| Line 100: |
Line 100: |
| | '''Debate: Do you support a "spoils system" or a "civil service system"?''' | | '''Debate: Do you support a "spoils system" or a "civil service system"?''' |
| | | | |
| − | == Big Business and Big Oil == | + | == The Grange Movement == |
| | + | |
| | + | Not everyone in America was happy with Republican dominance in the White House, and unregulated free enterprise in the economy. Many farmers, for example, that railroads were charging prices that were too high. From 1867 to 1874, there was a political movement for states to regulate the prices charged by railroads, which was led by "Granger" politicians. A leader in "The Grange Movement" was Oliver Kelley, a former official in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Initially the Grange was devoted to social gatherings and educational programs for farmers, who otherwise had a somewhat isolated and tedious lifestyle. |
| | + | |
| | + | In many ways farmers in the 1870s were like homeschoolers today: divided and lacking in political force. The Grange Movement attempted to change that. When there was a financial crisis known as the Panic of 1873, the Grange surged in popularity among farmers who had too much debt and not good rates from railroads for shipping their products. Popularity grew in the farm states of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, and the Grangers were able to pass "Granger laws" to regulate the railroads for the benefit of farmers.<ref>http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h854.html</ref> |
| | + | |
| | + | The owner of a grain elevator (which charges farmers to store their grain) fought an Illinois Granger law all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in ''Munn v. Illinois'', decided in 1876. That decision upheld the power of states to regulate the rates charged by grain warehouses or any other public facility made available for the general public good, such as railroads. This ruling in favor of the farmers energized the populist movement. But a later lawsuit brought by the railroads to challenge state regulations of the terms it placed in its contracts, the Wabash case (1886), invalidated the state regulation and put the farmers almost back to where they started. The Wabash case led to the federal government ultimately intervening in favor of the farmers by creating the Interstate Commerce Commission in the Interstate Commerce Act (1887). This new federal agency, known by its initials as the "ICC", regulates railroad rates and terms in its contracts with the public. |
| | | | |
| − | The Grange/Oliver Kelley "1867-74: political movement to regulate prices of railroad (""Granger"" politicians)" | + | The Grange Movement reached its zenith (peak) in 1875. It then began to decline as its activists started more powerful organizations: the Greenback Party (in the 1870s), the Farmers' Alliances (in the 1880s) and the Populist Party (in the 1890s, which eventually joined with the Democratic Party). |
| | | | |
| − | populism
| + | == Big Business and Big Oil == |
| | | | |
| | John D. Rockefeller monopolized the oil industry at this time, becoming perhaps the wealthiest person ever. After he formed the Standard Oil Trust of Ohio in 1881 to run his empire, it became a goal of government to break his empire up. Meanwhile, other industries began to follow his example, as large industrial companies began to form to control sugar, lead, beef and even whiskey. Rockefeller, in turn, allegedly bribed public officials to advance his business goals. Congress ultimately passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to prohibit “restraint of trade” or interference with competition, in 1890, named after Senator John Sherman of Ohio (General William Sherman’s brother). Rockefeller’s oil company was ultimately broken up by the courts. The Sherman Antitrust Act is a big area of the law today. | | John D. Rockefeller monopolized the oil industry at this time, becoming perhaps the wealthiest person ever. After he formed the Standard Oil Trust of Ohio in 1881 to run his empire, it became a goal of government to break his empire up. Meanwhile, other industries began to follow his example, as large industrial companies began to form to control sugar, lead, beef and even whiskey. Rockefeller, in turn, allegedly bribed public officials to advance his business goals. Congress ultimately passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to prohibit “restraint of trade” or interference with competition, in 1890, named after Senator John Sherman of Ohio (General William Sherman’s brother). Rockefeller’s oil company was ultimately broken up by the courts. The Sherman Antitrust Act is a big area of the law today. |
| Line 114: |
Line 120: |
| | | | |
| | John Sherman "Ohio Congressman who sponsored the Sherman Antitrust Act, brother of General Roger Sherman" | | John Sherman "Ohio Congressman who sponsored the Sherman Antitrust Act, brother of General Roger Sherman" |
| − |
| |
| − | Interstate Commerce Act "1887: establishes federal agency or commission to regulate trade among states, espec. the railroads"
| |
| | | | |
| | "Williamsport, Pennsylvania" late 1800s: wealthiest city in the U.S. because as center of the lumber industry; now hosts Little League | | "Williamsport, Pennsylvania" late 1800s: wealthiest city in the U.S. because as center of the lumber industry; now hosts Little League |
| | | | |
| | U.S. v. Knight Co. "1895: weakens power of Sherman Antitrust Act by upholding powerful Sugar Trust, which held 98% of mkt" | | U.S. v. Knight Co. "1895: weakens power of Sherman Antitrust Act by upholding powerful Sugar Trust, which held 98% of mkt" |
| − |
| |
| − | Munn v. Illinois "1877: upholds state regulation of public facility (grain warehouse), energized populist movement"
| |
| | | | |
| | Standard Oil Trust "1879-1911: America's biggest monopoly, it controlled almost 95% of the oil industry until broken up by S.Ct." | | Standard Oil Trust "1879-1911: America's biggest monopoly, it controlled almost 95% of the oil industry until broken up by S.Ct." |
| − |
| |
| | | | |
| | == Economics == | | == Economics == |