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Benjamin Harrison |
Republican president elected in 1888, defeated Grover Cleveland. He was eloquent, but not personable. He could charm crowds, but he was known as "the White House Ice Chest." Previously a Civil War General. |
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(James G.) Blaine |
Was made secretary of state as a consolation prize for losing the presidential race to Benjamin Harrison. |
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Theodore Roosevelt |
New Yorker assigned to the Civil Service Commission by B. Harrison. |
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(Thomas B.) Reed |
"Czar" of the House of Representatives, this Speaker of the House from Maine singlehandedly endeavored to change the House rules in 1890. He ignored the Democratic minority, counted as present people who were not there, and caused pandemonium for three days. Finally, he succeeded, and the first "Billion-Dollar" Congress resulted. |
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"Billion-Dollar" Congress |
The Fifty-First congress, the first to appropriate as much as its eponymous sum. Controlled by Republicans, it aimed to destroy the surplus through spending measure such as the Pension Act and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. |
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Pension Act |
Passed by the Fifty-First congress in 1890 under the direction of president Harrison; it awarded stipends to all Civil War veterans who had fought for at least 90 days and were no longer able to do manual labor. Foreshadowed the "welfare state" of the next century. Won support from the GAR and the GOP. |
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Sherman Anti-Trust Act |
1890 act passed by the 51st Congress; helped to quiet the uproar against corporations, but really didn’t do much. |
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Sherman Silver Purchase Act |
1890 act that was a compromise between the western silver agitators and the eastern protectionists. The Westerners agreed to support a higher tariff and the protectionists, this bill. It ordered the Treasury to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver monthly. |
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Bland-Allison Law |
Law passed in 1878, a predecessor to the Sherman Silver Purchase Act; it called for the Treasury to buy only the half of the amount later determined by the Sherman act. |
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McKinley Tariff Bill |
1890 bill calling for the highest peacetime tariff yet: 48.4 percent. It gave a bounty of two cents a pound to American sugar producers, and raised tariffs on agricultural products. The duties on manufactured goods hurt farmers financially. |
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(Grover) Cleveland |
1892 Democratic candidate against Benjamin Harrison. |
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People’s Party |
Another name for the Populists. They campaigned in the election of 1892; they nominated James B. Weaver as their candidate. They wanted to bring together the aggrieved workers from across the nation, but had support primarily in the West. |
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(James B.) Weaver |
Former Greenbacker; nominated by Populists for the 1892 election. Gained several states of electoral votes, primarily in the West. |
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Homestead Strike |
Strike at Carnegie’s steel plant in Pittsburgh in 1892. Company officials called 300 armed Pinkerton detectives in July to stop strikers angry over pay cuts. Armed strikers forced them to surrender in a battle that killed 10 people and left 60 wounded. Troops were eventually summoned, stopping both the strike and the union. |
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Coeur d’Alene |
District in Idaho, where in July 1892, federal troops had to be sent to crush a steel workers’ strike. |
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Colored Farmers’ National Alliance |
Organization of over 1 million southern black farmers. It worried the conservative white elite in the South, and therefore they would not support any sort of populist movement. |
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Jim Crow laws |
These laws enforcing racial segregation in the South were backed up by lynchings and other forms of intimidation. Made sure, along with the grandfather clause, that blacks would not have political power. |
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depression of 1893 |
Economic downturn at the start of Cleveland’s presidency; it was the most devastating one of the century. Overbuilding, overspeculation, labor disorders, and agricultural depression contributed. The problem of the "endless cycle" of gold draining from the Treasury necessitated the repealing of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890. |
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"endless-chain" operation |
This happened when, with the inflation of currency with silver, people redeemed their certificates for gold, thus depleting the Treasury’s supply. The gold reserve dropped below the safe $100 million per $350 million paper money, necessitating the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. In 1894 the gold reserve sank below $41 million, requiring Cleveland to seek nongovernmental help. |
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(Adlai E.) Stevenson |
Vice president to Grover Cleveland, supporter of "soft money" who would have made the financial crisis worse if Cleveland had died of his mouth tumor. |
