Difference between revisions of "Bourbon Democrats"
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| − | The '''Bourbon Democrats''' from 1876 to 1904 were conservative or classical liberal members of the | + | The '''Bourbon Democrats''' from 1876 to 1904 were a smaller subset of conservative or [[classical liberal]] members of the liberal-dominated [[Democrat Party]], especially those who supported Samuel J. Tilden in 1876, President [[Grover Cleveland]] in 1884–1896, and [[Alton B. Parker]] in 1904. After 1904, the Bourbons faded away. [[Woodrow Wilson]], who had been a Bourbon, came to terms with [[William Jennings Bryan]] in 1912. |
| − | Bourbon Democrats represented business interests, supported banking and railroad goals, promoted [[laissez-faire]] capitalism, opposed imperialism and U.S. overseas expansion, fought for the [[gold standard]], and opposed [[bimetallism|silver]]. They strongly supported reform movements such as civil service reform and opposed corruption of city bosses, leading the fight against the | + | Bourbon Democrats represented business interests, supported banking and railroad goals, promoted [[laissez-faire]] capitalism, opposed imperialism and U.S. overseas expansion, fought for the [[gold standard]], and opposed [[bimetallism|silver]]. They strongly supported reform movements such as civil service reform and opposed corruption of city bosses, leading the fight against the Tweed Ring. Their fight against corruption earned the votes of many Republican [[Mugwump]]s who in 1884 denounced the Republican candidate [[James G. Blaine]] as tainted by multiple scandals. |
Besides Cleveland and Parker, nationally prominent Bourbons included: | Besides Cleveland and Parker, nationally prominent Bourbons included: | ||
| − | * New York's [[Samuel J. Tilden]], David Bennett Hill, | + | * New York's [[Samuel J. Tilden]], David Bennett Hill, William C. Whitney, and Charles O'Conor |
* New Jersey's [[Woodrow Wilson]] (prior to 1912) | * New Jersey's [[Woodrow Wilson]] (prior to 1912) | ||
* Maryland's [[Arthur Pue Gorman]] | * Maryland's [[Arthur Pue Gorman]] | ||
| Line 16: | Line 16: | ||
* Mississippi's [[Lucius Q. C. Lamar]] | * Mississippi's [[Lucius Q. C. Lamar]] | ||
* Minnesota's [[James J. Hill]] | * Minnesota's [[James J. Hill]] | ||
| + | * South Carolina's [[Wade Hampton|Wade Hampton III]] | ||
==Bourbons and Bryan== | ==Bourbons and Bryan== | ||
The [[Panic of 1893]] damaged the Bourbons because Cleveland was President at the time and was blamed for the consequent economic losses. | The [[Panic of 1893]] damaged the Bourbons because Cleveland was President at the time and was blamed for the consequent economic losses. | ||
| − | The Bourbons' great opponent was [[William Jennings Bryan]], who harnessed the energy of an agrarian insurgency with his | + | The Bourbons' great opponent was [[William Jennings Bryan]], who harnessed the energy of an agrarian insurgency with his Cross of Gold speech and defeated the Bourbons at the decisive 1896 Democratic National Convention. Some of the Bourbons sat out the 1896 election; others created the third party ticket of the National Democratic Party led by [[John M. Palmer]], a former governor of Illinois. Most Bourbons returned to the Democrat Party by 1900 or 1904 at the latest. Bryan demonstrated his hold on the party by winning the 1900 and 1908 Democratic nominations as well; in 1904, a Bourbon, [[Alton B. Parker]], won the nomination. He lost, as did Bryan every time. |
| − | [[William L. Wilson]], Cleveland's postmaster general, confided to his diary that he opposed Bryan on moral and ideological as well as party grounds. Wilson had begun his public service convinced that Congress was too much controlled by special interests, and his unsuccessful tariff fight had burned this conviction deeper. He feared the triumph of free silver would bring class legislation, paternalism, and selfishness feeding upon national bounty as surely as did protection. Moreover, free silver at 16 to 1 was morally wrong, "involving as it does the attempt to call 50 cents a dollar and make it legal tender for