[USA] - 24th President of the USA Grover Cleveland - re-elected

[USA] - 24th President of the USA Grover Cleveland - re-elected

Grover Cleveland	Birth: 18 March 1837
	Died: 24 June 1908
	Party: Democrat
	Presidency: 1885 ~ 1889
	Vice President: Frances Folsom
	Nickname: Uncle Jumbo

 

●   Plessy vs. Ferguson case – Separate but Equal Doctrine

On 18th May7 1896, the Supreme Court rules the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson case that it supports the Jim Crow laws of the Southern regions of the US. The Jim Crow laws were a series of laws that would ‘separate’ but treat African-American and colored people.

The Jim Crow laws started during the period of the ‘Reconstruction’ where the United States of America tried to recover relations between the South and North while establishing the basic infrastructure of the nation again.

 

 

These series of laws would separate colored people from white people in public sectors an even private places such as restaurants and even cemeteries. In 1890, an African-American Homer Plessy refused to get off from a ‘white-only’ car of a train and was arrested.

Homer Plessy and his lawyers appealed to court which became the Plessy vs Ferguson case. However, the Supreme Court back then ruled that such segregation was not against the Constitution.

This case was a ruling that would uphold the ‘Separate but Equal Doctrine’ that would last for almost 80 years more.

 

 

● Repeal of the Silver Purchase Act – Goldbugs vs Silverites

The Sherman Silver Purchase Act signed during former president Benjamin Harrison forced the federal government to purchase silver as a compromise for the McKinley Tariff.

However, the gold reserve of the federal government dropped to almost below 100 million dollars by the April of 1893. Right after Grover Cleveland was reelected, the economic crisis or Panic of 1893 struck the economy.

 

 

Grover Cleveland would call for an emergency session of Congress to repeal the Silver Purchase Act. Repeal of the Silver Purchase Act would allow only gold to backup the currency system while reserving the Silver Purchase Act would allow bimetallism.

Bimetallism which meant keeping both silver and gold as a standrad would increase the amount of money in circulation thus lower the overall value of money.

 

 

The “goldbugs” that represent the conservative and eastern bankers who would already have much cash(thus, increasing the value of overall money is more favorable) and the “silverite” that represent the young politicians and western, southern farmers and pioneers would clash over the repeal of the Silver Purchase Act.

 

 

 ● Economic Crisis of 1893 and Help from Wallstreet

The Economic Crisis of 1893 struck the railroad business the hardest. In 1896, 1/4 of the whole railroad services of United States of America were out of business.

Wall Street heavily relied on the railroad industries and the operations of Wall Street were also halted.

 

 

Grover Cleveland with the help of Republicans and “goldbug’ Democrats successfully repealed the Silver Purchase Act against the silverite but still the federal gold reserve was depleted and were at the brink of reaching a critical point.

Grover Cleveland would call on J.P. Morgan who would recruit bankers of Wall Street to restore the gold reserve while also make a great deal of money by the government loan.

 

 

● Gibson Girls 

Illustrator Charles Dana Gibson would make many pen-and-ink drawings that became almost the first standard of beauty of the United States of America. (I don’t intend to set such standards.

This is objective history) Charles Dana Gibson drew women with self-confidence, small waisted, heavy upswept hairstyles also referred as pompadours with ‘hourglass’ like figures.

 

 

The so-called Gibson Girl became a standard of femineity of the century. Charles Dana Gibson would also depict Gibson Man which would be men with wide and broad shoulders and shaved gentlemen as companions with the Gibson Girl.

This also set a different standard for men as men would usually grow mustaches and beards during these times.

 

 

● Invention of Breakfast Cereals –John Harvey Kellogg and C.W. Post

The Battle Creek Sanitarium was one of the most famous spa and health resort of the nation during these times. The Seventh Day Adventist Church established the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

Dedicated members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church were early adaptors of ‘vegan’ and ‘vegetarian’ life styles.

The Battle Creek Sanitarium and the Seventh Day Adventist Church would support research programs to develop healthy substitutes for the animal-based diets.

 

 

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg would invent the cornflakes and this became the first cereal. Dr. Kellogg named the cereal ‘Granose’. He would later on found the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company which would become current day Kellogg’s.

 

 

Interestingly, Kellogg’s major competitor ‘Post’ Charles William Post(C.W. Post) who was the founder of the multi-cereal brand ‘Post’ was a patient at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, however he saw great opportunities in Kellogg’s Granose.

C.W. Post would sell his first cereal ‘Grape Nuts’ as well which would later become the basis of the company ‘Post’. C.W. Post has been accused of stealing John Kellogg’s ideas.

 

 

● Yellow Journalism – Joseph Pulitzer vs William Randolph

William Randolph Hearts acquires the New York Journal and competes with the New York World led by the famous Joseph Pulitzer whose name was decorated as the current Pulitzer Awards.

The competition between these journals would establish the foundation of the media business.

 

 

However, it also triggers the start of Yellow Journalism which means that the contents were exaggerated unnecessarily depicted dramatically, and provocative.

“The Yellow Kid” which was a cartoon initially depicted on the New York World and later on the New York Journal would even become the trigger of the Spanish-American War.

 

 

● Economic crisis of 1893(The Panic of 1893) and labor movements

February, 1893, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad went bankrupt and other railroad companies would also go broke during the Panic of 1893.

The railroad business was the largest financial basis for Wall Street and it was one of the largest businesses in the whole US. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs and 1/4 of the railroad business were out of business by 1896.

This would lead to the halt on finance and even manufacturing businesses as the supply chain were halted and the economy overall was on depression.

 

 

Many big businesses would cut the wages of workers. Some would exploit this opportunity to make unfair deals with wages of workers.

Already, the economy was in depression and workers were treated unfairly which led to numerous labor movements during these times.

 

 

Businesses were protected by tariffs and many immigrants were available as workforces while the government had to favor domestic industries before and after the Civil War.

Thus, many laborers were at disadvantages and to fight against such disadvantages, labor unions such as the American Federation of Labor was established.

 

● Coxey’s Army 

Jacob Coxey proposed a program to hire unemployed people for the government in response to the depression. This was one of the series of events that raised awareness of unemployment to the whole nation.

Jacob Coxey tried to rally an ‘army’ of unemployed men to march to Washington but he ended up with only about 500 people that would join the ‘Coxey’s Army’.

 

 

Coxey’s Army may have been an attempt to raise awareness of government programs to relieve unemployment however it was also considered a populist movement to take advantage of the favor of people to pursue his political ambitions.

 

● The Wilson-Gorman Tariff

Grover Cleveland attempted to lower the tariff rates finally during his re-election. He had to deal with the economic crisis during his whole second presidency term.

Representative William Wilson proposed a bill that reduced the tariff rate at a significant proportion.

 

 

However, the senator of Maryland Arthur Gorman reformed the tariff which was named Wilson-Gorman Tariff which almost barely lowered the tariff rate.

Grover Cleveland was disappointed that the bill as it barely lowered the tariff rate and once again, this would cost him and the party the presidency.