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2 - Party politics and the financial debate, 1865–1896

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2011

Gretchen Ritter
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin
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Summary

We now come to the greatest question before the American people – a question of the very first importance to every producer in the land – a question in which is involved the freedom or slavery of every workingman in America – a question that must destroy the power of a monster moneyed aristocracy, or bind the whole labor of the nation, white and black, in fetters to gold – that question is one of finances.

William H. Sylvis, 1868

“That must be the Emerald City,” said Dorothy … In front of them, at the end of the road of yellow brick, was a big gate, all studded with emeralds … Dorothy and her friends were at first dazzled by the brilliancy of the wonderful City … The window panes were of a green glass; even the sky above the City had a green tint, and the rays of the Sun were green.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

For thirty years after the conclusion of the war, the Civil War party system organized political participation into a tight, highly competitive electoral market with high voter turnouts. Democrats and Republicans fought fiercely for control of the national government, and for many state and local governments. Five of the eight presidential elections in this period were decided by small margins. The structure of the party system influenced the articulation and competition of various political positions and programs.

Type
Chapter
Information
Goldbugs and Greenbacks
The Antimonopoly Tradition and the Politics of Finance in America, 1865–1896
, pp. 28 - 61
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1997

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