refused to a "Marx Club" organized by Pieper saying: "Thanks for inviting me to speak to your Karl Marx Club. But I can't. I'm not a Marxist." [Zinn, Failure to Quit page 146] "Je ne suis pas un Marxiste." Karl Marx

9. "[Marx's] critique of capitalism in those Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts did not need any mathematical proofs of ‘surplus value.’ It simply stated (but did not state it simply) that the capitalist system violates whatever it means to be human. The industrial system Marx saw developing in Europe not only robbed them of the product of their work, it estranged working people from their own creative possibilities, from one another as human beings, from the beauties of nature, from their own true selves. They lived out their lives not according to their own inner needs, but according to the necessities of survival. This estrangement from self and others, this alienation from all that was human, could not be overcome by an intellectual effort, by something in the mind. What was needed was a fundamental, revolutionary change in society, to create the conditions -- a short workday, a rational use of the earth's natural wealth and people's natural talents, a just distribution of the fruits of human labor, a new social consciousness -- for the flowering of human potential, for a leap into freedom as it had never been experienced in history." Howard Zinn [Failure to Quit, pg. 147]

10. "The People's Party is the protest of the plundered against the plunderers -- of the victim against the robbers. Tom Watson [1892] ". . . if the great industrial combinations do not deal with us they will have somebody to deal with who will not have the American idea." Samuel Gompers [c. 1916] "No concession can be made to the minority in this country without a surrender of the fundamental principle of popular government. The people have a right to have what they want, and they want prohibition." Williams Jennings Bryan [1923] "I hold that if the Almighty had ever made a set of men that should do all the eating and none of the work, He would have made them with mouths only and no hands; and if He had ever made another class that He intended should do all the work and no eating, He would have made them with hands only and no mouths." Abraham Lincoln [1859]

11. ". . . Hofstadter did not share the view of more recent scholars that progressivism was an impulse fundamentally different from, indeed antithetical to, populism. Instead, he portrayed the two movements as part of the same broad current of reform." Alan Brinkley, American Retrospectives page 52 "wie es eigenlich gewesen ist" [Historian Von Rankin?] "[Hofstadter's] treatment, which embraced his deep suspicion of agrarianism, hypothesized that the angry farmers in the South and Middle West were hard-pressed Protestants and petty capitalists unable to come to terms with the realities of a worldwide market economy and turned -- as did other groups with declining status -- to xenophobia and anti-Semitism. . . . Populism had a dark side that could be seen as contributing to America's authoritarian and xenophobic tradition." Martin Ridge, American Retrospectives

12. Commonwealth and Empire

13. Chapter Focus Questions • What characterized the growth of federal and state governments and the consolidation of the modern two-party system? • How did mass protest movements develop? • What were the economic and political crises of the 1890s? • How did the United States develop as a world power? • What were the causes and outcomes of the Spanish-American War?

14. Part Two: American Communities

15. Chronology 1867 Patrons of Husbandry (Grange) founded Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiates the purchase of Alaska 1873Coinage Act adds silver to gold as the precious metal base of currency Panic of 1873 initiates depression 1874 Granger laws begin to regulate railroad shipping rates 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes elected president Great Uprising of 1877 by railroad workers is 1st nationwide strike 1879Henry George publishes Progress and Poverty 1881 President James A. Garfield assassinated Chester A. Arthur becomes president 1883Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act passed 1884 Grover Cleveland elected president

16. 1886 May 3 Haymarket Bombing 1887Interstate Commerce Act creates the Interstate Commerce Commission 1888 Edward Bellamy publishes Looking Backward National Colored Farmer's Alliance and Cooperative Union formed Benjamin Harrison elected president 1889 National Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union formed 1890 Sherman Silver Purchase Act adds to amount of money I n circulation McKinley tariff establishes highest import duties yet Rival woman suffrage organizations merge to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association 1891 National Women's Alliance formed Populist (People's) Party formed 1892 Grover Cleveland elected to second term as president Coeur d'Alene miners' strike Homestead, Pennsylvania, steel-workers' strike Ida B. Wells begins crusade against lynching

