On December 3, 1883, by acclamation, the United States 47th Congress admitted New Brunswick and Nova Scotia as States in the United States of America. In the November elections, Nova Scotia elected three Representatives, and New Brunswick elected two. Democrats won two seats in Nova Scotia and one in New Brunswick. The newly elected State Senate chambers met to elect two Senators. As the Republicans and Democrats evenly split the number of State Senators, each state sent one Republican and one Democrat to the United States Senate. The new Representatives and Senators were administered their oaths of office and took their seats.
The Union now totaled forty-three states, including four formerly in Canada. The representatives and senators from these states formed a caucus to coordinate common interests. That caucus was a mixture of Republicans, Democrats and Parti Patriote members. They realized they had more of interest together than political party interests allowed. Voting as a block, they could be instrumental in affecting legislation. As individual party members, their capability to influence change was limited.
Republican and Democrat Party leaders took note and made efforts to discipline their members. That effort pushed the caucus members into a closer relationship and engendered objections from the membership who felt their independence also threatened. Fearing that too much pressure applied to a small internal revolt, could lead to a new political party, the leadership backed off. The new caucus grew in political power and began to attract support, particularly on issues which crossed over congressional districts.
November 5, 1984.
President Blaine narrowly won re-election over his Democrat opponent Grover Cleveland. His margin of victory was less than 50,000 votes. The Republicans regained control of the Senate. However, the Democrats retained control of the House of Representatives.
May 1, 1885.
Encouraged by events in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, voters went to the polls in Cuba and Puerto Rico. The issues were the same. There were two questions on the ballot. The first one was a vote for statehood. The second was to remain as territories. A simple YES or NO would decide the issues. In Puerto Rico, statehood won 70 percent of the vote. In Cuba, statehood was victorious with an 80 percent majority.
Two weeks later, in a pre-existing special session, Congress voted to accept the applications for statehood. Primary elections occurred on July 1, to elect district legislatures and senators, and candidates for Congressional districts. Based on the 1880 census, Puerto Rico would have three congressional districts, while Cuba would have seven districts. Run-off elections held in September narrowed the field to one Republican and one Democrat in each district.
Significant numbers of southern blacks moved to both Cuba and Puerto Rico. Those voters tipped the scales in the November elections. Republicans won five of Cuba’s seven congressional districts, and two of the three districts in Puerto Rico. More significantly, the Republicans won control of both of the State Senate chambers. That resulted in the selection of four Republican Senators increasing Republican control to six seats. That election also reduced the Democrat majority in the House of Representatives to twelve seats.
The United States Congress and Senate exhibited more diversity than ever. Conversely, it also became more sectarian. Regional alliances were developing focusing on common ground within the various caucuses. The Democrat and Republican Parties leadership teams encountered increasing difficulties to mold working coalitions.
Following the example of the four formerly Canadian States, the Caribbean States senators and representatives from Cuba, Dominica, and Puerto Rico allied in a caucus devoted to their unique issues. Their population was evolving into a distinctly “creole” mix of black, Hispanic and white. The three states enjoyed prosperous and growing economies with industries moving there to take advantage of warm summers and mild winters. Tourist resorts rivaled Florida in efforts to attract northern visitors.
The chemical pesticide DDT, developed in 1874 by an Austrian chemist Othmar Zeidler, was attributed to the rapid industrial expansion in the Carribean States. Zeidler did not know how to use the chemical and was unable to create a market. Zeidler’s son Johann, also a chemist moved to the United States. Johann set up a chemical company to market his products and purchased the patent for DDT which is an organic colorless, tasteless and almost odorless crystalline solid. He brought a quantity of DDT with him to determine if he could find and develop a market.
While visiting the American Naval Base at Hamilton, Bermuda; he met with physicians treating Yellow Fever, Typhus, and Malaria. The physicians despaired of finding a cure. Johann noted flies and mosquitos everywhere tormenting the sick soldiers. Johann accidentally spilled a small amount of DDT into drainage water contaminated with flies. All the flies and mosquitos were dead the next day. Johann experimented with other drainage ditches and discovered the same result. He offered to spray his mix in the hospital wards and grounds to make the soldiers more comfortable. The flies and mosquitos were killed or driven off. Soon the recovery rate of the soldiers began to improve. At that moment, Johann knew he had found his market.
The United States Department of Defense purchased large quantities of the pesticide to apply in a powdered form or mix with water and spray in and around their military bases, located in hot and humid climates where Yellow Fever, Typhus, and Malaria were common. Within two years, cases of the three diseases dropped by two-thirds. Private industry in these areas also purchased the chemical and spraying became widespread. Over the next five years, new cases became increasingly rare and less severe.
Bermuda and the Bahamas lagged in population growth. Mainly this happened due to poor soil resulting in unsuccessful efforts in agriculture. The islands were unable to sustain their population and became dependent on the United States Navy and Army for financial support. Both island groups became territories, ruled by appointed military governors.
Elections 1888 to 1894.
