1896+(Vassar)


 * ELECTION OF 1896 (VASSAR WEBSITE)**

Context is Panic of 1893

Remember to use Google Images for persons, events, newspaper headlines http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi

1896 Presidential Campaign (Vassar) http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/1896home.html

The 1896 presidential election was one of the most exciting and complicated in U.S. history. This website provides an introduction to one aspect of the campaign: the hundreds of political cartoons published in newspapers around the country.

http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/electionresults.html
 * 1896 Election Results**

The Republican presidential and vice-presidential candidates, McKinley and Hobart, won a sweepingvictory in the electoral college, with 271 electoral votes to Bryan's 176. The popular vote was much closer: 7,102,246 to 6,492,559.

Historians have seen 1896 as a "realigning election," though it confirmed results that had already been apparent in the 1894 congressional races: by 1897, Republicans had won sweeping control of the White House and both houses of Congress. The 1896 election showed a sharp differentiation between voters in the economic "metropole"--the Northeast and industrial areas--and those in the "periphery"--the South and West. Most historians believe this disagreement stemmed from different reactions to the massive depression, though voters' loyalties reflected a mix of racial attitudes, memories of the Civil War, and other motivations. It is possible to show how men (and a few women) voted, but impossible to prove with certainty why each individual voted as he did.

William McKinley was inaugurated on March 4, 1897, as the 25th president of the United States. His inaugural address promised solutions to the nation's economic woes--and he was lucky enough to preside over an economic recovery during the years of his first term. Thus, it was even more difficult by 1900 for Democrats and a few Populists to claim that Republican policies spelled the nation's economic doom.


 * Biographies of Leaders**:

William Jennings Bryan http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/bryan.html

Mark Hanna The Republicans, Mark Hanna, and Labor http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/hanna.html

William McKinley http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/mckinley.html The Era of William McKinley (Ohio State University eHistory) http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/mckinley/

William Allen White http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/white.html

http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/parties.html
 * Political Parties in the 1896 Presidential election campaign**:

"Soon the United States will have as many political parties as Spain and will be split up into innumerable factions and groups. . . . The following table of the rearranged parties is given:

(1) The gold Republican party. (2) The free-silver Democrats, among whom are (a) those who want Populist support and (b) those who don't want Populist support. (3) The free-silver Republicans. (4) The gold Democrats, among whom are (a) those who will support McKinley and (b) those who will nominate a ticket of their own. (5) The Prohibitionists. (6) The bolting Prohibitionists. (7) The Bryan Populists, among whom are (a) those who favor Bryan and Sewall and (b) those who are for Bryan and Watson. (8) The anti-Bryan Populists. (9) The voters who are on the fence. (10) The voters who have taken to the woods." --Mexican Herald, quoted in Public Opinion, 27 August 1896

The election of 1896 was one of the most complicated in U.S. history. As the Mexican Herald observed, four different parties' national conventions split, and in two cases the "bolters" (those who left their parties) ran separate presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Populists ran a separate vice-presidential candidate.

"Free silver" was the central issue of the 1896 presidential campaign, but today the debates surrounding it may seem technical and obscure. Why did Americans care so passionately about "honest money" and "free silver"? What were the deeper meanings of these slogans?

1. Republican Party

The Republican Party won the presidency and control of Congress, despite the defection of pro-silver Republicans from the West.

The Republican Party (main page) http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/republicans.html

Republican Platform http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/gopplatform.html

William McKinley's Acceptance Speech http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/mckinleyaddress.html

William Allen White, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/whatsthematter.html

2. Democratic Party

The Democratic Party held the presidency when the campaign began, but President Grover Cleveland did not support his own party's candidate. The party split, and Cleveland expressed his support for the Gold Democratic "bolters."

The Democratic Party (main page) http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/democrats.html

The Silver Democrats http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/democrats.html

William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold Address to the Chicago Convention http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/crossofgold.html

The Silver Democratic Platform http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/chicagoplatform.html

The Gold Democrats: Candidates and Platform http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/golddem.html

3. People's Party

National delegates of the People's Party divided over whether to endorse William Jennings Bryan, whom Silver Democrats had already chosen as their nominee. The convention endorsed him over strenuous protests from "middle-of-the-road" Populists, who remained strong enough to force the nomination of a separate vice-presidential candidate, Tom Watson. The resulting confusion contributed to the continuing decline of Populist fortunes.

The Populist Party (main page) http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/populists.html

People's Party Platform http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/peoplesplatform.html

Mary Lease's Speech at Cooper Union http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/leasespeech.html

4. Prohibitionist Party

The Prohibitionist Party had peaked in strength in 1888; its convention also divided over whether to address the money question or to present a "narrow-gauge" platform focused solely on the prohibition of liquor.

Prohibitionist Party http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/prohibition.html

5. Silver Party

The Silver Party, tiny and overwhelmingly Western, endorsed the Silver Democratic candidates but drafted and passed their own platform.

Silver Party http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/silverparty.html

6. Socialist Labor Party

The Socialist Labor Party nominated candidates, though Socialism had not yet achieved the strength it would after 1900. Many future Socialists, such as Eugene V. Debs, called themselves Populists in 1896 and supported William Jennings Bryan.

Socialist Labor Party http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/socialism.html

Socialist Labor Party Platform http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/slpplatform.html

Daniel DeLeon's Address, "Reform or Revolution." http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/deleon.html


 * Themes of the1896 Presidential Campaign**:

Antisemitism http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/antisemitism.html

McKinley Supporters and the Bible http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/goldbible.html

Bryan and the Bible Bryan, Religion, and the Silver Question http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/bryanreligion.html

Memories of the Civil War and Slavery http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/civilwar.html

The Currency Issue http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/currency.html Inflation Calculator http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ Gold/Silver Prices http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/ http://www.monex.com/liveprices

Economic Depression of 1893 http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/depression.html Jacob Coxey http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=70&nm=Jacob-S-Coxey Keep Off the Grass!: Coxey’s Army Invades the Nation’s Capital http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5364/ Marches on Washington http://www.pbs.org/pov/brotheroutsider/march/pastmarches01_coxey.html From Coxey's Army to Occupy Wall Street http://www.psu.edu/dept/richardscenter/2011/10/from-coxeys-army-to-occupy-wall-street.html

Immigration http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/immigration.html

Farmers and Laborers http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/labor.html

Nativism and the (American Protective Association) A.P.A. http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/apa.html Protestant Paranoia: The American Protective Association Oath http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5351/

Racial Prejudice http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/prejudice.html Plessy v. Ferguson

Sectional Interests http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/sections.html

Strikes (Homestead and Pullman) http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/strikes.html

The Supreme Court in 1896 http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/supremes.html

The Protective Tariff http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/tariff.html

Trusts and Monopolies http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/trusts.html

U.S. Foreign Relations http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/foreignrelations.html Spain and Cuba To Annex Hawaii Turkey and Armenia

Woman Suffrage http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/suffrage.html

Women in the Campaign http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/women.html


 * Popular Culture in the 1890s**

Bicycles http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/bicycle.html

Inventions http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/inventions.html

Literary Themes http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/literary.html Mark Twain in his Times http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/index2.html

Medicine http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/medicine.html Patent Medicines (Chronicling America, Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/patentmedicines.html

Popular Amusements http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/amusements.html

Images of Uncle Sam http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/unclesam.html

Special Feature: The 1896 Campaign at Vassar College itself http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/vassar.html

Journals and Newspapers in the Campaign http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/journals.html#nytimes

Bibliography Teaching 1896: Classroom Ideas