POLI 100C POLITICAL PARTIES
7 March 2006

  1. The Realignment of the 1890s

    1. The Territorial Expansion of the United States



    2. Congressional Elections: 1854 - 1896
      
                 HOUSE                                   SENATE
     Democrat  Opposition                    Democrat  Opposition
               Republican                              Republican
1854     83       100             (51A)          39        22             (1A)
1856    132        90             (14A,1)        41        20             (5A)
1858     83       116             (5A,36)        38        26             (2A,2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Democrat  Republican    Unionist        Democrat  Republican    Unionist   
1860     44       108           30 (1I)          15        31            3 
1862     72        85           25 (2IR)         10        33            5
1864     38       136           18 (1IR)         11        39            4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1866     47       173              (6)            9        57              (2 Vacant)
1868     67       171           24 (5C)          12        62             
1870    104       136              (3IR)         17        57              
1872     88       199              (4LR,1ID)     19        54              (1 Vacant)  
1874    183       106              (1I)          28        47              (1 Vacant)  
1876    157       136                            35        40              (1I)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1878    148       132              (13NL)        42        33              (1I)
1880    129       151              (10NL,2J,1I)  37        37              (1I,1J)
1882    199       118              (4J,2I,2NL)   36        38              (2J)
1884    183       141              (1NL)         34        42                  
1886    167       154              (2L,1NL,1I)   37        39                  
1888    152       179              (1L)          37        51                 
1890    238        86              (8P)          39        47              (2P)
1892    220       124              (11P,2S)      44        40              (3P,1S)
1894     93       254              (9P,1S)       40        44              (4P,2S)
1896    124       207              (22P,1S,3SR)  34        44              (5P,2S,5SR)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    3. Presidential Elections: 1864 - 1896
                          Democrat                          Republican
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1864    McClellan   21  1,836,072  44.91   Lincoln   212  2,220,846  55.08*
1868    Seymour     80  2,708,744  47.29   Grant     214  3,013,650  52.70*
1872    Greeley    ---  2,835,315  43.82   Grant     286  3,598,468  55.63*
1876    Tilden     184  4,288,191  51.01*  Hayes     185  4,033,497  47.87
1880    Hancock    155  4,445,526  48.21   Garfield  214  4,453,611  48.31
1884    Cleveland  219  4,915,586  48.49   Blaine    182  4,852,916  48.26
1888    Cleveland  168  5,539,118  48.68   Harrison  233  5,449,825  47.79
1892    Cleveland  277  5,554,617  46.07   Harrison  145  5,186,793  42.92
1896    Bryan      176  6,370,897  46.70   McKinley  271  7,105,144  51.02*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


    4. The Disputed 1876 Election
      
 Early Returns
 Tilden        184
 Hayes         165

Disputed Electoral Votes
 Florida         4
 Louisiana       8
 Oregon          1
 South Carolina  7
-------------------
                20
    5. What the Two Parties Stood For

      1. Democrats: 1866 - 1896

      2. Democrats: 1896 - 1950s

      3. Republicans: 1879 - 1928

      4. Republicans: 1928 - 2006

    6. The Economy and its Effect on Politics: 1866 - 1920

      1. Population Growth



      2. Economic Growth





      3. Deflation From 1866 - 1896, Inflation 1896 - 1920





      4. Industrialization





      5. The Rise of Organized Labor



      6. The Spread of the Railroad Network





        Railroads in 1890



        Railroads and the Spread of Agriculture





        Railroad Productivity



        Railroad Mileage Increased from 35,085 Miles of Mainline Track to 166,703 Miles of Mainline Track in 1890 -- more than a 4-fold Increase



      7. The Complaints of the Farmers



        1873: The Grangers Warn the Sleeping Public about the Consolidation Train





    7. The Election of 1896



    8. Summary -- Realignment of the 1890s -- Neither Party Replaced

      1. Breadth and Depth of the Underlying Grievance – Not too great. The Farmers and the Labor Unions were angry but the Bi-Metalism Issue did not have the power that Slavery had and Inflation after 1895 negated the issue.

      2. Capacity to Provoke Resistance – Farmers had many successes.

      3. Leadership – Held firm in the Republican Party but the Democratic Party was split internally.

      4. Division of Polar Forces Between the Two Parties – Affected Mainly the Democrats.

      5. Strength of Existing Party Attachments – Strong, especially for Republicans. The Silver Republicans stayed in the Party while the Gold Democrats switched to the Republican Party.