The Presidential Elections were a rematch of 1884. However, Grover Cleveland won the Presidency by 20,000 votes. Blaine’s support from Irish immigrants evaporated when a prominent Protestant Minister equated the Democrats as a “Party of Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion.” Exhibiting the disenfranchisement with the national parties, the Republicans won 25 seats in the House of Representatives and enjoyed a majority of 199 – 157. In the Senate, the Republicans held the majority by 50 – 40.
The United States admitted four more states Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington in 1889. Idaho and Wyoming followed in 1890. Special elections held in those stated elected seven more Republicans to the House of Representatives. The State Senate selected three Democrats and three Republicans. These elections solidified Republican control of Congress.
In 1892, Cleveland easily won reelection, and the Democrats gained 23 House seats, the Populists won 3. The Democrats regained control of the House. Thirteen days before Cleveland’s second inauguration disaster struck the Democrats. It began with the collapse of worldwide commodity prices as the result of crop failures in Argentina. Then the Reading and Philadelphia Railroads became insolvent. There was a run on gold and the banks. United States unemployment rose from 4 percent in 1890 to 18.4 percent in 1894. In the elections of 1894, the Democrats lost 130 seats. A worldwide depression was in full force.
Chapter 11.
The 1890s were a tumultuous decade for the United States of America. On January 20, 1891, The Hawaiian King Kalakaua died of Brights Disease in San Francisco while touring California. The Cruiser USS Charleston returned his body to Hawaii on January 29. His sister and Heir Apparent, Liliʻuokalani, ascended to the throne. A controversy resulted when she tried to change the Constitution of 1887, which was highly favorable to large landowners and disenfranchised many native Hawaiians.
Queen Liliʻuokalani toured the islands, speaking on behalf of a new Constitution to replace the 1887 document. She received overwhelming support from the people, but when she presented it to her Cabinet, they refused, as it was likely to lead to th
e overthrow of the government.
In January 1893, members of the American Committee of Safety led a coup to overthrow Queen Liliʻuokalani. A brief standoff took place between 500 Royal Guards and 1,500 members of the Hawaiian Rifles. This militia was a mix of European and United States citizens, who were also subjects of the Queen.
Alarmed for the safety of United States citizens and property, the Committee of Safety appealed to United States Minister Stevens to intervene. Stevens ordered the captain of the cruiser USS Boston to dispatch a company of United States Marines and a company of armed sailors to protect the grounds of the United States Embassy. Unwilling to face conflict with the Marines and sailors, the Royal Guards confined themselves to their barracks.
Without any opposition, the Committee for Safety overthrew the Queen and replaced her with the provisional government. Sanford B Dole was named the President of the Provisional Government of Hawaii. The new republic was recognized within 48 hours by all nations with diplomatic ties to the Kingdom of Hawaii, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
President Cleveland commissioned the Blount Report, which after an investigation called the overthrow of the monarchy illegal, and accused Minister Stevens and the United States Military of complicity in the Coup. Cleveland then issued a demand for the Queens restoration.
President Cleveland appointed Albert Willis to be Minister to Hawaii. Willis was sent to Hawaii on a secret mission to meet with deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani and obtain a promise of amnesty for those involved in the overthrow of the monarchy; if Cleveland restored her to the throne. Willis reported to the Secretary of State in Washington that the deposed Queen was intent on killing the culprits. There was a dispute on terminology. Willis reported the Queen said "beheading"; Liliʻuokalani later said she used the word "execute."
Finally, the Queen reversed herself and told Willis she could issue an amnesty. On December 18, 1893, Willis demanded on behalf of Cleveland that the Committee for Safety dissolve the Provisional Government of Hawaii and to restore the Queen to power. Willis' mission was a failure when President Dole sent a written reply declining the surrender of his authority to the deposed queen.
President Cleveland then referred the matter to Congress, which commissioned the Morgan Report which exonerated the U.S. Minister and peacekeepers from taking any part in the Hawaiian Revolution. Following the Morgan Report, Cleveland reversed his stance, rebuffed the Queen's further pleas for interference, and maintained normal diplomatic relations with Provisional Government.
Following the approval of a new Constitution, the Provisional Government of Hawaii ended on July 4, 1894. Sanford B Dole became President of the Republic of Hawaii. Willis remained as Ambassador to the Republic of Hawaii until his death on January 6, 1897. After an elaborate State Funeral at the Iolani Palace, the United States returned Willis’s body to Kentucky for burial.
1896 Elections:
The worldwide depression deepened in 1895. President Cleveland was unable to reverse the downturn in the United States economy. The Populist Party was growing, taking Democratic voters into their ranks, particularly in the farm states where many farmers and ranchers were in danger of defaulting on their mortgages. In early 1896, the economy began to turn for the better. As manufacturing began to increase thousands of factory workers returned to work.
William McKinley, the Governor of Ohio, easily won the Republican nomination. The convention then nominated Garret Hobart from New Jersey as Vice President. The maintenance of the Gold Standard was the key plank on Republican Party Platform. McKinley campaigned from his front porch entertaining delegations of Republicans and industrialists. Surrogates did the campaigning across the country.
