AP US History Study Guide

Colonial Era
I. French and Indian War (1754-1763) – land struggles for Ohio River Valley
and Canada
a. William Pitt – focus on Quebec and Montreal; helped win
b. Albany Plan of Union (1754) – Franklin’s plan for intercolonial
government, tax collection, and conscription; didn’t pass, but precedent
for 1770s revolutionary congresses
c. Treaty of Paris (1763) – Britain gained French Canada and Spanish
Florida; Spain gained Louisiana from France
d. Feeling of colonial superiority
II. Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763) – Indian rebellion due to colonists moving west
III. Proclamation of 1763 – colonists could not settle west of the Appalachians;
wanted to prevent more Indian rebellions; colonists ignored it; end of salutary
neglect
IV. Grenville’s Acts – to raise money for Britain after French and Indian War
a. Sugar Act (1764) – external tax on sugar
b. Quartering Act (1765) – colonists had to house and feed British soldiers
c. Stamp Act (1765) – internal tax; stamps must be placed on all printed
paper
i. Patrick Henry’s speech to House of Burgesses
ii. Sons of Liberty – radical protest group against Stamp Act
iii. Stamp Act Congress – resolved that only elected representatives
of colonies could approve taxes
iv. Nonimportation – domestic goods only
d. Declaratory Act (1766) – Grenville was replaced, so Parliament repealed
Stamp Act and said that they had the right to tax the colonies at will
V. Townshend Acts (1767) – external taxes on paper, lead, tea, and paint
a. Writ of assistance – general license for British to search anywhere
b. Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania – John Dickinson’s argument
of no taxation without representation
c. Massachusetts Circular Letter – James Otis and Samuel Adams petition
to repeal Townshend Acts
d. Repealed in 1770 besides tea tax
VI. Boston Massacre (1770) – British soldiers shoot colonists; aroused anti-
British sentiments
VII. Gaspée incident – colonists destroy British customs ship
VIII. Tea Act (1773) – gave Britain a monopoly on tea
a. Boston Tea Party – destroyed British tea ship
IX. Intolerable Acts – punishment for Tea Party
a. Coercive Acts (1774) – punishing Massachusetts
i. Port Act – closed Boston Port until payment for damages
ii. Massachusetts Government Act – disbanded Boston Assembly
iii. Administration of Justice Act – colonial courts could not arrest
royal officers
 iv. Quartering Act expanded, forcing colonists to house soldiers in
private homes
b. Quebec Act (1774) – established Catholicism and land in Canada;
colonists saw it as Britain planning to impose Catholicism on them
X. American Revolution (1775-1783)
a. First Continental Congress (1774) – determine how the colonies should
react to Britain violating their liberties
i. Galloway Plan – formed colony/British union; didn’t pass
ii. Suffolk Reserves – called for repeal of Intolerable Acts
iii. Declaration of Rights and Grievances – urged king to restore
colonial rights
iv. The Association – urged committees to enforce Suffolk Reserves
b. Lexington and Concord (1775) – first shot of Revolution
c. Battle of Bunker Hill – first colonial victory
d. Second Continental Congress (1775)
i. Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms
– call for troops
ii. Olive Branch Petition – pledged loyalty to Parliament, begged for
protection of rights; rejected by George III
1. Prohibitory Act – response to Olive Branch; declared the
colonies in rebellion
iii. Declaration of Independence (1776) – Richard Henry Lee’s
resolution of independence; authored by Thomas Jefferson
e. Common Sense – Thomas Paine’s pamphlet that gained widespread
revolutionary support
f. Valley Forge – severe 1777-1778 winter
i. Lafayette and Von Steuben provided foreign military training
g. Battle of Saratoga (1777) – colonial victory; turning point of revolution
i. Led to French Alliance of 1778
h. Battle of Yorktown (1781) – British surrender
i. Treaty of Paris (1783) – U.S. independence; Mississippi River is
western boundary; U.S. fishing rights in Canada; U.S. honors debt
and land claims to Britain

