The effects of the political equilibrium of the Democratic and Republican parties during the late nineteenth century, and the origins of this equilibrium in differing regional and sociocultural bases.
The inability of the political system and a limited national government to respond effectively to the nation's rapid social and economic changes, particularly the advent of large corporations and industrial capitalism.
The powerful but unsuccessful challenge mounted by the troubled agrarian sector to the new directions of American industrial capitalism, and how this confrontation came to a head during the crises of the 1890s and the election of 1896.
A thorough study of Chapter Nineteen should enable the student to understand:
The nature of American party politics in the last third of the nineteenth century.
The problems of political patronage in the administrations of Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, and Chester A. Arthur that led to the passage of the Pendleton Act.
The circumstances that permitted the Democrats to gain control of the presidency in the elections of 1884 and 1892.
The origins, purposes, and effectiveness of the Interstate Commerce Act and the Sherman Antitrust Act.
The positions of the two major parties on the tariff question, and the actual trend of tariff legislation in the 1880s and 1890s.
The rise of agrarian discontent as manifested in the Granger movement, the Farmers' Alliances, and the Populist movement.
The historical controversy surrounding the origins and character of agrarian populism.
The rise of the silver question from the "Crime of '73" through the Gold Standard Act of 1900.
The significance of the presidential campaign and election of 1896.
The reasons for the decline of agrarian discontent after 1898.
