The Election of 1896
1. President Cleveland was in office: a. Was successful in having the Sherman Silver Purchase Act repealed in 1893 b. Democratic party becomes split on free silver issue. c. Cleveland fails to be re-nominated. d. Silver is a central issue in the election of 1896. DEMOCRATS
2. So the Democrats nominate William Jennings Bryan a. Congressman from Nebraska b. He gives the Cross of Gold speech- in support of silverbacked currency c. Populists join with Democrats and hope for victory. This ended the 3rd party in 1896.
REPUBLICANS A. William McKinley (Rep. Nom) B. Platform: Would maintain gold standard and end depression
President William McKinley Republican 1897-1901 Garret A. Hobart (1897-1899), none (1899-1901), Theodore Roosevelt (1901)
Political Aspects (1) The Election of 1896 Republican Candidate: William McKinley Democratic Candidate: William Jennings Bryan Issues: Tariff; Gold or Silver Standard
McKinley and Bryan (1 cont) McKinley won by the largest majority of popular votes since 1872!
Electoral Map of 1896 (Teal = Bryan, Green = McKinley) Notice the # of states that vote for Bryan yet he still lost! Why?
Economic Aspects When McKinley became President, the depression of 1893 had just about died out, as well as the big fuss over silver. Dingley Tariff Act, 1897 Redeemed the Republican promises to restore the high protective tariff and provided for an average rate of 49% (12) Gold Standard Act, 1900 under its terms, the United States formally placed its money on the gold standard. All currency was fully backed by gold. Its price was fixed at $20.67 an ounce.
Social Aspects A minority faction of Republicans supported national prohibition, as did some Populists (mostly in the West rather than the South). Since 1869, the strongest supporters of anti-liquor had banded together in the Prohibition Party.
Temperance - Restraint in the use of or abstinence from alcoholic liquors Women s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) founded in 1874, but became very popular in the 1890s
Race Relations: He appointed 30 African Americans to "positions of consequence" (mainly jobs in diplomatic and records offices), much less than what black Repubs. had wanted. During the Spanish-American War, he overruled orders preventing the recruitment and service of black soldiers. This did not do much to halt the continued mistreatment of blacks in American society.
(2) The Grandfather Clause was passed in 1898 in Louisiana And soon 7 other states by 1910, the Grandfather Clause stated that all men or lineal descendants of men who were voters before 1867 did not have to meet the educational, property, or tax requirements for voting then in existence. This effectively allowed all white males to vote while denying the franchise to black men and other men of color. The Grandfather Clause, with its voting denial, became the centerpiece of a much larger system of discrimination and racial segregation.
(11) Election of 1900- same candidates Republican Candidate: William McKinley Republican VP Candidate: Theodore Roosevelt Democratic Candidate: William Jennings Bryan Issues: Currency issue dead! Focus turns to imperialistic views due to the Spanish- American War of 1898
Electoral Map of 1900 (Blue = Bryan, Green = McKinley) McKinley defeated Bryan by even larger margins!
(13) Assassination of McKinley September 6, 1901, in Buffalo, NY 28-year-old Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, had fired a hidden revolver into the President s chest.
Czolgosz claimed to have shot the president because he was the "enemy of the people, the good working people." The assassin expressed no remorse for his actions and died in the electric chair on October 29, 1901.
First Lady Ida Saxton McKinley lost two infant daughters as well as her mother within three years of her marriage to McKinley. She then developed epilepsy and became an invalid. McKinley gave her his full attention, breaking White House protocol in seating her by his side at State dinners. When shot by an assassin in 1901, McKinley said to his secretary, "My wife, be careful how you tell her -- oh, be careful."