Articles of Confederation
I. Structure – unicameral congress; one vote per state
a. Powers – could wage war, make treaties, send diplomatic representatives,
and borrow money
b. Could not regulate commerce, collect taxes, or enforce laws
II. Land Ordinance of 1785 – policy for selling western lands; designated
public education
III. Northwest Ordinance of 1787 – admission of new states with no slavery
IV. Shays’ Rebellion (1786) – MA uprising against high taxes, debt
imprisonment, and no war salary payment; private army raised to fight it;
showed weakness of Articles
V. Annapolis Convention (1786) – discussed how to improve relations between
 states
VI. Constitutional Convention (1787) – meant to improve Articles
a. Connecticut Plan (Great Compromise) – equal representation Senate
(NJ Plan) and population-based House of Representatives (VA Plan)
b. Dealing with slavery
i. Three-Fifths Compromise – slaves were 3/5ths of a person for
representation
ii. Slaves can be imported until 1808
c. Other changes included four-year presidential terms, tariffs (no export
taxes), and Electoral College
d. Federalists – strong central government
i. Federalist Papers – New York essays to campaign for
Constitution
e. Antifederalists – states’ rights; demanded Bill of Rights; became
Democratic-Republicans under Washington

George Washington (1) (1789-1797)

I. Judiciary Act of 1789 – established Supreme Court; ruled decisions of state
courts
II. Hamilton’s Financial Program – supported by Federalists
a. Pay off national debt and have federal government assume states’ debts
b. Tariffs and excise taxes to protect U.S. industries
c. National bank for stable U.S. currency; used elastic clause
III. Foreign affairs
a. Proclamation of Neutrality (1798) – neutrality in French Revolution
b. Citizen Genêt – French minister to U.S. (unethically) appealed directly to
Americans to support French; fired by French government
c. Jay Treaty (1794) – Britain left western U.S. posts but did not agree to
stop seizing U.S. ships; maintained neutrality
d. Pinckney Treaty (1795) – Spain opened Mississippi River and New
Orleans to US. Trade
IV. Treaty of Greenville (1795) – Indians surrendered Ohio to U.S.
V. Whiskey Rebellion (1794) – farmers against whiskey excise tax; Washington
sent troops to crush rebellion, showing power of new government
VI. Public Land Act (1796) – procedures for dividing and selling federal land
VII. Farewell Address – encouraged isolation, discouraged political parties and
sectionalism

John Adams (2, Federalist) (1797-1801)

I. XYZ Affair – French ministers requested bribes that U.S. refused to pay;
created war feeling that Adams ignored
II. Naturalization Act – 14 years of living to qualify for citizenship
III. Alien Acts – president could deport and detain aliens
IV. Sedition Act – illegal for newspapers to criticize the president or Congress
V. Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions – Jefferson and Madison’s documents
declaring that states could nullify federal laws that were unjust
 VI. Alien / Sedition Acts led to a sharp decline in Federalists, and under Jefferson,
a Republican Congressional majority repealed the acts

Thomas Jefferson (3, Democratic-Republican) (1801-1809)

I. Revolution of 1800 – peaceful passing of power
a. Jefferson eliminated federal jobs, repealed excise taxes, reduced army
size, and lowered national debt
II. Louisiana Purchase (1803) – Jefferson wanted New Orleans for economic
and political benefit, ended up buying all of Louisiana
a. Lewis and Clark (1804) – expeditions to explore Louisiana Purchase
III. John Marshall – Supreme Court Chief Justice; strengthened federal
government
a. Marbury v. Madison (1803) – established judicial review (Supreme
Court decides constitutionality)
IV. Aaron Burr – tried to lead New England secession; assassinated Hamilton;
tried to unite Mexico and Louisiana; acquitted of treason
V. Foreign affairs
a. Fought Barbary pirates in North Africa, gaining international respect
b. French and British blockades and impressments enraged the U.S.
c. Chesapeake-Leopard affair (1807) – British ship impressed U.S. sailors;
created anti-British, pro-war sentiments
i. Embargo Act (1807) – U.S. could not sail to or trade with any
foreign port; created more economic hardship in U.S.