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(William Jennings) Bryan |
"The Boy Orator of the Platte." Nebraskan Congressman who spoke for the cause of free silver, advocating against the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Later, 1896, he gained a Democratic nomination after his famed "Cross of Gold" speech. His platform wanted the unlimited coinage of silver at a 16 to 1 ounce ratio of silver to gold. |
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(J. P.) Morgan |
Cleveland was forced to seek the help of this banker in 1895 due to the "endless-cycle" depletion of Treasury gold. The bankers agreed to lend the government $65 million in gold, with a service charge of $7 million (over 10%). Cleveland was accused of secretly plotting with banks. |
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(Jacob S.) Coxey |
Wealthy Ohio quarry owner who marched on Washington in 1894, demanding that government relieve unemployment by an inflationary public works program. His "Commonwealth Army" was arrested for walking on the grass of the capital. |
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Pullman strike |
1894 strike against a rail car company after wages were depleted by 1/3 but company town rent was not correspondingly lowered. Strike led by Eugene V. Debs, leader of American Railway Union. Cars were overturned from Chicago to the Pacific Coast, halting rail traffic. Federal troops were brought in on the excuse that the workers were interfering with transit of mail. |
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American Railway Union |
Union headed by Eugene V. Debs which participated in the Pullman strike. |
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(Eugene V.) Debs |
Head of the American Railway Union and director of the Pullman strike; he was imprisoned along with his associates for ignoring a federal court injunction to stop striking. While in prison, he read Socialist literature and emerged as a Socialist leader in America. |
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Olney |
Attorney General at the time of the Pullman Strike, disagreed with Illinois governor Altgled about the seriousness of the strike. He used the excuse that the strike was interfering with mail delivery to justify bringing in federal troops. |
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Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act |
1894 act setting the tariff at 41.3%; not as low as Democrats wanted it to be. Cleveland was outraged that it did not go by his campaign pledges. He had to sign it to have a lower tariff, but he was annoyed with its ineffectiveness. It also was the first bill to introduce an income tax, but that was later struck down as unconstitutional. |
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Sixteenth Amendment |
This constitutional amendment instated in 1913 the income tax, which had been struck down out of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act. |
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Coin’s Financial School |
1894 work published by William Hope Harvey campaigning for free silver with beautiful woodcuts. It was enormously popular. It nursed the idea that there was a conspiracy to elevate gold above silver. |
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(William Hope) Harvey |
Author/artist of the tract "Coin’s Financial School" which promoted free silver. |
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(William) McKinley |
Ohio ex-congressman who ran for the Republican party in 1896; he was supported by Marcus Alonzo Hanna, who gave him financial support and promoted his campaign. Though he supported silver, the Republican campaign was for the gold standard. It gained a bit more support when it introduced the concept of international bimetallism. |
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(Marcus Alonzo) Hanna |
Ohio businessman and Hamiltonian who aided McKinley personally and politically. He believed in "trickle down" economics. His campaign helped nominate McKinley. He led the "Gold Bug" movement against Bryan. |
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bimetallism |
This concept was introduced on the Republican 1896 campaign to gain more support from the silverites. It expanded to include a somewhat doubtful international version, recognizing the gold-silver standard. |
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Cross of Gold speech |
Speech made by William Henry Bryan which gained him a Democratic nomination and wide popularity. |
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16 to 1 |
The ratio of silver to gold promoted by Bryan’s Democratic political platform in 1896. |
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Gold Bugs |
Gold-supporting movement headed by Marcus Hanna; they vented their alarm at Bryan’s ideas by defaming him and accusing him of outrageous offenses. They created widespread fear of Bryan and the "silver lunacy." Under this campaign, the Republicans were able to amass the most sizable campaign chest thus far in American history: $16 million to the Democrats’ $1 million. |
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Dingley Tariff Bill |
Bill passed under McKinley in 1897; establishing a 46.5% tariff. It had over 850 amendments tacked onto it by lobbyists. |
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Gold Standard Act |
Act demanded by hard-moneyites that was finally passed in 1900 providing that paper currency was to be redeemed freely for gold. |
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