SAFIYA - AMERICA

• Social Darwinism


  The practice of misapplying the biological evolutionary language of Charles Darwin to politics, the economy, and society
• Social Darwinists

  • Embraced laissez-faire capitalism and racism
  • Believed government should not interfere in the "survival of the fittest" by helping the poor
  • Promoted the idea that some races are biologically superior to others
• The ideas of Social Darwinism pervaded many aspects of American society in the Gilded Age, including policies that affected immigration, imperialism, and public health
• Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859)


  • One of the most important books in the annals of both science and history
  • Offered a revolutionary scientific theory: the process of evolution through natural selection
• Natural selection

  Plants and animals evolve over time in nature as new species arise from spontaneous mutations at the point of reproduction and battle with other plants and animals to get food, avoid being killed, and have offspring
• Social Darwinists


  Took up the language of evolution to frame an understanding of the growing gulf between the rich and the poor as well as the many differences between cultures all over the world
• Herbert Spencer

  • Coined the term "survival of the fittest"
  • Believed that the poor were "naturally" weak and unfit and it would be an error to allow the weak of the species to continue to breed
• The views of the Social Darwinists are no longer accepted, as they were based on an erroneous interpretation of the theory of evolution
• Social Darwinian language extended into

  • Theories of race and racism
  • Eugenics
  • The claimed national superiority of one people over another
  • Immigration law
• Government aid kept "gutter-child" Margaret alive

  She proved to be the prolific mother of two hundred descendants who were "idiots, imbeciles, drunkards, lunatics, paupers, and prostitutes"
• Eugenic sterilizations, which disproportionately targeted women, minorities, and immigrants, continued in the United States until the 1970s
• Many whites believed that new immigrants from Eastern or Southern Europe were racially inferior and consequently "less evolved" than immigrants from England, Ireland, or Germany
• Social Darwinism was used as a justification for American imperialism in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines following the Spanish-American War
• During and after World War II, the arguments of Social Darwinists and eugenicists lost popularity in the United States due to their association with Nazi racial propaganda
• Modern biological science has completely discredited the theory of Social Darwinism
• Politics in the Gilded Age were characterized by scandal and corruption, but voter turnout reached an all-time high
• Republican Party

  Supported business and industry with a protective tariff and hard money policies
• Democratic Party

  Opposed the tariff and eventually adopted the free silver platform
• People's (Populist) Party

  • Emerged in the 1890s to champion the interests of farmers
  • Endorsed the coinage of silver to improve the financial situation of debtors
• Voter turnout peaked in the 1870s and 1880s and declined thereafter
• The two major political parties (the Democrats and Republicans) were both riddled with corruption and scandal
• Politicians spent more time distributing government jobs to their supporters, managing urban political machines, and enriching themselves from the public coffers than dealing with important policy issues
• The People's Party, or the Populists, reached national prominence in the 1890s on a platform of policies aimed at reining in big business and helping struggling farmers
• Republican Party

  • Dominated the office of the presidency after the Civil War
  • Encouraged supporters to "vote as they shot"
  • Included white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants; rural northerners and westerners; and African American men
  • Promoted the expansion of business and infrastructure
  • Supported a strong protective tariff and a "hard money" policy
• Democratic Party

  • Frequently took control of the House of Representatives
  • Championed state and local control of government
  • Opposed the protectionist tariff
  • Regarded personal liberty as more important than moral reform
  • Appealed to white southerners and northeastern city dwellers, particularly Irish and German immigrants
  • Adept at operating political machines
• People's Party (The Populists)

  • Traced its roots from the cooperative organizations that American farmers had formed after the Civil War
  • Popular in the Midwest and the South
  • Represented the interests of farmers
  • Called for railroad regulation, land reform, and government-backed loans
  • Most important plank was free silver
• The Democratic Party adopted the most important plank of the Populist Party's platform, leading to its demise
• The United States officially adopted the gold standard in 1900
• During the Gilded Age, politics were riddled with corruption as presidents awarded government positions to political supporters through the patronage or spoils system
• Several presidents made limited efforts toward reforming the spoils system, but it was not until disappointed office-seeker Charles Guiteau assassinated president James Garfield in 1881 that civil service reform garnered widespread support
• Pendleton Civil Service Act

  The first significant piece of anti-patronage legislation, which created the Civil Service Commission to regulate and limit patronage positions
• Corruption, shady political compromises, and backroom deals were political hallmarks of the Gilded Age
• The Compromise of 1877 resolved the disputed presidential election of 1876 by awarding the presidency to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes (who had lost the popular vote) in exchange for the removal of federal troops from the South after the Civil War
• Hayes' questionable ascendancy to the presidency did not create political corruption in the nation's capital, but it did set the stage for politically-motivated agendas and widespread inefficiency in the White House for the next 24 years
• Weak president after weak president took office; not one incumbent was reelected. The populace preferred the devil they didn't know to the one they did
• Presidents had barely enough power to repay the political favors they owed to the individuals who ensured their narrow victories in cities and regions around the country
• Political issues that presidents routinely addressed during the Gilded Age

  • Patronage
  • Tariffs
  • Monetary system
• Spoils system

  The power of the president to practice widespread political patronage, where the president names friends and supporters to various political posts
• Every single president elected from 1876 through 1892 won despite receiving less than 50 percent of the popular vote
• The spoils system allowed those with political influence to ascend to powerful positions within the government, regardless of their level of experience or skill, thus compounding both the inefficiency of government as well as enhancing the opportunities for corruption