James Madison (4, Democratic-Republican) (1809-1817)

I. Nonintercourse Act of 1809 – trade with all but Britain and France
II. Macon’s Bill No. 2 (1810) – if Britain or France agreed to respect U.S. rights,
U.S. would blockade that nation’s enemy
a. Napoleon tricked the U.S. into embargoing Britain, yet France kept
seizing U.S. ships.
III. War of 1812 – violation of U.S. sea rights and trouble with British on the
western frontier; used to get Madison reelcted
a. The British aided Tecumseh, so the U.S. blamed them for instigating the
Indian rebellion.
b. War hawks in Congress, often from frontier states, encouraged Madison
to declare war.
c. America unsuccessfully raided Canada, encouraging British retaliation.
d. The U.S. had naval victories, and privateers captured British ships.
e. Chesapeake campaign – Napoleon’s 1814 defeat let Britain increase their
U.S. forces, invading D.C.
f. Battle of New Orleans – successful battle led by Andrew Jackson
g. Treaty of Ghent (1814) – territory returned to prewar state; recognition of
boundary between Canada and U.S.; no gain for either side
h. Hartford Convention (1814) – discussion of New England secession due
to war opposition; further weakened the Federalists
IV. War of 1812 effects
 a. International respect of U.S.
b. End of Federalists
c. Precedent for nullification
d. U.S. industrialism due to British blockade
e. American nationalism

James Monroe (5, Democratic-Republican) (1817-1825)

I. Era of Good Feelings – only one party in U.S.; nationalism and optimism
II. Tariff of 1816 – 1st protective tariff for manufacturing
III. Henry Clay’s American System – protective tariffs, national bank, and
internal improvements to advance economic growth
IV. Panic of 1819 – overspeculation led to foreclosure, creating unemployment
and deflation
V. Marshall’s court cases
a. Fletcher v. Peck (1810) – sanctity of contracts
b. Martin v. Hunter’s Lease (1816) – Supreme Court has jurisdiction in
state cases about constitutional rights
c. Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) – contracts for private
corporations cannot be altered by the state
d. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) – constitutional implied powers; federal
laws supreme over state laws
e. Cohens v. Virginia (1821) – Supreme Court can review state court
decisions involving federal government powers
f. Gibbons v. Ogden (1821) – federal control of interstate commerce
VI. Westward expansion – acquisition of Indian lands, need for new soil,
improved transportation, and immigrant’s attraction to western land
VII. Missouri applies for statehood
a. Tallmadge amendment – elimination of slavery in Missouri; would set
precedent to abolish slavery in all states
b. Missouri Compromise (1820) – Missouri admitted as a slave state, Maine
admitted as a free state; slavery prohibited north of the 36o30’ line
VIII. Foreign affairs
a. Rush-Bagot Agreement (1817) – U.S./Canada border
b. Treaty of 1818 – between U.S. and Britain; shared Canadian fishing, joint
Oregon occupation, and northern Louisiana Territory limit
c. Adams-Onís Treaty (1819) – U.S. bought Florida from Spain due to fears
that Jackson would conquer it; also gave Oregon to U.S.
IX. Monroe Doctrine (1823) – U.S. isolationism; opposed European attempts to
interfere in the Western Hemisphere

John Quincy Adams (6, Democrat) (1825-1829)

I. Corrupt Bargain (1824) – Clay provided Adams with enough electoral votes
to win
II. Tariff of 1828 (Abominations) – protective tariff; alienated the south, who
nullified it
III. Revolution of 1828 – start of negative campaigning and mass political
 participation

Andrew Jackson (7, Democrat) (1829-1837)

I. Jacksonian democracy – politics of the common man
a. Universal male suffrage, nominating conventions, popular election of
electors, two-party system, rise of third parties, more elected offices,
popular campaigning, and spoils system (government jobs for party
loyalty)
II. Peggy Eaton affair – Jackson forced his cabinet to accept the wife of his
secretary of war; the only one who did was Van Buren
III. Indian Removal Act (1830) – forced westward migration of Indians
a. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) – Cherokees could not sue in federal
court
b. Worcester v. Georgia (1832) – Georgia laws did not affect the Cherokees
IV. Webster-Hayne debate – Webster attacked secession and nullification;
Jackson was against nullification, too
a. Calhoun held a convention to nullify the tariffs of 1828 and 1832
b. Force Bill – federal troops could be used to stop the nullifiers
V. Bank veto (1832) – Jackson vetoed the renewal of the national bank and
withdrew all federal funds
a. He transferred the funds to pet banks of the state
b. Specie Circular (1836) – federal land purchases must be made in coins
instead of banknotes; attempt to curb inflation
VI. The Whig party developed in support of Clay’s American System and in
opposition to Jackson

Martin van Buren (8, Democrat) (1837-1841)

