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Essay on history of the electoral college
History of electoral college essay
The electoral college then and now
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The election of 1896 was a race between William McKinley, the Republican, and William Jennings Bryan, the Democrat. McKinley was the governor of Ohio and Bryan was the an attorney from Lincoln, Nebraska. This election is seen as the start of a new era in American politics, also known as the “realignment” election. (“The Election of 1896”). This election was mostly the city against the country and their battle for dominance in American politics. In the 1800s, American presidential contests had been a vote on whether the country should be governed by agrarian or industrial interests. This election marked the end of trying to win the White House with agrarian votes and definitely shifted where the country was heading. William Jennings Bryan became …show more content…
known as the candidate with the reputation as the defender of the farmer and the silver standard, the monetary system backed up by silver. During his campaign, he stressed the cruciality of the silver issue to farmers and poorer people all over the United States. Since the Democrat Party had taken over the Populist platform, the Populist Party nominated Bryan as their candidate, also. On the other hand, William McKinley upheld the gold standard, and the advancement of the urban-industrial society. Many business leaders contributed millions of dollars to the Republican campaign since they were scared of Bryan’s populism and blamed the Democrats for the Panic of 1893. McKinley ended up winning the election and his urban focused presidency became the main priority. The Populist Party fell due to Bryan’s loss. The significance of the 1896 had both long-term and short-term repercussions in American politics. It marked the end of stalemate and stagnation and initiated a Republican dominated presidency. Clearly, the result of this election was a victory for businesses and urban centers. This was the rural area’s last hope to regain its dominance in American politics. This election was very controversial among many Americans because of the issue of money. Many Americans wanted a gold standard, and that is what the Republican party was a supporter of. A gold standard, as many would say, would “keep the value of the dollar high” (Monroe, Henry). Most of the people who believed this were businessmen or investors. Those who wanted gold and silver believed that just the gold would make the dollar too high. Gold, making money a high dollar, would drive down prices for agricultural products, thus harming the farmers. Those who favored a silver standard were farmers and laborers. For a time, Bryan’s successful and emotional speeches made it seem like the Democrats had a shot at winning the Presidential election. Signs of improvement began to show as the wheat price rose.
People began to rethink their views about gold and decided that maybe they shouldn’t blame gold for the depression. Society began to doubt Bryan and his views. McKinley’s election gave new life to the American economy since soon after, buying and selling had increased immensely. As a result, demand for goods had grown and shut down factories began to reopen. Simultaneously, gold was found in Alaska, Australia and South Africa, increasing the supply of money. Taxes on imported goods also were impacted in a positive way by growing to almost sixty percent. America’s industry grew rapidly and the depression abruptly ended. (Monroe, Henry). Republicans created a higher tariff and made gold the official standard of America’s currency in 1900. The election of 1896 changed American politics forever. The Populist Party came to its end as its members joined other major parties. Gold had also become the national standard and ended up benefitting the United States. However, the inflation helped the debt-ridden farmers and helped them pay their mortgages. Bryans lost marked the end of trying to win the presidency by the rural vote. Though our country was out of its depression and going well, there may have been others who wanted to reform issues to help our country
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There are many significances of the 1906 General Election victory, the Liberals faced the problems that poverty brought. They provided for the poorest of society, the next generation and the elderly. They laid down solid foundations for a welfare state that could be improved on in years to come.
Tom Gatenby To what extent did the Conservatives lose the election rather than the Liberals win the election? “The election of 1906 was a significant watershed in the political history of Britain” Kenneth Owen Fox The election of 1906 was a landside victory for the Liberal Party. This is due to many factors, it could been influenced by the manifesto of the Liberal Party, or perhaps even more strongly the failure of the Conservative Party to unify on such reforms as the Tariff Reform. The lack of a strong unified Conservative government clearly had a large effect upon the outcome of the 1906 election, to what extent this is true will be explained in the essay.
