American Politics in the Gilded Age: 1868 - 1900

ISBN-13: 9780882959337 / Angielski / Miękka / 1997 / 192 str.

Robert W. Cherny; A. S. Eisenstadt; John Hope Franklin

Opis

Often Gilded-Age politics has been described as devoid of content or accomplishment, a mere spectacle to divert voters from thinking about the real issues of the day. But by focusing too closely on dramatic scandals and on the foibles of prominent politicians, many historians have tended to obscure other aspects of late nineteenth-century politics that proved to be of great and long-term significance. With the latest scholarship in mind, Professor Cherny provides a deft and highly readable analysis that is certain to help readers better understand the characteristics and important products of Gilded-Age politics. Topics covered include: voting behavior; the relation between the popular will and the formation of public policy; the cause and effect of the deadlock in national politics that lasted from the mid-1870s to the 1890s; the sources of political innovation at state and local levels; and the notable changes wrought during the 1890s that ushered in important new forms of American politics.

Recenzje

"This is a solid piece of work. ... Cherny consistently explains complicated political events in a clear and and interesting fashion. ... An imaginative appendix...should assist readers to understand this "watershed" period in the nation′s political life." ( Teaching History, Spring 1999) "Cherny provides a very readable narrative of key political events and personalities, and he employs an array of useful concepts that are based on the most current scholarship." ( Great Plains Quarterly, Winter 1998)

Spis treści

Foreword V

Acknowledgments IX

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER ONE: The Domain and Power of Party 5

Parties, Elections, and Patronage 6

Parties, the State, and Public Policy 16

The Major Parties: The Republicans and The Democrats 22

On the Periphery of Party Politics: Mugwumps, Suffragists, Prohibitionists, Grangers, Greenbackers , and Laborites 31

CHAPTER TWO: The Deadlock of National Politics, 1868 1890 46

Grant: The Emergence of Deadlock, 1868 1876 50

Hayes: The Confirmation of Deadlock, 1876 1880 60

Garfield and Arthur: The Deadlock Continue, 1880 1884 67

Cleveland: The Deadlock Lengthens, 1884 1888 74

Breaking the Deadlock? Harrison and the Fifty–first Congress, 1888 1890 85

CHAPTER THREE: Political Upheaval, 189 1900 94

The Emergence of Populism, 1890 1892 97

The Dividend Democrats Fail to Govern, 1893 1896 110

Republican Resurgence and Democratic Downfall: The Battle of the Standards, 1896 118

Conclusion: An End and Many Beginnings 127

Illustrations and Maps follow page 84

Appendix: Tables 139

Table 1.1: Farm Production and Crop Prices, 1865 1900 139

Table 2.1: Popular and Electoral Vote for President, 1868 1904 141

Table 2.2 Electoral Votes by Selected Regions and States 142

Table 2.3 Party Strength in Congress, 1868 1904 143

Table 2.4 Federal Income and Expenses, Including Customs Receipts 144

Bibliographical Essay 146

Index 159

O autorze

 Robert W. Cherny is professor of history at San Francisco State University, where he has been a member of the history faculty since 1971. In 1995 96, he served as president of the Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. He was the Distinguished Fullbright Lecturer at Moscow State University in 1996 and held a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1992 93. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1972 and his B.A. from the University of Nebraska in 1965. His books include A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan (1985, 1994), Populism, Progressivism, and the Transformation of Nebraska Politics, 1885 1915 (1981), and, with William Issel, San Francisco, 1865 1932: Politics, Power, and Urban Development (1986). His essays include William Jennings Bryan and the Historians, Nebraska History (1996), the Democratic Party in the Era of William Jennings Bryan in Democrats and the American Idea: A Bicentennial Appraisal (1992), and Willa Cather and the Populists, Great Plains Quarterly (1983). He is also co–author of Making America: A History of the United States (1995).