I. Panic of 1837 – depression due to Jackson killing the national bank and his
Specie Circular
II. Independent Treasury (1840) – kept currency isolated from all banks;
repealed the next year

William Henry Harrison (9, Whig) (1841)

I. Whigs won the election due to frustration with the economy
II. Died after a month in office

John Tyler (10, Whig) (1841-1845)

I. Democrat in Whig clothing; vetoed the national bank and lowered the tariff
II. Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842) – split disputed territory between Maine
and Canada; gave Minnesota to the U.S.
III. Annexation of Texas (1845) – pushed through right before end of term
a. General Santa Anna attacked Americans in Texas in 1836 at the Alamo
b. San Jacinto – site of Santa Anna’s surrender

James K. Polk (11, Democrat) (1845-1849)

I. Polk divided Oregon at the 49th parallel with the British in 1846
 II. Mexican War (1846) – prelude to Civil War
a. Argument that the Mexico-Texas border was on the Rio Grande River
b. Polk moved troops into Mexico under Zachary Taylor. When they were
shot at, Polk used it to declare war.
c. John Fremont overthrew Mexican rule in California.
d. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) – end of Mexican War; Whig
opposition due to fears of expanding slavery
i. Rio Grande was the southern border of Texas
ii. Mexico ceded California and New Mexico
III. Wilmot Proviso (1846) – forbidden slavery in new Mexican territories; shot
down

Zachary Taylor (12, Whig) (1849-1850)

I. Popular sovereignty – Lewis Cass’s belief that citizens should vote on slave
status
II. Gold rush (1849) – California settlers looking for gold and created a state
constitution banning slavery
a. Taylor supported this, so Southern fire-eaters (radicals) discussed
secession
III. Died after a year in office

Millard Fillmore (13, Whig) (1850-1853)

I. Compromise of 1850 – written by Clay; response to California slave problem
a. California admitted as free state
b. Mexican cession divided into Utah and New Mexico, which would vote on
slavery
c. Slave trade banned in D.C.
d. New, rigorous Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
i. Runaway slaves returned to masters; did not have right to trial by
jury
ii. Underground Railroad helped slaves escape to the North or
Canada
II. Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850) – neither U.S. nor Britain would try to take
exclusive canal of a future Central American canal route
III. Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book against slavery;
huge boost to Northern abolitionism; created more sectionalism
IV. Election of 1852 – end of Whig party
a. Know-Nothing Party – anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic party

Franklin Pierce (14, Democrat) (1853-1857)

I. Ostend Manifesto (1852) – secret plans to buy Cuba from Spain; leaked to
the press, provoked an angry reaction from abolitionists, and dropped
II. Walker Expedition (1855) – William Walker took over Nicaragua and tried t
develop a proslavery Central American empire; was executed
III. Gadsden Purchase (1853) – American Southwest land bought from Mexico
to build a railroad
 IV. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) – Stephen Douglas divided the Nebraska
Territory into Kansas and Nebraska, and citizens would vote on slavery
a. Repealed Compromise of 1820
b. Created the antislavery Republican Party

James Buchanan (15, Democrat) (1857-1861)

I. Bleeding Kansas – fighting over slavery in Kansas
a. John Brown – radical antislavery martyr
i. Harpers Ferry (1859) – attack on a federal arsenal; Brown hanged
for treason
b. Lecompton Constitution (1857) – proslavery state constitution for
Kansas, who wanted to join the Union as a slave state; rejected
II. Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) – runaway slave case
a. Slaves could not sue because they were not citizens
b. Congress could not take away slaves because slaves were property
c. Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional
III. Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858) – Lincoln attacked slavery, saying that the
U.S. could not survive divided; emerged as presidential candidate; Douglas
alienated Southern democrats
IV. Election of 1860 – breakup of the Democratic Party between Northern and
Southern Democrats
a. Constitutional Union Party – combination of Whigs, Know-Nothings,
and moderate Democrats

Abraham Lincoln (16, Republican) (1861-1865)

