Nation of Nations Concise 2/e Davidson, Gienapp, Heyrman, Lytle, & Stoff
	Online Learning Center

As the nineteenth century neared its end, the American political system found itself ill equipped to cope with the economic and social revolutions reshaping the country. The political system seemed oblivious to the problems of American society--the gulf between rich and poor, the divisions of race and class, the growing power of corporations, the poverty of cities and farms, wrenching cycles of boom and bust, the needs of outsiders and the dispossessed. The crises of the 1890s forced the political order to try and address these inequities at home and also to take into account developments abroad.

The Politics of Paralysis

In the last third of the century politics was grinding into a dangerous paralysis, as evenly divided Democrats and Republicans fought to win elections. Improved party organization, rigid voter loyalty, and broad ideological similarities left neither party in command. There were differences, however. Democrats, centered in the South and supported too by immigrant political machines in the industrial North, believed in states rights and limited government. Strongest in northern cities and among business leaders and the middle class, Republicans were the party of national vision and favored industrial development.

Cultural differences may have been the most important anchors of party identity. Democrats attracted adherents of Catholicism and other formalistic religions who appreciated a hands-off government. Republicans were often old-stock mainstream Protestants who favored a politics of morality, social discipline, and energetic government. More zealous reformers often fashioned their own political instruments, whether for temperance, women's suffrage, monetary change, or farm issues.

Congress focused on the well-worn issues of regional conflict, patronage, tariffs, and currency. In many instances these tapped into strong symbolic values. It took a presidential assassination to move Congress toward civil service reform. Meanwhile the presidency fell into the hands of a near-anonymous run of caretakers: Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison. What ferment and innovation existed, came from the states and cities. Investigative and regulatory commissions, statutes extending public control over shippers and processors, and municipal leagues to promote clean and effective government marked the era's more successful experiments in public policy.

The Revolt of the Farmers

No one seemed to have the interests of farmers much in mind, so they took matters into their own hands. In the process they challenged the politics of paralysis.

A host of problems beset farmers; most fundamentally they were shackled to debt. In response farmers organized, first in local chapters or "granges" of the Patrons of Husbandry, then in the more economically-oriented Farmers' Alliance. In the 1870s Grangers succeeded in enacting state "Granger laws" regulating shippers and processors, and later convinced Congress to create a federal Interstate Commerce Commission (1887). Southern and northern Alliances developed farmer cooperatives and by 1890 were winning local and state elections with their candidates. In 1892 the Alliances convened a national convention of farmers, laborers, and other reformers; founded a new People's or Populist Party; and nominated candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency. The frustrations of farmers now had a national political outlet; modest success in the 1892 elections showed that many Americans were alienated from the two major parties, but their hold on power would be hard to break.

The New Realignment

A depression beginning in 1893 deepened discontent across the nation. Strikes, protests, and masses of unemployed workers-including a rag-tag army led by Jacob Coxey-were evidences of the strain. The presidential election of 1896 (called the "battle of the standards") brought about a decisive political realignment. The Republicans nominated Senator William McKinley of Ohio and staunchly supported gold as the nation's monetary standard. The Democrats were split, with its northern wing in favor of gold and its southern and western wings in favor of adding silver as a basis for coining money. Expanded silver coinage, it was believed, would relieve the depression by increasing the supply of money and so easing the terms of credit. It would also free the debtor classes of the agrarian South and West.

In the end Democrats nominated Nebraska congressman William Jennings Bryan. Populists, who favored silver, faced a quandary. If they nominated Bryan (and thereby fused with the Democrats), they risked losing their political identity. If they nominated anyone else, they risked splitting the vote of silverites and losing the election to the pro-gold Republicans. In the end they nominated Bryan, who lost the election. Thereafter they faded from politics.

With their triumph in 1896 the Republicans became dominant, finally breaking the politics of paralysis with a powerful coalition. Centered in northern industrial cities and the Far West, they would dominate national politics for most of the next three and a half decades. Meanwhile African Americans, the target of some Populist efforts to form a biracial alliance, found themselves the victims of a rising tide of racism. Segregation and disfranchisement undercut black political and social progress. (Many poor whites were victimized as well, as conservative Democrats throughout the South fought political insurgency from below.) In response, African American leaders split over whether to follow a policy of accommodating white discrimination or fighting it in the courts. In the end most followed the path of accommodation.

Once in power, the Republican party became a powerful governing instrument. Well organized, using modern techniques of publicity and management, and relying on an executive with a national agenda, they oversaw economic recovery. At the dawn of the new century, divisions of race and class still split the nation but confidence reigned as McKinley guided the country toward a promising future of prosperity at home and empire abroad.

Visions of Empire

Europeans had practiced imperialism long before Americans took it up. With the maturing of technology and global networks of transportation and trade, the scramble for overseas dominions accelerated. Many Americans shrank from the more blatant forms of imperialism. They preferred indirect control through the spread of American products, ideas and influence. Several groups of Americans became vocal advocates of this American-style expansion. Most notable were the proponents of a strong navy, disciples of strategic theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan. Joining them were certain intellectuals and business leaders.

The appeal of their ideas rested on the American belief that their civilization was exceptional or superior. Part of that sense of superiority came from the passion to spread the Christian gospel with its presumed civilizing effects. Part derived from Social Darwinism, often translated into the idea that it was the "white man's burden" to civilize less developed peoples. Most important, perhaps, many in the business community believed that expansion would provide new markets for surplus products, thereby lifting the material well-being of foreign peoples while cushioning the blows of boom-and-bust cycles.

After the Civil War, Secretary of State William Henry Seward envisioned growing American commercial power in the Far East strengthened by a Central American canal, by a transcontinental railroad, and by island acquisitions. Seward realized few goals beyond the purchase of Alaska and the completion of the railroad.

In the cases of Canada and Mexico most imperialists concluded that trade was better than annexation. In the Pacific, the United States gained control of part of the Samoan group. A failed attempt to acquire Hawaii in 1893 was followed by conflict with Britain over Venezuela in 1895. Each of these initiatives suggested that the United States was on the verge of imperialism in some form as tensions with the British eased and the end of the century loomed.

The Imperial Moment

The form imperialism would take soon became clearer. Unrest in Cuba led to war with Spain. A series of incidents, peaking with the sinking of the battleship Maine, stirred a war fever President McKinley could not resist. The war had two arenas: the naval war in the Philippines and a combined naval-military struggle in Cuba. The war opened with Admiral Dewey's smashing victory over the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. In less than four months of fighting the United States vanquished Spain, liberated Cuba, and took possession of the Philippines.

Sharp debate preceded the United States decision to make the Philippines a colony. In many ways imperialists and anti-imperialists made similar arguments. Both, for example, saw the Philippines as unprepared for self-rule. Both thought an expensive naval presence would be needed. Both assumed Anglo-Saxon racial superiority. Each side, however, drew quite opposite conclusions. At the same time, Filipino nationalists did not accept the change from Spanish to American rule, leading to a cruel and protracted guerrilla war lasting until 1902.

The acquisition of the Philippines was related to American desires for markets in China. To keep European powers from closing China to American trade, Secretary of State John Hay sent two "Open Door" notes that not only asserted American interest in keeping China's markets open, but also in preserving China's sovereignty.

Copyright ©1999 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
For further information about this site contact mhhe_webmaster@mcgraw-hill.com.