Grover Cleveland

Birth-Death: (1837 - 1908 ) Term: (1885-1889, 1893-1897 )

The nation under Grover Cleveland was experiencing shifting socio-economic changes. Labor movements gained momentum, pushing for reform in industry. The Haymarket Riot and Pullman Strike took place. When the Panic of 1893 hit, the nation entered a depression as banks and businesses closed down. President Cleveland saw what was going on, and reacted as he felt was best for the nation.

Major Events with Grover Cleveland

1886 - Haymarket Riot

    The Unions had planned a general strike to push for an eight-hour work day on May 1, 1886. Although 300,000 workers attended the first day, the spirit quickly diminished. On May 3rd a police cordon fired on a group of picketers outside the McCormick Harvester Company. One person was killed and others were injured. The next day a meeting was held at Haymarket Square to protest the police brutality. Although the crowd was composed of anarchists and socialists, the meeting was quite peaceful until the police moved in to disperse the crowd. As they moved in, someone threw a home-made bomb intro the crowd. Seven people were killed, and public opinion turned sour against all pro-union forces.

1887 - The Interstate Commerce Act

    The Interstate Commerce Act was designed to regulate the railroads. It created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to enforce the law. The law stated that all charges made by the railroad companies must be reasonable. Moreover, it outlawed pooling, rebates, and it prevented the last-minute change of schedules and fares.

1893 - Panic of 1893

    In the Spring of 1893 the National Cordage Company and the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad failed. By the end of the year more than five hundred banks had foreclosed and fifteen thousand other businesses had declared bankruptcy. The number of the unemployed rose to more than four million people, and money was scarce.

    The depression had many causes. The farmers were overproducing the crops and thus the prices were low, strikes had decreased the revenues of major companies, the silver acts had dried up the Federal Reserve and the McKinley tariff was so high that it did not produce enough revenue. The panic finally ended in 1897 after William McKinley's election on a pro-gold platform.

1894 - Wilson-Gorman Tariff

    President Cleveland wanted to reduce the tariff to help the country out of the depression. Representative Wilson introduced the bill, which passed the House easily. However, after more than 600 amendments made by the Senate, led by Gorman, the tariff barely reduced the rates set by the McKinley Tariff.

1894 - Pullman Strike

    The Pullman Company fired and then rehired its employees at lower wages. Since a few of the workers were members of the American Railway Union, they had organized a strike. At first Debs suggested arbitration, but Pullman responded, "We have nothing to arbitrate." Debs then ordered a boycott on the Railroads.

    The strike was ended by a court ruling, in which the Judge used the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, saying that the boycott was restricting US Mail delivery. Thus, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act did not work against the real trusts (US v. Knight Co), but was used against the unions.