On January 8th, 1835, a senator stood up to declare that the national debt had been paid(for now)(“npr.org”). This was a enormous moment in his presidency and U.S. history. This was an important thing to Andrew Jackson who hated debt, and though it was immoral(“npr.org”). At the start of his presidency, he disbanded the national banks, he hated the banks more than the debt. To begin the process of removing debt, Andrew Jackson blocked every bill to spend money(“npr.org”). After that, he began selling all of the land in the west because, there was a large demand as the country was expanding(“waltercoffey.com”). After Andrew Jackson was able to remove the debt, he was said, “Let us commemorate the payment of the public debt as an event that gives us increased power as a nation and reflects luster on our Federal Union.(Encyclopedia of Presidents)” However, this perpetual bliss could not last forever. Since the banks had been removed, Jackson had nowhere to put the money, so he gave it to the states(“npr.org”).The states then started printing massive ammounts of money, which caused the economy to enflate drastically(“npr.org”). In an effort to slow this down, Jackson required that all government land sales be done with gold or silver(“npr.org”). However, this caused the economy to crash. After that, we went into a depression, which we were only able to get out
The election of 1892 was won by Cleveland (D). He had brought new ideas and was an inspiration to all including the opposite parties. Cleveland had the majority of the votes especially the votes that came from the East coast which has major plantations (Document D). Cleveland promised big hope for people. He was said to have solid sense and able to give social stability especially by being accompanied with McKinley (Document I). In the end Cleveland just gave land to farmers because of the complaints of the railroads.
The years between 1815 and 1840 had many changes. Politics become more democracized with more voters, campaigns and candidates changed tactics in hopes of appealing to more people. This was all brought about by the significant economic developments of the century, including transportation, the American system, and more. Each and every one of these events has shaped the way our country runs today.
The period from 1877 to 1901 in American history was known as the Gilded Age, it was titled so because during this time things on the surface seemed peaceful and good but underneath lay corruption in the society. This era was marked by the end of Reconstruction of the South, as well as the presidencies of Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, and McKinley. Significant events of this time were the 1878 Bland Allison Act in which the federal government bought silver and turned it into cheap money. The 1881 Chinese Exclusion Act which banned all Chinese immigrants coming into America because they were hurting employment opportunities for American laborers. The 1883 Pendleton Act that ended Jackson’s spoils system in the government and made the Merit System based on intelligence and ability. The 1887 Interstate Commerce Act which regulated the railroads. The Sherman Antitrust Act which outlawed any combination in restraint of trade. And last, the Gold Standard Act of 1900 that made the American monetary unit based on gold.
The election of 1896 was between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan. William McKinley was the republican candidate for president and William Jennings Bryan was the democratic candidate. Both candidates had different campaign styles and different supporters. Big businessmen supported McKinley and most common men supported Bryan. William McKinley’s campaign style was a front porch campaign while Bryan had a moving campaign. Mark Hanna played an important role as William McKinley’s campaign manager. In the end, William McKinley beat William Bryan in the presidential election.
During the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson succeeded in defeating the incumbent, John Adams, and assumed the presidency. In terms of elections though, the election of 1800 itself was a fascinating election in that it a heavily-contested election and was effectively the first time political parties ran smear campaigns against each other during an election. The Republican Party attacked the Federalists for being anti-liberty and monarchist and tried to persuade the public that the Federalists were abusing their power through acts such as the Alien & Sedition Acts and the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion (Tindall and Shi 315). The Federalists, on the other hand, attacked Jefferson for his atheism and support of the French Revolution and warned that his election would result in chaos (316). By the end of the presidential election, neither Adams nor Jefferson emerged with his reputation completely intact. Still, rather than an election between Adams and Jefferson, the election of 1800 ultimately boiled down to a deadlock between Jefferson and his vice presidential candidate, Aaron Burr, who each held seventy-three electoral votes, resulting in the election was sent to the House of Representatives. In the end, the deadlock was resolved only by Alexander Hamilton, whose immense hate for Burr allowed Jefferson to claim the presidency. However, the election of 1800 was more than just a simple presidential election. The election of 1800 was the first peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent party to the opposition and represented a new step in politics, as well as a new direction in foreign policy that would emerge from Jefferson’s policies, and to this extent, the election of 1800 was a revolution.