I. Confederate States of America – Southern secession; Jefferson Davis was
president; government could not impose tariffs or restrict slavery
II. Crittenden Compromise (1861) – guaranteed the right to slavery in the
South; last-ditch effort to preserve the Union; Lincoln did not accept it
III. Civil War (1861-1865) – North versus South
a. Fort Sumter – first Civil War battle; Confederate victory
b. Peninsula campaign – McClellan’s failed plan to invade the Confederates
at Virginia
c. Antietam (1862) – bloodiest day in U.S. history; technically a Union
victory
i. Emancipation Proclamation (1863) – abolished slavery in the
seceding states; now made the battle a moral one; prevented
Europe from supporting the South
d. Monitor vs. Merrimac (1862) – rise of ironclad ships
e. Trent affair – U.S. captured British ship and sailors; eventually let free
f. Vicksburg (1863) – Union victory; secured control of Mississippi River
g. Gettysburg (1863) – turning point the war; Union victory
h. Sherman’s March to the Sea – destructive march from Atlanta to
Savannah to the Carolinas; damaged Southern hopes
i. Richmond (1865) – last battle; Union victory under Grant
i. Appomattox Courthouse (1865) – Confederate surrender
 j. Lincoln was assassinated during his second term
IV. Civil War economic program
a. Morrill Tariff Act (1861) – raised tariff rates to protect U.S.
manufacturers and increase revenue
b. Homestead Act (1862) – free Great Plains land to promote settlement
c. Morrill Land Grant Act (1862) – federal land grant sales to maintain
agricultural and technical colleges
d. Pacific Railway Act (1862) – northern transcontinental railroad to link
western and eastern economies and states
V. Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863) – pardon to
Southerners who pledged allegiance to the U.S. and accepted emancipation;
reentrance of states after 10% of their population swore allegiance
VI. Wade-Davis Bill (1864) – 50% of a state needed to take oath for reentry
VII. Freedmen’s Bureau (1865) – education, food, shelter, and medical aid for
free blacks

Andrew Johnson (17, Democrat) (1865-1869)

I. Thirteenth Amendment (1865) – banned slavery
II. Presidential Reconstruction
a. Lincoln’s 10% plan plus the disfranchisement of former Confederates
i. However, Johnson gave many pardons
b. Black Codes – prohibited blacks from renting land, forced them into work
contracts, and prohibited them from testifying in court
c. Johnson vetoed bills that nullified the Black Codes and extended the
Freedmen’s Bureau.
d. Election of 1866 – Johnson drove support away from the Democrats and
toward the Republicans in this Congressional election
III. Congressional Reconstruction
a. Civil Rights Act of 1866 – overrode Johnson’s vetoes to make blacks
U.S. citizens
b. Fourteenth Amendment (1868) – cemented black citizen rights in the
Constitution; disqualified former Confederate leaders from holding public
office; repudiated Confederate debt
c. Reconstruction Acts of 1867 – placed the South under martial law to
enforce reconstruction
IV. Impeachment (1868)
a. Tenure of Office Act (1867) – overrode Johnson’s veto to prevent the
president from firing appointed officials
b. Johnson fired Edwin Stanton from Secretary of War, so he was
impeached.
c. However, Johnson was not voted guilty.

Ulysses S. Grant (18, Republican) (1869-1877)

I. Fifteenth Amendment (1869) – state could not deny or abridge rites based on
race
II. Civil Rights Act of 1875 – guaranteed equal accommodations I public places;
 courts could not exclude blacks from juries; poorly enforced
III. Corruption
a. Tweed Ring – Boss Tweed’s political machine; used bribery, graft, and
fraudulent elections to make a fortune
b. Crédit Mobilier (1872) – fake construction company founded to inflate
railroad prices of the Union Pacific Railroad and earn huge dividends for
the rail insiders
c. Whiskey Ring (1874) – federal revenue agents conspired with the liquor
industry to earn millions of dollars in fraudulent taxes
d. Jay Gould and James Fisk bid the price of gold skyward, making a
fortune by convincing the Treasury not to release more gold.
e. Spoils system – giving jobs to political supporters
IV. Panic of 1873 – overspeculation by financiers and overbuilding by industry
and railroads caused a depression
a. Debtors wanted an inflationary solution by demanding that more
greenbacks, not supported by gold, be printed and more silver be coined.
This soft-money solution caused debts to be easier to pay.
b. Lenders and bankers wanted a deflationary stable money supply backed by
gold so that they could make more money on their owed loans.
c. Resumption Act of 1875 – pledged the government to withdraw
greenbacks from circulation and redeem all paper money in gold
d. Contraction worsened the depression but boosted the government’s credit
rating and devalued the greenbacks.
V. Gilded Age – political seesaw in the three decades after the Civil War; caused
timid politicians with trivial and petty political records
a. The Republicans believed in morality, while the Democrats believed in
human power and toleration.
b. Conkling’s Stalwarts against Blaine’s Half-Breeds in the Republican
party; opposing factions
VI. Amnesty Act of 1872 – removed the last restrictions on ex-Confederates; let
southern conservatives to vote, so they voted for the Democrats, who regained
control of the government

