Politics, economy and society

• Two-party system by 1890
  • (1) Republicans
  • (2) Democrats
• Both heavily influenced by Civil War (1861-5)
• Local issues important (e.g. Prohibition)
• No clear divide between right and left
• Both parties had conservatives and reformers
• 1890s - Both parties developing
• Other political movements threatened, but never gained, support from the two parties
• Neither party support African-American interests

Republicans

• Formed in 1854 as anti-slavery movement
• Became pro-business over time
• Had reformist wing influenced by progressivism

Republicans (cont.)

• Reformist wing promoted:
  • Social justices
  • Conservation
• Leading figure: Theodore Roosevelt
  • President 1901-9
  • Ran for president again in 1912 as progressive candidate against Taft, a Republican
  • Bull Moose Progressive Party - Split Republican vote and lost Taft presidency, handing it to Democrat Woodrow Wilson

Key Republicans

• Mark Hanna - Political analyst and "mastermind" of Republican political campaigns
• Theodore Roosevelt - VP from 1901; President 1901-9; Leader of Bull Moose Progressive Party
• William Taft - President 1908-12
• Warren Harding - President 1920-3

Key Republicans (cont.)

• Calvin Coolidge- President 1923-4
• Herbert Hoover- President 1924-8

Democrats

• Claim to be oldest political party in US
• Civil War changed party
• Power base:
  • Western farmers
  • White southerners
• 'Solid South' voted Democrat in every election (exc. 1928) from 1880-1960
• Party of opposition for majority of existence

Key Democrats

• William Jennings Bryan - Dominant political personality during opposition years

Key Democrats (cont.)

• Woodrow Wilson - President 1912-20
• Franklin D. Roosevelt - President 1928-44

Where did immigrants come from?

• 1890 - Already 9m foreign-born Americans
• Immigration not yet reached its peak
• Majority of immigrants from southern (Spain, Portugal and Italy) and eastern Europe (Jews from Russia)
• Previous immigrants from northern Europe (Britain, Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia)

Reasons immigrants came to the US

• American Dream
• Growing US economy offered jobs to immigrants
• New technology made travel easier (e.g. steam ships)
• Easy access - 1 in 50 denied entry
• Escape discrimination (e.g. Jews from Russia)
• Destruction of peasant economies in southern and eastern Europe due to cheap wheat from US

When did immigration reach its peak?

• 1900-14
• Peak year: 1907 - 1.2m immigrants
• Majority from Italy and Russia

Impact of immigration on US society

• They brought 'radical and dangerous' political ideas with them (e.g. communism, anarchism)
• Many feared immigrants would steal jobs and work for low wages
• Feared they'd overwhelm population
• Settled in ethnic areas of cities unlike first wave immigrants who spread out
• Prohibition - Blamed on immigrants' drinking habits (mainly the Irish)
• Revival of KKK during and after WWI - Violence
• Hostility to African-Americans who migrated north
• Small-town US worried about 'aliens' undermining traditional moral and religious values

Reasons the US economy was booming before 1890

• Main:
  • (1) Increase in workers and markets via mass immigration - Labour force growing, construction industry booming
  • (2) Technology - Growth of steam ship companies, mechanisation of industry, invention of steel plough, refrigerated container and railway expansion led to expansion of domestic and foreign meat production
  • (3) Great Plain opening - Cultivation of fertile lands, production of huge surpluses
• Other:
  • Big business:
    • Bethlehem Steel
    • Carnegie Steel
    • Rockefeller's Standard Oil
  • Many companies merged, creating vast enterprises linking manufacturing, railroads and shipping

Reasons the US economy was booming before 1890 (cont.)

• Rapid expansion of banking and finance
  • JP Morgan - Provided wealth for industrialisation
• Sudden downturns in uncontrolled economy left farmers, small businesses and their workers worse for wear
• Big business impacted politics
• Industrialisation created wealthy barons
• Barons:
  • Carnegie
  • Rockefeller
  • Vanderbilt
  • Morgan
• These barons gained political influence, especially in Republican Party
• Creation of big business created backlash of opposition
• New mass labour force led to the spreading of socialist ideas and organisation of labour in trade unions

Definitions

• Urbanisation - Creation of towns and cities
• Industrialisation - Creation of factories in towns and cities
• Big business - Large companies out to make large profits

Trade Unions

• AFL - American Federation of Labour (Founded 1886)
  • 300,000+ members
  • Samuel Gompers
  • Tried to improve working conditions of skilled workers
  • Gompers didn't want to associate with Debs, a socialist
  • 1907 - Created strong links with Democrats
  • Many believed AFL was too moderate and did not support unskilled workers
  • Led to creation of IWW
• Most Americans feared socialism
• Linked it to TUs, mass immigration and anarchy

• Socialists believe in equality - Big business leaders feared organised labour because it meant TUs and TUs lead to strikes

• IWW - Industrial Workers of the World (Founded 1905)
  • Founded by Bill Haywood and Eugene Debs
  • Debs left by 1908
  • IWW nicknamed "The Wobblies"
  • Members: 50,000+
  • Openly endorsed socialist ideas - Saw no barriers between workers and employees
  • Links with anarchists (e.g. Emma Goldman)
    • Emphasised divide between those who wanted political actions and those who wanted strikes
  • Big business and conservaties saw IWW as revolutionary and violent (McKees Rock Strikes of 1912)
  • Employers use the courts to overpower "socialist threat" by creating injunctions against strikes and prosecuting socialist leaders

• IWW (cont.)
  • IWW attacked during WWI for being unpatriotic
  • 1919-20: Target for Red Scare
  • Support for socialism never matches support for TUs
    • Debs couldn't break two-party politics of US

Other political parties

The Populists

• Big influence in Democratic Party
• When William Jennings Bryan emerged as a national figure in the 1890s, many were concerned populism would swallow the Democrats
• Populist Party founded 1889-90
• Supported by people in the Great Plains and southwest who opposed dominance of US economy by banks, business and rich east-coast elites
• Populist ideas detailed in Omaha Platform 1892

The Populists (cont.)

• 'Silverites' campaigned for mass circulation of silver coins and for Prohibition
• Anti-Darwinists, anti-imperialists and anti-expansionists
• Party overshadowed by WJB and the Democrats
• After 1908: Virtually non-existent
• Leading Populist - William Jennings Bryan

The Progressives

• Leading Progressive - Senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin
  • Campaigned for rights of ordinary people against big business
  • Republican 'insurgents'
  • 'Insurgents' gained lots of support which caused a dispute with William Taft and the conservative 'stalwarts'
  • La Follette hoped to run for president in 1912 but was overshadowed by Theodore Roosevelt

The Progressives (cont.)

• 1912 - Bull Moose Progressive Party set up as a vehicle for TR to run for president against Taft
• Split the Republican vote and caused Wilson, a Democrat, to end Republican dominance
• Progressives believe in:
  • Government intervention
  • Strong central government necessary to bring about reforms and efficiency
  • Wanted to protect people's rights against corruption
  • Fighting evils of industrialisation without going as far as Socialism
  • Social jsutic (e.g. women's suffrage)
  • Direct election to Senate
  • Conservation
• Some were pacifists and anti-imperialists
• Most were strong nationalists
• Progressive wing of Republican Party reuinted with Republicans in 1916

The Progressives (cont.)

• Progressive Party achieved little on its own, but looked threatening
• Influential between 1890-1929 as many presidents were influenced by progressive ideas:
  • TR
  • Wilson
  • Taft
• Progressive ideas reflected in their policies

Importance of populism and progressivism

• Not very important, however, they did appear to be a threat at various times
• Progressivism was more important - It cost Taft his presidency