Stalemate in Washington

Republicans and Democrats are using the spoils system,

preventing advancement in government

Cleaning up Politics Patronage – also known

as the spoils system Jobs went to supporters

of the elected people Prevented gov’t from

addressing real issues ; was corrupt

Rutherford B. Hayes replaced President Garfield in 1881

Attacked patronage ; by appointing reformers to his cabinet

Democrats claim the White House

Grover Cleveland was elected President in 1884

First Democrat since before the ACW

Tammany Hall- corrupt Democratic political machine in NY

Voters believed corruption was the job problem; and Cleveland could solve it

Populism Populism- the movement

to increase farmer’s political power

Farm prices had dropped due to new technology

More crops/less demand/less money

Deflation hurt farmers Sherman Silver Purchase

Act- put more silver into the economy to help reduce deflation for farmers; it failed

The Panic of 1893 After Grover Cleveland’s

election, the nation had an economic Crisis

Railroads went out of business, unemployment high

Treasury was being depleted due to the crisis, people cashed in their money for precious metals (FEAR)

Goldbugs- currency should be based on Gold

Silverites- currency based on silver

Yellow Journalism William Randolph

Hearst- writer/owner of the New York journal

Used (YJ) to create sensational headlines/photos to capture reader interest and sell papers