President William McKinley

Transcription

1 President William McKinley William McKinley was born in Niles, Ohio on January 29, 1843 to a large family where he was the seventh of eight children. His family moved to Poland, Ohio when he was ten years old. His childhood was that of a typical boy of the time; he was able to enjoy hunting and fishing and riding the family horse. He attended the local Methodist school and then attended Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. Because of financial problems and illness he stayed only one term. At the outset of the Civil War McKinley joined the Union Army as a private in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry and he fought in the famous battle of Antietam. He rose to the rank of a commissioned officer, second lieutenant colonel. He served as a staff officer under Rutherford B. Hayes, who would eventually become president. Hayes and McKinley became lifelong friends and McKinley considered Hayes as his mentor. After four years in the military, at the end of the Civil War, McKinley attended Albany Law School in New York. He passed the bar exam and began practicing law in Canton, Ohio in He met his future wife, Ida Saxton, in 1869 and they were married two years later. In 1869 he was elected county prosecutor and then became a U.S. Congressman in He lost re-election to Congress in 1882 but was later elected again, serving in Congress until During his tenure in Congress he chaired the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. He was responsible for the McKinley Tariff of 1890 which placed a tax on goods imported from other countries. This caused the cost of goods to be higher for the average American and McKinley lost his bid for re-election in Instead he ran for governor of Ohio in 1891, winning by a narrow margin, but he was re-elected in 1894 because gained public sympathy when, like many others, he lost substantial money in the 1893 economic depression, called the Panic of 1893.

2 President William McKinley (Cont d) In 1896 McKinley won the Republican Party s nomination for the presidency on the first ballot. His Democratic opponent was the great orator William Jennings Bryant. While Bryant traveled the country for his campaign, McKinley waged his campaign primarily from his home town, giving speeches on the front porch of his house. He gave 350 speeches to thousands of visitors while 1,400 campaign workers fanned across the nation. McKinley won the election with the greatest Electoral College margin in twenty-five years. McKinley s presidency began the dominance of Republican presidents that lasted until Woodrow Wilson, president from 1913 until 1921, was the only Democratic president in that time period, elected because of the split in the Republican Party when Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party in During McKinley s presidency, one major domestic issue concerned the backing for American currency. At that time some people believed that both silver and gold should both be used to represent the currency, a stance called bimetallism. At first McKinley was in favor of bimetallism but international negotiations with England, France, Italy and Russia about adopting bimetallism failed so McKinley changed his view and advocated adopting the gold standard. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 based U.S. currency on gold and U.S. money has been backed by gold reserves ever since. During McKinley s term in office he raised the tariff on imported goods. These taxes on goods coming into the country were paid to the federal government and represented the largest source of revenue for government operations at a time before income taxes were enacted.

3 President William McKinley (Cont d) In this time period, following so closely on the heels of the Civil War, southern states were enacting what were called Jim Crow laws that stipulated the strict separation of blacks and whites in society. In the 1960s, as part of the civil rights movement, Rosa Parks gained national attention when she refused to sit at the back of a public transportation bus in Alabama, as required by law. This is an example of a Jim Crow law. McKinley did not take any action at the federal level to stop the growing amount of violence against blacks in the southern states even though in his inaugural speech he condemned the lynching of black men that was occurring. His only acknowledgement of the political situation of blacks was to appoint thirty blacks to his administration. In the realm of foreign affairs, at this time in history, major European nations continued to expand their world dominance by colonization. Many American politicians and business people advocated American expansionism. Meanwhile, American foreign policy was based on isolationism. The Spanish occupation of Cuba remained a problem in American foreign affairs. The Cuban people had revolted against Spanish rule in 1895 and Spain imprisoned 300,000 Cubans to stop the revolt. American businessmen who had interests in Cuban businesses, especially sugar, raised money to support the Cuban military efforts. McKinley intervened diplomatically to end the fighting and insisted that any negotiated peace must be acceptable to the Cuban nationals. In November, 1897 the Spanish government adopted more liberal policies towards Cuba and closed the detention camps but Cuban dissidents rioted again in Havana in January, McKinley sent the U.S. battleship Maine to Havana Harbor to protect American interests. When the battleship exploded, presumably from striking a Spanish mine, the American people called for war with Spain.

4 President William McKinley (Cont d) With the failure of diplomatic efforts, Spain declared war on the United States on April 23, 1898 while two days later McKinley and Congress declared war against Spain and committed to the independence of Cuba. The Spanish-American War was quickly resolved. The American Navy destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Pacific and the U.S. annexed the Hawaiian Islands. Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders captured the Cuban city of Santiago while the American navy destroyed the Spanish fleet in the waters around Cuba. With the signing of the peace treaty, the U.S. gained Puerto Rico, Guam and bought the Philippine Islands from Spain plus Cuba became an American protectorate, which lasted until The U.S. became a colonial power during McKinley s presidency. Immediately after the Spanish-American War, the citizens of the Philippines revolted against being ruled by the United States and McKinley sent troops to stop the revolt. The bloody conflict lasted until 1902 and resulted in 200,000 Filipino casualties. The U.S. was no better a colonial power at dealing with the Philippines as Spain was in dealing with Cuba. McKinley never completed his term in office as president. McKinley was accustomed to traveling the country to meet his constituents. On September 6, 1901 he was shot close-range by twenty-eight year old Leon F. Czolgosz who was in line to shake the president s hand in Buffalo, New York. The president died on September 14, 1901.

5 President William McKinley Questions 1. During the Civil War William McKinley a. Became good friend with Rutherford Hayes b. Rose through the ranks from private to colonel c. Both a. and b. above d. None of the above 2. While in the U.S. Congress, McKinley chaired a. The House Ways and Means Committee b. The Senate Ways and Means Committee c. The House Appropriations Committee d. The Senate Appropriations Committee 3. Using both silver and gold to back U.S. currency was called a. Bituminous b. Bi-partisan c. Bimetallism d. Duo-currency 4. Americans who wanted the U.S. to have colonies favored a. Isolationism b. Jim Crow laws c. Colonialism d. Expansionism 5. While McKinley was president the U.S. acquired ownership of a. Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines b. Philippines, Guam, Cuba, Hawaii c. Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawaii d. Hawaii, Guam, Cuba, Puerto Rico 6. While in office McKinley a. Died from a heart attack b. Died from a stroke c. Was assassinated d. None of the above

6 President William McKinley Answers 1. c. 2. a. 3. c. 4. d. 5. c. 6. c.