POLI 100C POLITICAL PARTIES
2 March 2006



  1. The Realignment of the 1850s

    1. The Crisis Over the Extension of Slavery to the Territories: the 1850s

      1. The United States at the Compromise of 1850



      2. The Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852. Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe it sold 300,000 copies during its first year of publication. It was turned into a stage play that was performed throughout the North. It helped fuel Northern Resistence to the Fugitive Slave Law.



      3. Stephen A. Douglas and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 30 May 1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act Repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and declared "that all questions pertaining to slavery in the territories, and in the new States to be formed therefrom, are to be left to the people residing therein, through their appropriate reprsentatives." It organized the Kansas and Nebraska Territories.





      4. Preston (Bully) Brooks' Attack on Charles Sumner on the Senate Floor on 21 May 1856 after Sumner's two day speech "The Crime Against Kansas."







      5. The Dred Scott Decision of 6 March 1857. In effect the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had no right under the Constitution to exclude Slavery from the Territories.

      6. The Panic of 1857



      7. John Brown's Raid on the armory at Harper's Ferry, VA (now WVA) on 16 October 1859

        John Brown, 9 May 1800 - 2 December 1859


        "Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say, let it be done." (Speech from scaffold, 2 December 1859)

        John Brown's Body
        
        |: John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, :|
        John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
        But his soul goes marching on. 
        Chorus:
        |: Glory, glory, hallelujah, :|
        Glory, glory, hallelujah,
        His soul goes marching on. 
        
        |: He's gone to be a soldier in the Army of the Lord, :|
        He's gone to be a soldier in the Army of the Lord,
        His soul goes marching on.
        Chorus: 
        
        |: John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back, :|
        John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back,
        His soul goes marching on.
        Chorus: 
        
        |: John Brown died that the slaves might be free, :|
        John Brown died that the slaves might be free,
        His soul goes marching on.
        Chorus: 
        
        |: The stars above in Heaven now are looking kindly down, :|
        The stars above in Heaven now are looking kindly down,
        His soul goes marching on.
        Chorus:
        
        --------------------------------------------------------------
        Battle Hymn of the Republic, by 
        Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910 (Written after she heard John Brown's Body)
        
        Mine eyes have seen the glory
        Of the coming of the Lord;
        He is trampling out the vintage
        Where the grapes of wrath are stored;
        He hath loosed the fateful lightning
        Of His terrible swift sword;
        His truth is marching on. 
        Chorus:
        Glory! glory, hallelujah!
        Glory! glory, hallelujah!
        Glory! glory, hallelujah!
        Our God is marching on. 
        
        2. I have seen Him in the watchfires
        Of a hundred circling camps;
        They have builded Him an altar
        In the evening dews and damps;
        I can read His righteous sentence
        By the dim and flaring lamps;
        His day is marching on.
        Chorus 
        
        3. I have read a fiery gospel
        Writ in burnished rows of steel;
        "As ye deal with my condemners,
        So with you my grace shall deal."
        Let the hero born of woman
        Crush the serpent with his heel,
        Since god is marching on!
        Chorus 
          4. He has sounded forth the trumpet
        That shall never sound retreat;
        He is sifting out the hearts of men
        Before His judgment seat;
        O be swift, my soul, to answer Him;
        Be jubilant, my feet!
        Our God is marching on.
        Chorus
        
        5. In beauty of the lilies,
        Christ born across the sea,
        With a glory in His bosom
        That transfigures you and me;
        As he died to make men holy,
        Let us live to make men free,
        While God is marching on.
        Chorus:
        
        6. He is coming like the glory
        Of the morning on the wave;
        He is wisdom to the mighty,
        He is honor to the brave;
        So the world shall be His footstool,
        And the soul of wrong His slave.
        Our God is marching on.
        Chorus:  
    2. The Election of 1860



      
      1860    Douglas       12  1,004,042  21.47%  Northern Democrat
              Lincoln      180  1,855,276  39.67%  Republican
              Breckinridge  72    672,601  14.38%  Southern Democrat
              Bell          39    590,980  12.64%  Unionist
              (Fusion)       0    553,570  11.84   Misc. Fusion Tickets
      


    3. The Deep South Followed by the Upper South Secede From the Union





    4. SUMMARY – Realignment of the 1850s -- The Five Variables

      1. Breadth and Depth of the Underlying Grievance – Slavery, it was moral and produced conflict for decades.

      2. Capacity to Provoke Resistance – Self-Evident, War broke out.

      3. Leadership – Douglas, Clay, and other leaders were unable to stop the polarization.

      4. Division of Polar Forces Between the Two Parties – Split both Parties along North-South lines but the split in the Whig Party was deeper.