dollar debts." Populism, he said, was "the product of protection founded on the idea that Government can and therefore Government ought to make people prosperous." [Summers 240] | + | [[William L. Wilson]], Cleveland's postmaster general, confided to his diary that he opposed Bryan on moral and ideological as well as party grounds. Wilson had begun his public service convinced that Congress was too much controlled by special interests, and his unsuccessful tariff fight had burned this conviction deeper. He feared the triumph of free silver would bring class legislation, [[paternalism]], and selfishness feeding upon national bounty as surely as did protection. Moreover, free silver at 16 to 1 was morally wrong, "involving as it does the attempt to call 50 cents a dollar and make it legal tender for dollar debts." Populism, he said, was "the product of protection founded on the idea that Government can and therefore Government ought to make people prosperous." [Summers 240] |
==Origins of the term== | ==Origins of the term== | ||
| − | The term was first used as a pun to refer both to bourbon whiskey from Kentucky and even more to the | + | The term was first used as a pun to refer both to bourbon whiskey from Kentucky and even more to the Bourbon Dynasty of France that was overthrown in the French Revolution, but returned to power in 1815 to rule in a reactionary fashion. |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| + | The term was occasionally used in the 1860s and 1870s to refer to conservative Democrats (both North and South), and in the 1870s to refer to the regimes set up in the South by [[Redeemers]] as a reaction against [[Reconstruction]]. | ||
==Bibliography== | ==Bibliography== | ||
| Line 41: | Line 41: | ||
==Primary sources== | ==Primary sources== | ||
| − | * Democratic Party (U.S.) National Committee. [ | + | * Democratic Party (U.S.) National Committee. [https://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=LCCN09032461&id=VIwkzQzzbl4C&dq=Democratic+%22campaign+text+Book%22&pg=PP19&printsec=4&lpg=PP19 ''Campaign Text-book of the National Democratic Party'']. 1896. This is the handbook of the '''Gold Democrats''' or Bourbons; it strongly opposed Bryan. |
* Nevins, Allan. ed. ''The Letters of Grover Cleveland, 1850-1908''. 1933. 640 pp | * Nevins, Allan. ed. ''The Letters of Grover Cleveland, 1850-1908''. 1933. 640 pp | ||
| − | * Wilson, William L. ''The Cabinet Diary of William L. Wilson, 1896-1897''. University of North Carolina Press, 1957. | + | * Wilson, William L. ''The Cabinet Diary of William L. Wilson, 1896-1897''. University of North Carolina Press, 1957. |
| + | |||
====notes==== | ====notes==== | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
| − | [[Category: Political Parties]] | + | [[Category:United States Political Parties]] |
| − | [[Category: | + | [[Category:Democratic Party]] |
[[Category:Gilded Age]] | [[Category:Gilded Age]] | ||
[[Category:Republicanism]] | [[Category:Republicanism]] | ||
| − | [[Category:Conservatives]] | + | [[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]] |
| + | [[Category:Conservative Democrats]] | ||
Latest revision as of 16:19, August 14, 2021
The Bourbon Democrats from 1876 to 1904 were a smaller subset of conservative or classical liberal members of the liberal-dominated Democrat Party, especially those who supported Samuel J. Tilden in 1876, President Grover Cleveland in 1884–1896, and Alton B. Parker in 1904. After 1904, the Bourbons faded away. Woodrow Wilson, who had been a Bourbon, came to terms with William Jennings Bryan in 1912.
Bourbon Democrats represented business interests, supported banking and railroad goals, promoted laissez-faire capitalism, opposed imperialism and U.S. overseas expansion, fought for the gold standard, and opposed silver. They strongly supported reform movements such as civil service reform and opposed corruption of city bosses, leading the fight against the Tweed Ring. Their fight against corruption earned the votes of many Republican Mugwumps who in 1884 denounced the Republican candidate James G. Blaine as tainted by multiple scandals.