17. 1893 Western Federation of Miners formed Financial panic and economic depression begin World's Columbian Exhibition opens in Chicago 1894"Coxey's Army" marches on Washington, D.C. Pullman strike 1896Plessy v. Ferguson separate but equal segregation William McKinley defeats William Jennings Bryan 1897 Dingley tariff again raises import duties to all-time high 1898 Eugene V. Debs helps found Social Democratic Party Hawaii is annexed War is declared against Spain; Cuba + Philippines Anti-Imperialist League formed 1899 Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education sanctions separate schools for black and white children Secretary of State John Hay announces Open Door Guerilla war begins in the Philippines 1900 Gold Standard Act commits US to gold standard McKinley reelected

18. The Cooperative Commonwealth • Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward described a utopian society in which the economy was under the collective ownership of the people. • People enjoyed short workdays, long vacations, and retired at age 45. • The Point Loma community, established near San Diego in 1897: • was a communal society that provided both private and shared housing • where no one earned wages • sought self-sufficiency through agriculture • received donations from admirers and wealthy members.

19. Part Three: Toward a National Governing Class

20. The Growth of Government • The size and scope of government at all levels grew rapidly during the gilded age. • New employees, agencies, and responsibilities changed the character of government. • Taxes increased as local governments assumed responsibility for providing such vital services as police, fire protection, water, schools, and parks.

21. The Machinery of Politics • The federal government developed its departmental bureaucracy. • Power resided in Congress and the state legislatures. • The two political parties only gradually adapted to the demands of the new era. Political campaigns featured mass spectacles that reflected the strong competition for votes. • Political machines financed their campaigns through kickbacks and bribes and insured support by providing services for working-class neighborhoods. • Offices were filled by the spoils system that rewarded friends of the winning party.

22. The Spoils System and Civil Service Reform • In 1885, Congress passed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform that created the civil service system and a professional bureaucracy. • This effort paralleled similar efforts at professionalism in other fields.

23. Part Four: Farmers and Workers Organize their Communities

24. The Grange • Farmers and workers built movements that challenged the existing system. • The Grange formed in the 1870s by farmers in the Great Plains and South who suffered boom and bust conditions and natural disasters. • Grangers blamed hard times on a band of “thieves in the night,” especially railroads, and pushed through laws regulating shipping rates and other farm costs. • Grangers created their own grain elevators and set up retail stores for farm machinery. The depression of the late 1870s wiped out most of these programs.

25. The Farmers’ Alliance • In the late 1880s, Texas farmers, led by Charles W. Macune, formed the National Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union, in cooperation with the Colored Alliance. The Alliance sought to: • challenge the disproportionate power of the governing class • restore democracy • establish a cooperative economic program • Northern Plains farmer organizations soon joined the Alliance. • Midwestern farm groups battled railroad influence. • By 1890, the Alliance was a major power in several states demanding demanded a series of economic reforms.

26. Workers Search for Power • In 1877, a “Great Uprising” shut down railroads all across the country. • Federal troops were called out precipitating violence. • Government created national guards to prevent similar occurrences. • Workers organized stronger unions that increasingly resorted to strikes and created labor parties. • Henry George ran for mayor of New York and finished a respectable second. • In the late 1880s, labor parties won seats on numerous city councils and in state legislatures in industrial areas where workers outnumbered other classes.

27. Women Build Alliances • Women actively shaped labor and agrarian protest. • The Knights included women at their national convention and even ran day-care centers and baking cooperatives. • Women were active members in the Grange and Alliances. • The greatest female leader was Frances E. Willard, who: • was president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union • mobilized nearly one million women to promote reform and to work for women’s suffrage.

28. Farmer-Labor Unity • Between 1890 and 1892, the Farmers’ Alliance, the Knights of Labor, the National Colored Farmers’ Alliance and other organizations formed the Peoples’ Party. • The Peoples' Party platform called for: • government ownership of railroads, banks, and telegraph • the eight-hour day • the graduated income tax, and other reforms • Though the party lost the 1892 presidential race, Populists elected three governors, ten congressional representative, and five senators.

29. Part Five: The Crisis of the 1890s

30. Financial Collapse and Depression • In 1893, the collapse of the nation’s major rail lines precipitated a major depression. • Full recovery was not achieved until the early 1900s. • Unemployment soared and many suffered great hardships. • Tens of thousands took to the road in search of work or food. • Jacob Coxey called for a march on Washington to demand relief. • “Coxey’s Army” never reached its intended size and was met with violence in 1894.