      5. Strength of Existing Party Attachments – Strong, but overwhelmed by the Territorial Expansion Issue. The attachments held up well until the early 1850s.

    5. SUMMARY – Realignment of the 1850s -- The Realignment Scenario

      Clearly Type 4 -- Realignment in which One Party is Replaced.
      The System evolves from State A to State E.



  2. The Civil War and the Second Political Party System

    1. The Economic Costs of the Civil War

      1. Dimensions of the War

        • Largest Land Armies assembled in Human history -- by 1863 the North had 1,000,000 men under arms and the South 650,000.

        • Battles involving over 100,000 men were commonplace and some reached 200,000.

        • In one day, nearly 5,000 men were killed at Antietam and 20,000 wounded. It is still the most American soldiers killed in one day.

        • Total Dead: 360,000 North + 258,000 South = 618,000 with at least 500,000 wounded.

      2. Direct Costs of the War for North & South

        1. Direct Cost = All War Spending by Government + Destroyed Physical Capital + Destroyed Human Capital.

        2. Summary of Direct Costs (From Goldin and Lewis)
          
                                             NORTH               SOUTH
          
          Government                         2,292               1,011
          Draft                                 11(162,000 men)     20(300,000 men)
          Physical Capital Destruction         --                1,487
          Human Capital 
                    Destruction: Killed        955                 684
                               : Wounded       365                 261
          Risk Premiums                       -256                -178
          
          TOTAL                             $3.367b             $3.285b
          GRAND TOTAL   $6,652,000,000
          
        3. Magnitude of Direct Costs: 4 times all government expenditures, 1789 to 1860; 17 times 1860 export earnings; could have purchased all the Slaves at prevailing market prices, given each family 40 acres and a mule, and still have $3.5 billion left over.

      3. Indirect Costs: Hypothetical (consumption if no War) versus actual consumption over time discounted by prevailing interest rate. This shows that the costs for the North were $5.2b and the South $9.5b for a total of $14.7b.

      4. Mr. Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

    2. Long-Run Impact of the War on American Life

      1. The North Became an Industrial Superpower -- The Northern United States became the largest Economy in the World in 1892

      2. The South Became a Third World Country within the Geographic Boundaries of the United States. No Significant Economic Activity until Oil was Struck at Spindletop, Texas, in 1901

  3. The Democrat-Republican Political Party System Post-Civil War: Overview

    1. The Main Organizing Dimension -- Slavery-Secession-War-Reconstruction -- Submerged the Economic Dimension Until the late 1870s When the Republican Party Became the Party of Business and Capital. The System Shut Out:

      1. Farmers

      2. The Labor Movement

    2. Farmers blamed their troubles on inadequate Money Supply and Exploitation by Middlemen -- Especially the Railroads.

    3. Farmers wanted Inflation -- Bi-metalism and Paper Money and Control Over Railroad Freight Rates. They had some local success but nothing very spectacular.

    4. Labor -- The Working Conditions were terrible. With Rapid Industrialization the Business Cycles were sharp producing sudden lurches and stops in the economy throwing men out of work. Labor had very little support from the Farmers and most of the American Establishment was hostile to Labor Organizational Efforts.

    5. The Bi-Metalism Issue eventually Split both Political Parties into Silver and Gold Blocks. The 1896 Election Produced a one-way Realignment with Gold Democrats and the Protestant Upper Class moving to the Republican Party. Silver Republicans stayed in the Republican Party because memories of the War were still to strong.

  4. 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
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