Severely divided, the Democrats entered their convention, with no clear front-runner. The party leaders split almost evenly over the currency issue. Almost one-half favored the Gold Standard, with the balance favoring free silver.
The 36-year old congressman from Nebraska, William Jennings Bryan delivered the Key Note Address. He eloquently advocated for free silver. He ended his speech by passionately spreading his arms as he exclaimed: “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.” The speech so electrified the convention that the delegates nominated Bryan as their candidate for president. Bryan was only 36 years old, and his experience as an officeholder was limited to two terms in the House of Representatives.
The Populists, seeing their major issue co-opted also nominated Bryan, as did the Free Silver Party. The Populists in an attempt to retain their identity nominated Thomas Watson as Vice President. Unlike McKinley, Bryan barnstormed across the United States with his idea of a devalued United States Dollar. His plan was for 16 Silver dollars for every gold dollar.
On November 3, seventy-nine percent of the voters went to the polls. McKinley won resoundingly by almost one-million votes with a smashing Electoral College victory of 319 – 177.
The Congressional elections were somewhat different. The Republicans lost 44 seats; thirty-one of which were in traditional Democrat districts, and went to the Republicans in the previous election in 1894. The Populists won 13 seats in the same manner. The Parti Patriote retained their five seats, and the Free Silver Party retained their one seat. The final total included 230 Republicans, 124 Democrats, 22 populists, 5 Parti Patriote, and 1 Free silver. Following the election, the Populist Party slowly disappeared, with their members being absorbed by the Democrats. However, Populist principles dominated the Democrat Party for the next twenty years.
On March 4, 1897, William McKinley celebrated his inauguration as President of the United States. Attending one of his inauguration parties, the President of Hawaii Sanford Dole proposed a meeting to discuss common interests. McKinley instructed Secretary of State John Sherman to set up the meeting. One week later, President McKinley hosted Samuel Dole at the White House.
Following an exchange of pleasantries, Dole brought up the salient point for the meeting. “Mr. President, my Privy Council has authorized me to either establish a formal alliance between The Republic of Hawaii and the United States or seek the annexation of the Republic into the United States. Our overall goal is to become part of the United States, but if a formal alliance is a prerequisite, we will seek that first.”
McKinley was delighted at the potential of annexation. In a famous quotation, McKinley said: "We need Hawaii just as much and a good deal more than we did California. It is Manifest Destiny." Realizing the acquisition would have to be a step by step process, McKinley sent Secretary of State John Sherman to Hawaii negotiate a formal alliance. Sherman returned in June with the treaty. One of the provisions was a 99-year lease for to the exclusive military use of Pearl Harbor. The commercial harbor was open to shipping traffic of all nations. The treaty was submitted to the Senate for approval and passed with only ten dissenting votes.
McKinley had expressed expansionist fervor in the campaign. His attitude differed with Cleveland’s more isolationist disposition. Cleveland favored the construction of fast cruisers over battleships to protect the United States shipping interests. The construction of naval battleships had languished after the completion of the three warships in the Maine Class, and the USS Connecticut touted as the first of a new generation of battleships.
McKinley before being elected attended a lecture given by Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan at the Naval War College. In his lecture, Captain Mahan postulated: “The primary mission of a navy was to secure the command of the sea, which would permit the maintenance of sea communications for one's ships while denying their use to the enemy and, if necessary, closely supervise neutral trade.
Control of the sea could be achieved not by the destruction of commerce but only by destroying or neutralizing the enemy fleet. Such a strategy called for the concentration of naval forces composed of capital ships, not too large but numerous, well-manned with crews thoroughly trained, and operating under the principle that the best defense i
s an aggressive offense.”
McKinley was very impressed with Captain Mahan’s presentation. After winning the Presidency, he invited Captain Mahan to the White House to learn more. Mckinley also invited his Secretary of the Navy, retired Admiral Robert Treat. Captain Mahan expressed awe to be in the presence of the President and the legendary admiral.
The USS Connecticut was the lead ship of her class of six large battleships. She was the only one currently commissioned. At Mahan’s suggestion, and with the agreement of Secretary Treat, McKinley ordered the completion of the other five battleships.
On June 1, 1897, Secretary of the Navy Robert Treat gave the commencement speech at the Naval Academy Graduation and Commissioning Ceremony. Ensign Robert Treat Jr. graduated fifth in his class, and received his Commission as Ensign; with a subsequent appointment to the USS Connecticut. His mother Abigail proudly watched from the reviewing stand as the Midshipmen marched past.
Within two years the six battleships were commissioned. They were the largest, and most heavily armed battleships in the United States Navy. McKinley, Secretary Treat, and Captain Mahan attended the naval review in the Chesapeake Bay. There USS Connecticut led her sister ships USS Louisiana, USS Vermont, USS Kansas, USS Minnesota, and USS New Hampshire in the review of the fleet. Each battleship measured 456 feet in length, 77 feet wide, and had the main armament of four, 12-inch guns in two turrets, one fore and the other aft. There were four twin turrets of 8-inch guns, also mounted fore and aft. There were twelve casements of 7-inch guns, six to each side. Combined these weapons constituted a significant broadside.
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