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Part Eighty: The Election of 1888
And since I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow, here's the next update for you all!
Part Eighty: The Election of 1888
Election of 1888:
The Silver Depression took a toll on the United States economy during the Edmunds administration that put the Republicans in a difficult position during the following elections. In 1886 as unemployment rose and silver prices continued to drop, the upcoming midterm elections looked bleak for the Republican Party. The large Democratic minority in the House of Representatives managed to disrupt attempts to pass legislation aimed at alleviating the economic crisis because it did not place the United States on the gold standard. Both parties also suffered some defections during the 1886 elections, as members of Congress dissatisfied with either major party switched allegiance to the newly founded People's Party. The most prominent of these defections came from Illinois Congressman Adlai E. Stevenson[1], who had been nominated by both the Republican and Populist tickets but after 1886 made his official affiliation with the People's Party. The Republicans lost the House to the Democrats in 1886 and John Carlisle of Illinois was elected Speaker.
By the time 1888 rolled around, the Silver Depression was in full swing. Unemployment had risen to over 10 percent by January of 1888, despite efforts by the Edmunds administration to right the American economy. Labor strikes had also escalated in the years since the Silver Depression. The Pennsylvania Driller Strike in early 1888 brought the oil extraction industry in the region for weeks. With the country continuing to struggle into the summer of 1888, the Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland for the presidency and Thomas Bayard of Delaware[2] for the Vice Presidency. The Republicans stuck with Edmunds and Sherman, assuring the American people that the economic recovery was coming soon and that the Republicans would improve the conditions of the American worker. The People's Party, which would evolve into the Progressive Party, also participated in the presidential election for the first time, fielding James Weaver and Adlai Stevenson as its candidates. Despite the claims by the Republicans, the American public overwhelmingly returned the Democrats to the White House. The 1888 election also marked the first time that the Southern states all voted for the same party since before the National War.