The "Roaring Twenties" were a turbulent time in American history. The United States had just returned from the carnage of World War I and was ready to revolutionize their ideas, morals, and most importantly, their presidents. The presidential election of 1920 was a particularly integral election due to the introduction of the right of women to vote and America's social & political unrest. Warren G. Harding, a Republican, defeated Democrat James M. Cox, on a platform that urged Americans to "return to normalcy". Normalcy was a play on words of normality by Harding, which meant to conform to the norm. But the question that stood on many historians was: Why did Americans actually vote to "return to normalcy"? The simple answer was that the nation was ready to recover from their wartime anxiety and wanted a country without financial or political stress and Harding was the president that promised that to them.
Liberals' Victory in the 1906 Election There are various reasons given as to why the Liberals succeeded in winning the 1906 elections, decline in support towards the Conservative party, a new Liberal attitude which enabled its members to reunite instead of seeing their seperate ways which is what lead to their initial collapse. The Conservative Party like the Liberal Party split over the issue of Free Trade and failed to reunite, unlike the Liberals which did so and remained so. With the Liberals being reunited regarding the issues they believed in and campaigned for enabled them to attack the Conservatives more easily. The Liberals unlike the Conservative Party weren't affected and too greatly bothered by the failure of their attempts to win the Boer War. The Conservatives felt dishonoured at the fact that there attempts to imperialise and aggrandize their colonies and empires failed miserably.
The election of President Thomas Jefferson was one of the most important elections in American history. There was a lot of firsts that came with this election. It was the first that resulted in a tie which sent the country into chaos as they had no idea how to settle it. It was the first time that power was shifted from one party to another which is why it is often referred to as the “Revolution of 1800”. But this “revolution” was nothing like revolutions seen in the past as it was more of a peaceful revolution in which no blood was shed and no lives were lost. Nevertheless, power was transferred peacefully between the old administration and the new one led by Thomas Jefferson. This result caused the Federalists to lose the majority of control in
The presidential election of 1864 was one of the most significant in American history. It took place in Union states during a bloody civil war, with no precedent for voting in a divided nation, and with seemingly ample justification for postponement. The vigorous yet methodical procedure of the 1864 election, with comparatively little corruption and minor viciousness, became an excellent illustration and vindication of the democratic process itself. Furthermore, it was an election in which voters cast ballots to decide on fundamental problems regarding the course of the war, the government, and American society. This campaign asked some of the most vital questions to be considered since the creation of the nation. Should the institution of slavery be expanded, continued, or abolished? Should a war that was to forever change American life be continued or was it time to make a compromise with the south and end it? And who should take the place of the unpopular President Lincoln who seemed doomed to defeat?
1. History- In 1832, Andrew Jackson established the Democratic party in as the Democratic-Republicans split apart. In 1896, Grover Cleveland was in his second term as the President of the United States, one of the few of the Democratic party from 1896-1944. It was quite unexpected for a Democrat to be serving his second term as president in this time period because the Republican party had held power in the executive branch from 1869 to 1885, one of the longest stretches of domination in history. Cleveland had championed the gold standard throughout both of his terms but the Panic of 1893 reduced his credibility and severely impacted the election of 1896 in which Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. This loss
Before the populist movement affected America in the long run, they had several immediate effects on politics of the late 1800’s. In 1892, the populist party had one of the most successful third party candidates for the presidential office. Their candidate, Grover Cleveland, won five states, and secured twenty two electoral votes. This such success marked a shift in the voting dynamics of the American populis. Four years later, when the populist party met again to propose a new candidate, they face the decision to either back William Bryan or to put forth their own candidate. Eventually, the party decided to back
The US government’s role in the Great Depression has been very controversy. Different hypothesizes argued differently on the causes of the Great depression and whether the New Deal introduced by the government and President Roosevelt helped United States got out of the depression. I would argue that even though not the only factor, the US government did lead the country into the Great Depression and the New Deal actually delayed the recovery process. I will discuss five different factors (stock market crash, bank failure, tariff and tax cut, consumer spending and agriculture) that are commonly accepted to cause the depression and how the government linked to them. Furthermore, I will try to show how the government prolonged the depression in the United States by introducing the New Deal.