Summary How tariffs and business plays a role in the late 1800’s including the Civil War years.
Timestamp 4:47: the Republicans in office during the years of Lincoln’s presidency have taken over congress with many ideas of what they don’t stand for, but no real legislation or positive programs regarding what they stand for other than tariffs. They did this by creating the income tax, and when they came to realize that that was not going to bring in enough money, they started taxing certain goods that were coming into the country. This starts to be referred to as the Moral tariff, that includes art, agricultural products, and a variety of other things that essentially could be produced in the United States. This was intended to promote items made in the United States.
Timestamp 9:47: The government asks for money from Bankers to support things such as the Homestead act and the land grant college. The bankers are traditionally aligned with the ideology of the South, which contributes to the rift between the North and South. By the end of 1871, they essentially pulled the rug out from under the financials of the country. To counteract this, they invent a form of currency called a “greenback”. The greenbacks are only issued when the government and their credit union approves their ability to pay for them. This causes them to be sensitive to inflation and perception on current events. Many people who are starting out love the greenbacks as the dollar value may over time be less than what they borrowed. This became great for borrowers but bad for lenders on Wall street.
Timestamp 14:40: In 1863, the government created yet another form of paper money that will be known as a National Bank note. The National Bank notes interest are payable in gold, which makes them extremely stable in value. This makes it a lenders preferred way to lend.
Timestamp 18:20: The system the Republicans put in place is starting to show its flaws, as the industrialists dramatically consolidated their powers as they had the government contracts. This was initially seen as a good thing, however, in the midst of people focusing on the workers' rebellion for their rights, people fail to see the growth and power of railroads. In 1872 the Credible Belier scandal came to light as is played out through railroads, which have been under spotlight already as they live lavish lifestyles provided essentially by government contracts. This later ties President Grant to charges of corruption.
Timestamp 35:01: Americans begin to become concerns with the involvement of big business in politics, which is emphasized by the tariffs. The tariffs which were originally presented to help the people consistently only seem of benefit to big business. Once this is realized and the people organize against big business, the heads of businesses “carve up” control of the market so everyone gets a fair share. This is in an effort to stabilize prices, therefore the market. Over time this leads to buying up competition to stabilize prices, which later leads to monopolies.
Timestamp 39:41: “Trusts” start to appear, and Senators are dedicated/ bought by certain trusts. The system hinges on economic, unregulated growth at the expense of no worker rights. This puts doubt in Democracy being for the people and making laws that benefit the people, after a war was fought in the recent past for equal rights.
Timestamp 49:21: The two forms of currency cause the crash of 1873, where it is debated on whether to help the people or stabilize the market and help the wealthy. They choose to stabilize the markets, so they proceed to pull the GreenBacks from circulation in favor of the more stable Bank notes.
Timestamp 51:41: The republican party believes that industrialists are managing the economy by employing people. This leads to the argument that their interests must be protected, which is debated was the reason for the design of the 14th amendment. It becomes argued that the wealthy should be in charge of the economy to promote growth, therefore, an oligarchy of sorts.
[From wikipedia] Richardson’s first book, The Greatest Nation of the Earth (1997), stemmed from her dissertation at Harvard University. Inspired by Eric Foner’s work on pre-Civil War Republican ideology, Richardson analyzed Republican economic policies during the war. She contended that their efforts to create an activist Federal Government during the Civil War marked a continuation of Republican free labor ideology. These policies, such as war bonds and greenbacks or the Land Grant College Act and the Homestead Act, revolutionized the role of the Federal Government in the U.S. economy. At the same time, these actions laid the groundwork for the Republican Party’s shift to Big Business after the Civil War.
In this 2001 book, Richardson "focused on the “Northern abandonment of Reconstruction.” Building on the earlier work of C. Vann Woodward, she argued that a more complete understanding of the period required appreciation of class, not only race. As Reconstruction continued into the 1870s and especially the 1880s, Republicans began to view African Americans in the South more from a class perspective and less from the perspective of race that had driven their earlier humanitarianism. In the midst of the labor struggles of the Gilded Age, Republicans came to compare “the demands of the ex-slaves for land, social services, and civil rights” to the demands of white laborers in the North. This ideological shift was the key to Republican abandonment of Reconstruction, as they chose the protection of their economic and business interests over their desire for racial equality." [From wikipedia]
In this 2007 book, "Richardson presented Reconstruction as a national event that impacted all Americans, not just those in the South. She incorporated the West into the discussion of Reconstruction as no predecessor had. Between 1865 and 1900, Americans re-imagined the role of the federal government, calling upon it to promote the well-being of its citizens. However, racism, sexism, and greed divided Americans, and the same people who increasingly benefited from government intervention—white, middle-class Americans—actively excluded African-Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and organized laborers from the newfound bounties of their reconstructed nation." [from wikipedia]
In this book, published in 2010, Richardson "focused on the U.S. Army’s slaughter of Native Americans in South Dakota in 1890. She argued that party politics and opportunism led to Wounded Knee. After a bruising midterm election, President Benjamin Harrison needed to shore up his support. To do so, he turned to The Dakotas, where he replaced seasoned Indian agents with unqualified political allies, who incorrectly assumed that the Ghost Dance Movement presaged war. The Army responded by sending one third of its force in order to avoid spending cuts from Congress. After the event, Republicans tried to paint the massacre as a heroic battle to stifle the resurgent Democrats." [wikipedia]
In this 2014 book, Richardson "extended her study of the Republican Party into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book studied the entire life of the GOP, from its inception in the 1850s through the presidency of George W. Bush. The party’s founders united against the “slave power,” a small group of wealthy white men who controlled all three branches of government. These Republicans articulated a new vision of an America in which all hardworking men could rise. But after the Civil War, Republicans began to emulate what they originally opposed. They tied themselves to powerful bankers and industrialists, sacrificing the well-being of ordinary Americans. A similar process took place after World War II, when Republicans sought to dismantle successful New Deal policies and prop up the wealthy. However, in both cases, reformers within the party were able to return the GOP to its founding vision of equality of opportunity, first Theodore Roosevelt during the Progressive Era, and then Dwight D. Eisenhower, who enforced integration and maintained the New Deal. The Nixon and Reagan administrations have represented yet another fall from the GOP’s founding purpose. It's ironic, Richardson points out, that Republicans treated Barack Obama with an unprecedented level of disrespect, as Obama's rise from humble beginnings to the highest office in the nation embodied the vision of the original Republicans." [wikipedia]
In her most recent publication, Richardson argues "that America was founded with contradicting ideals, with the ideas of liberty, equality, and opportunity on one hand, and slavery and hierarchy on the other. United States victory in the American Civil War should have settled that tension forever, but at the same time that the Civil War was fought, Americans also started moving into the West. In the West, Americans found and expanded upon deep racial hierarchies, meaning that hierarchical values survived in American politics and culture despite the crushing defeat of the pro-slavery Confederacy. Those traditions--a rejection of democracy, an embrace of entrenched wealth, the marginalization of women and people of color--have found a home in modern conservative politics, leaving the tremendous promise of America unfulfilled." [wikipedia]
