Benjamin Harrison August 20 1833 March 13

Benjamin Harrison August 20, 1833 – March 13, 1901 Republican In office: 18891893 VP: Levi P. Morton Indiana

I. Political Issues

(1) Election of 1888 Candidates: Grover Cleveland (DEMOCRAT) vs. Benjamin Harrison (REPUBLICAN)

B. The Main Issue of the Campaign: Tariffs 1. Cleveland pledged a reduction on the tariff while making it clear that he opposed absolute free trade. promised a strong protective tariff as a safeguard 2. Harrison to American industry

(1 cont) Outcome of the Election • Cleveland won the popular vote by 100, 000 votes, but failed to win his home state of New York, losing 36 electoral votes! – Cleveland opposed Tammany Hall (remember them? ); they undermined his campaign. – Harrison Won! (His grandfather was 9 th US President William Henry Harrison

If New York would have voted for their candidate - Grover Cleveland- he would have won the election of 1888 by 2 electoral votes

Labor Unions (11) Homestead Strike (1892): a. Homestead, PA (Carnegie Steel) b. Homestead was a company town, where factory workers were forced to live in run-down houses, with streets in terrible condition and everything covered in soot and dust. c. Working conditions were horrible, deaths in mills were not uncommon.

Carnegie Steel Works, Homestead, PA

d. The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers Union (the AA) fought against conditions at Carnegie’s plant. Carnegie first accepted the union but instructed his company president, Henry Clay Frick, to dismiss the union in 1892. A. Carnegie H. Frick

e. Frick announced cuts in wages of certain skilled workers and declared they would no longer deal with the union, which led to the workers mobilizing in self-defense. g. Frick closed down mills to lock out workers, hiring 300 Pinkerton detectives to enforce the lockout. h. Fighting broke out between the Pinkerton men and union members. 3 Pinkertons died and 7 union members were killed.

i. PA sent 8, 000 National guardsmen to restore order. j. In the end, the union remained intact, but oppressive working conditions remained the same in the steel industry until WWI.

E. Foreign Affairs • The First International Conference of American States met in Washington, D. C. , in 1889. • Almost every independent nation in North and South America sent a delegate to the conference that purposed to improve trade relations amongst the Americas.

(4)Native American Affairs Oklahoma Territory- set up Land for Native American reservation Allowing 160 acre Plots an addition to the Dawes Act The Sooners, a nickname given to individuals who participated in the land rushes which initially opened the Oklahoma Indian Territory to non-native settlement by entering early and hiding out until the legal time of entry in order to lay quick (and, by definition, illegal) claim to some of the most choice homesteads.

(9)Wounded Knee-The Final Battle Ghost Dance- 1889, ritual dance performed by Native Americas through out the Westthey believed this ritual would drive out the white men. The US Military believed this was a declaration of war… the military wanted all natives on reservations now 1890 - Battle of Wounded Knee, in South Dakota- was the last battle between Native Americans and US Military 190 unarmed Native Americans were killed (a massacre)

(7) Fredrick Jackson Turner’s Thesis • “American exceptionalism and vitality have always been the American frontier, the region between urbanized, civilized society and the untamed wilderness. ” The thesis explained why America was different from Europe. Americans thrived on growth and change and adventure. The U. S. Census of 1890 said the West was full, leaving American’s to wonder what was next.

(10) Populist Political Platform Political party and platform started because of the farmer’s problems 1. A 2. graduated income tax- tax higher incomes at higher rates direct election of US senators 3. Free and unlimited coinage of silver. 4. Effective government control of railroads and telegraphs

II. Economic issues

A. Changing Public Opinion « Americans wanted the federal govt. to deal with growing social & economic problems & to curb the power of the trusts: Ø Interstate Commerce Act – 1887 Ø Sherman Antitrust Act – 1890 Ø Mc. Kinley Tariff – 1890 Ø Rep. Party suffered big losses in 1890 (even Mc. Kinley lost his House seat!).

(5)Sherman Anti-Trust Act • President Harrison also signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act "to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies, " the first Federal act attempting to regulate trusts- NO MORE MONOPOLIES

(8) Mc. Kinley Tariff 1. Based on theory that prosperity flowed directly from protectionism. 2. The final version of the tariff gave a small nod to reform by adding a few items to the free (not taxed) list, but it increased already high rates another 4%! 3. The result was the highest protective tariff in American history to that point with an average rate of 48 percent. Ex: you buy a $1 candy bar!!! It would cost $1. 48 instead of $1. 07 like today’s tax.

(12)“Billion Dollar Congress” • Substantial appropriation bills were signed by Harrison for internal improvements, naval expansion, and subsidies for steamship lines. For the first time except in war, Congress spent a billion dollars!! When critics attacked "the billion-dollar Congress, " Speaker Thomas B. Reed replied, "This is a billion-dollar country. " $$$$$$$

• Long before the end of the Harrison Administration, the Treasury surplus (that the high Mc. Kinley tariff had helped create) had evaporated, and prosperity seemed about to disappear as well. Harrison wearing his grandfather’s hat (which is too big for him!)

III. Social Issues

• (3) New States- Territory to come in from 1889 and 1890 Idaho and Wyoming • Giving us 43 states • Oklahoma is still Indian Territory • Official flag For 5 years!

(2) Jane Addams- The Hull House • One of the first settlement houses in the United Statesset up for IMMIGRANT WOMEN (AND CHILDREN) to have a safe place to learn a trade and live until a good life could start

Ellis Island • Formerly Oyster Island (Formerly Gull Island) • First immigration station in New York City Harbor opened January 1, 1892. • Located in NYC by the Statue of Liberty • All newcomers were subject to physical exams. • Those with criminal records, mental disorders, contagious diseases, or other serious health problems were deported.

$$$ The Money Question $$$ (6) Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890)- required the government to pay for silver purchases with Treasury notes redeemable for either gold or silver. 1. New discoveries decrease value of silver 2. Strain is put on gold reserves b/c people are trading silver in.