Besides Cleveland and Parker, nationally prominent Bourbons included:
- New York's Samuel J. Tilden, David Bennett Hill, William C. Whitney, and Charles O'Conor
- New Jersey's Woodrow Wilson (prior to 1912)
- Maryland's Arthur Pue Gorman
- Delaware's Thomas F. Bayard
- West Virginia's William L. Wilson
- Kentucky's John Griffin Carlisle
- Wisconsin's William Freeman Vilas
- Nebraska's J. Sterling Morton
- Illinois' John M. Palmer
- Iowa's Horace Boies
- Mississippi's Lucius Q. C. Lamar
- Minnesota's James J. Hill
- South Carolina's Wade Hampton III
Bourbons and Bryan
The Panic of 1893 damaged the Bourbons because Cleveland was President at the time and was blamed for the consequent economic losses.
The Bourbons' great opponent was William Jennings Bryan, who harnessed the energy of an agrarian insurgency with his Cross of Gold speech and defeated the Bourbons at the decisive 1896 Democratic National Convention. Some of the Bourbons sat out the 1896 election; others created the third party ticket of the National Democratic Party led by John M. Palmer, a former governor of Illinois. Most Bourbons returned to the Democrat Party by 1900 or 1904 at the latest. Bryan demonstrated his hold on the party by winning the 1900 and 1908 Democratic nominations as well; in 1904, a Bourbon, Alton B. Parker, won the nomination. He lost, as did Bryan every time.
William L. Wilson, Cleveland's postmaster general, confided to his diary that he opposed Bryan on moral and ideological as well as party grounds. Wilson had begun his public service convinced that Congress was too much controlled by special interests, and his unsuccessful tariff fight had burned this conviction deeper. He feared the triumph of free silver would bring class legislation, paternalism, and selfishness feeding upon national bounty as surely as did protection. Moreover, free silver at 16 to 1 was morally wrong, "involving as it does the attempt to call 50 cents a dollar and make it legal tender for dollar debts." Populism, he said, was "the product of protection founded on the idea that Government can and therefore Government ought to make people prosperous." [Summers 240]
Origins of the term
The term was first used as a pun to refer both to bourbon whiskey from Kentucky and even more to the Bourbon Dynasty of France that was overthrown in the French Revolution, but returned to power in 1815 to rule in a reactionary fashion.
The term was occasionally used in the 1860s and 1870s to refer to conservative Democrats (both North and South), and in the 1870s to refer to the regimes set up in the South by Redeemers as a reaction against Reconstruction.
Bibliography
- Going, Allen J. Bourbon Democracy in Alabama, 1874-1890. Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, 1951.
- Merrill, Horace Samuel. Bourbon Leader: Grover Cleveland and the Democratic Party. 1957. Merrill argues that in an age of rapid economic change Cleveland staunchly defended the untenable status quo. online edition
- Merrill, Horace Samuel. Bourbon Democracy of the Middle West, 1865-1896. Louisiana State University, 1953.
- Morgan, H. Wayne. From Hayes to McKinley: National Party Politics, 1877-1896. Syracuse University Press, 1969. online edition
- Nevins, Allan. Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage (1932)
- Sperber, Hans and Travis Trittschuh. American Political Terms: An Historical Dictionary. Wayne State University Press, 1962.
- Summers, Festus P. William L. Wilson and Tariff Reform, a Biography. Rutgers University Press, 1953.
- Woodward, C. Vann. Origins of the New South, 1877-1913. Louisiana State University Press, 1951.
Primary sources
- Democratic Party (U.S.) National Committee. Campaign Text-book of the National Democratic Party. 1896. This is the handbook of the Gold Democrats or Bourbons; it strongly opposed Bryan.
- Nevins, Allan. ed. The Letters of Grover Cleveland, 1850-1908. 1933. 640 pp
- Wilson, William L. The Cabinet Diary of William L. Wilson, 1896-1897. University of North Carolina Press, 1957.