Rutherford B. Hayes (19, Republican) (1877-1881)

I. Hayes-Tilden Standoff (1876) – because of an electoral vote standoff, a
special election committee was created for the election; voting advantage to
the Republicans
a. Electoral Count Act (1877) – selected electoral commission with a
Republican majority would vote for the disputed states
b. Compromise of 1877 – Hayes won the presidency as long as he ended
federal support for the Republicans in the south and supported the
construction of a southern transcontinental railroad
II. Jim Crow laws – systematic legal codes of segregation; literacy
requirements, voter-registration laws, and poll taxes

James A. Garfield (20, Republican) (1881)

 I. With thousands of people requesting jobs from Garfield, he gave them mostly
to Half-Breeds.
II. Charles Guiteau, a Stalwart, shot him to make Chester A. Arthur, another
Stalwart and Garfield’s vice-president, the president.

Chester A. Arthur (21, Republican) (1881-1884)

I. Pendleton Act (1883) – ended the spoils system; forced politicians to partner
with big business leaders to gain money
a. Made compulsory campaign contributions from federal employees illegal
b. Established Civil Service Commission to make appointments to federal
jobs on the basis of competitive examinations

Grover Cleveland (22, Democrat) (1885-1889)

I. Mulligan letters – linked his Republican opponent James G. Blaine to a
corrupt deal involving federal favors to a southern railroad
a. Blaine also accidentally insulted the Irish in a speech, gaining support for
Cleveland during the election
II. Mugwumps were Republicans who turned to the Democratic side after
hearing about the Mulligan letters
III. Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 – prohibited rebates/pools and required
railroads to openly publish their rates; forbade discrimination against shippers;
set up the Interstate Commerce Commission to administer and enforce the
legislation
a. Orderly forum for competing businesses to peacefully resolve conflicts
b. Stabilized the business system
c. First government attempt to regulate business in the interest of society
IV. Dawes Severalty Act (1887) – broke up tribal organizations in the interest of
making Indians into law-abiding citizens; land was given to Indians, but it was
bad land; policy proved a failure
V. Cleveland proposed a lower tariff in order to lower prices for consumers, and
this lost him the 1888 election.

Benjamin Harrison (23, Republican) (1889-1893)

I. Billion-Dollar Congress – Republican control of Congress and the
presidency
a. McKinely Tariff (1890) – massively high tariff; really damaged farmers
b. Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) – prohibited contract, combination, or
conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce; could only be applied to
commerce, not manufacturing, so it was weak
c. Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890) – increased the coinage of silver;
not enough to satisfy farmers
II. Populist Part (1892) – rooted in the Farmers’ Alliance; demanded silver
coinage, a graduated income tax, government ownership of property, direct
senator elections, a one-term president limit, initiative and referendum, a
shorter workday, and immigration restriction
Grover Cleveland (24, Democrat) (1893-1897)
I. Panic of 1893 – caused by overbuilding and speculation, labor disorders,
agricultural depression, and silver damaging American credit
II. Cleveland dealt with the panic by adopting a hands-off policy and
championing the gold standard.
III. Cleveland repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act to reduce the silver in
circulation and therefore keep more gold.
IV. When this did not work, Cleveland borrowed $65 million in gold from J. P.
Morgan to support the dollar and the gold standard.
V. Pullman strike (1894) – Chicago railroad strike due to wage cuts; federal
government issues an injunction forbidding interference with the railroad and
commanding the strikers to stop striking; Eugene V. Debs
a. In re Debs (1895) – approval of the use of court injunctions against
strikes
VI. Wilson-Gorman Tariff (1894) – tariff reduction and income tax; progressive
income tax later declared unconstitutional
VII. Coxey’s army (1894) – Populist Jacob A. Coxey led allies to D.C. demanding
government spending public works to create jobs; arrested for trespassing

William McKinley (25, Republican) (1897-1901)