31. Strikes and Labor Solidarity • In Idaho, a violence-plagued strike was broken by federal and state troops. In the aftermath, the miners formed the Western Federation of Miners. • The hard times precipitated a bloody confrontation at Andrew Carnegie’s Homestead steel plant. • A major strike in Pullman, Illinois: • spread throughout the nation’s railroad system • ended with the arrest of Eugene Debs • resulted in bitter confrontations between federal troops and workers in Chicago and other cities.

33. The Social Gospel • A “social gospel” movement led by ministers such as Washington Gladden, called for churches to fight against injustice. • Charles M. Sheldon urged readers to rethink their actions by asking: “What would Jesus do?” • The Catholic Church endorsed the right of workers to form trade unions. • Immigrant Catholic groups urged priests to ally with the labor movement. • Women’s religious groups such as the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) strove to provide services for poor women.

34. Part Six: Politics of Reform, Politics of Order

35. The Free Silver Issue • Grover Cleveland won the 1892 election by capturing the traditional Democratic Solid South and German voters alienated by Republican nativist appeals. • When the economy collapsed in 1893, government figures concentrated on longstanding currency issues to provide a solution. • The debate was over hard money backed by gold or soft money backed by silver. Cleveland favored a return to the gold standard, losing much popular support.

36. Populism's Last Campaign • The hard times strengthened the Populists, who were silver advocates. • They recorded strong gains in 1894. • But in 1896, when the Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan as a champion of free silver, • Populists decided to run a fusion ticket of Bryan and Tom Watson. broke out in over 100 cities.

37. The Republican Triumph • Republicans ran William McKinley as a safe alternative to Bryan. • Republicans characterized Bryan as a dangerous man who would cost voters their jobs. • Mark Hannah’s campaign techniques

38. The Election of 1896 • Bryan won 46% of the vote but failed to carry the Midwest, Far West, and Upper South. • Traditional Democratic groups like Catholics were uncomfortable with Bryan and voted Republican. • The Populists disappeared and the Democrats became a minority party. • McKinley promoted a mixture of pro-business and expansionist foreign policies. • The return to prosperity after 1898 insured continued Republican control.

40. Nativism and Jim Crow • Neither McKinley nor Bryan addressed the increased racism and nativism throughout the nation. • Nativists blamed foreign workers for hard times and considered them unfit for democracy. • Southern whites enacted a system of legal segregation and disenfranchised blacks, approved by the Supreme Court. • Racial violence escalated, despite Ida B. Wells’s one-woman crusade against lynching. • Reformers abandoned their traditional support for black rights and accepted segregation and disenfranchisement.

41. The Spread of Disfranchisement

43. Part Seven: "Imperialism and Righteousness"

44. The White Man's Burden • Many Americans proposed that the economic crisis required new markets for American production. • Others suggested Americans needed new frontiers to maintain their democracy. • The Chicago World’s Fair: • showed how American products might be marketed throughout the world • reinforced a sense of stark contrast between civilized Anglo-Saxons and savage people of color. • A growing number of writers urged America to take up the “White Man’s Burden.” • Clergymen like Josiah Strong urged that Americans help Christianize and civilize the world.

45. Foreign Missions • After the Civil War, missionary activity increased throughout the non-western world. They helped generate public interest in foreign lands and laid the groundwork for economic expansion.

46. An Overseas Empire • Beginning in the late 1860s, the United States began expanding overseas. • Secretary of State William Henry Seward launched the nation’s Pacific empire by buying Alaska and expanding the United States presence in Hawaii. • The United States policy emphasized economic control, particularly in Latin America. • During the 1880s and 1890s, the United States strengthened its navy and began playing an increased role throughout the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific.

48. Hawaii • The United States annexed Hawaii in 1898. • Hawaii was a stepping-stone to Asian markets. • In 1899, Secretary of State John Hay proclaimed the Open Door policy in Asia to insure American access and laid the basis for twentieth-century foreign policy.

49. Part Eight: The Spanish-American War

50. The United States and Cuba • By 1895, public interest in Cuban affairs grew, spurred on by grisly horror stories of Spanish treatment of revolutionaries. • McKinley had held off intervention, but public clamor grew following an explosion on the USS Maine.