Garfield's Book Club

 

Find out about the 1880 campaign in this manual. It can be found in the Visitor's Center. To see the book online, click on the image.

Screenshot of book cover from google.com

VISITOR CENTER – Introduction to the 1880 Presidential Campaign

James A. Garfield was a devoted reader of books on all different subjects. You can find a selection of books about the 1880 presidential campaign on display at the Garfield site. Many of these written works have been digitized and are online. We have included links to the ones that are available.

Democrat or Republican?

Harper & Brothers published this small Republican-leaning pamphlet in 1880 to inform voters about the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties on several issues. These included financial policies and social issues, including race relations back to the pre-Civil War period. This copy belonged to Republican presidential candidate James A. Garfield and is inscribed inside “with the sincere regard and high esteem of the writer,” though the author’s name does not appear in the pamphlet.

The Republican Manual

American Book Exchange published E.V. Smalley’s The Republican Manual as an unofficial campaign text in 1880. It provided a history of the party and its achievements along with biographies of presidential candidate James A. Garfield and vice-presidential candidate Chester A. Arthur. The book also contained the full 1880 Republican platform.

 

RECEPTION HALL AND DINING ROOM – Republican Party texts and how J.A.G. got involved

Old and New Republican Parties

Author, historian, and politician Stephen Merrill Allens’ 1881 book focuses on the founding of the Republican party, up to the presidency of James A. Garfield. Key figures of the party, the similarities and differences of important political leaders, and the evolution of the Republican party, over several decades, are highlighted within the 400 pages. This is a “comprehensive and informative account” of the Republican party’s framework and early growth, up to the period of our 20^th President, James A. Garfield.

Speeches to Congress

(James A. Garfield’s 1879 speech to Congress called “The Revolution in Congress” speech) This speech before Congress, in 1879, highlights Congressman James A. Garfield’s passion for maintaining an effective democratic policy throughout Congress. Remaining firm in his convictions, while also supporting President Hayes, James A. Garfield “berated the Democrats. Their motives were unjust. They meant to deny the rights granted to Blacks after the Civil War. Furthermore, he noted, Democrats declared that …if they are not permitted to force upon the other house [the Senate] and the Executive [the President] against their consent … this refusal will be considered a sufficient ground for starving this government to death ( a government shutdown)”. This episode brought favorable attention to Mr. Garfield, thus setting the stage for his nomination as the Republican candidate for President in 1880.

Proceedings of the Republican National Convention-1880

(Proceedings from the Republican National Convention-1880) This transcript of the 1880 Chicago Republican Convention emphasizes the circumstances within the event that ultimately resulted in the nomination of James A. Garfield, from Ohio, as President and Chester A. Author, from New York, as Vice President. The detailed accounting from the 1880 convention highlights the then Senator-Elect James A. Garfield’s nomination on the 36^th ballot, which allowed him to become the “dark horse” Republican nominee for President.

 

The Fisk Jubilee Singers were among the 17,000 visitors to the Garfield farm during the campaign of 1880. They presented President James A. Garfield a copy of this book.

Screenshot of book cover from google.com

PARLOR – Campaign Story

The Story of the Jubilee Singers; with Their Songs

On September 8, 1880, The Fisk Jubilee Singers presented James A. Garfield with this inscribed book, The Story of the Jubilee Singers; with Their Songs by J.B.T Marsh. The candidate was in Chautauqua, New York that day speaking to a group of 5,000 people at the Palace Hotel. It was there that he first listened to their “the very beautiful songs.” He closed his speech with a tribute to the African American a cappella ensemble. Twenty-two days later, the group sang for Garfield in the parlor of his Mentor home.

 

GRANDMA’S SITTING ROOM – J.A.G. Biographies

Campaign Biographies

During James A. Garfield’s 1880 presidential campaign, about a dozen biographies were written about the candidate. These two books, both with similar titles and covers, were dedicated to the two most important women in Garfield’s life – his wife Lucretia (by A. G. Riddle) and his mother Eliza (by R. H. Conwell)

Albert Gallatin Riddle wrote "The Life, Character and Public Services of Jas. A. Garfield."

Russell H. Conwell wrote "The Life, Speeches and Public Services of Gen. James A. Garfield of Ohio."

Maxims of James Abram Garfield: General, Patriotic, Political compiled by William R. Balch, 1880. A pamphlet of quotes attributed to James A. Garfield was compiled by William Balch, a biographer of the former president. Arranged under subtopics such as Success in Life, The Democracy, and The Republican Party, modern readers wouldn’t need to read very far to see that the issues Garfield reflected on in his day are still relevant concerns today.

 

LIBRARY – Materials on issues of the campaign

The Great Usurpation

In this pamphlet, a pro- Republican, pro-Northern writer listed all the ways in which Southern Democrats, formerly Confederates, controlled various committees of Congress, the strength of the United States army in the South, etc.

A Possible Solution of the Chinese Problem

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Field’s pamphlet summarizes the issue of Chinese immigration in the 1870s and 1880s. In it, he reviewed the practice of the Chinese government to exclude Americans and other nations from trade in China outside of certain ports, and the response, particularly in California to discriminate against the Chinese in that state. Part of that discrimination was economic – what kind of work the Chinese could do and where they could be employed – and part of it involved cultural prejudices.

Why We Trade – David Wells

David Wells, like his admirer James Garfield, a graduate of Williams College, was a nationally recognized economist from the 1860s through the 1890s. “It is evident, therefore, that the capacity of the country for production has far outrun its power of domestic consumption; and also, that what the country now most needs, and what it must have if it would have prosperity, are larger markets – markets outside of itself…” In this pamphlet, Mr. Wells argued for the reduction of tariffs to stimulate more trade at lower costs, and an expansion of our overseas markets.

The Democratic Party and the Currency Question – published by The Honest Money League of Cleveland, Ohio

In this publication, Democrat Virgil P. Kline argued against the use of greenbacks or similar paper currencies. The Honest Money League of Cleveland favored coins as the basis of “honest” or “real” American money, or paper backed by coin. Kline’s stand was in opposition to the “Ohio Idea,” a program of Democratic Senator George to increase the supply of paper money in the American economy. Like James Garfield, Virgil Kline was a graduate of Williams College.

Chinese Immigration – a speech by Senator James G. Blaine

The Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868 permitted the Chinese to freely immigrate to the United States. Americans on the west coast became opposed to the “open border” by the mid-1870s. In this speech, Senator Blaine argued for restricting Chinese immigration, based on the differences in race and religion between Americans and Chinese.

 

CAMPAIGN OFFICE – Republican Party Publications

The Republican Text-Book for the Campaign of 1880. A Full History of General James A. Garfield’s Public Life, With Other Political Information. By B.A. Hinsdale, A.M., President of Hiram College

Hinsdale’s book was both biography and playbook for those seeking information about presidential candidate James A. Garfield and the major platforms of both the Republican and Democratic parties in 1880. The author, a personal and lifelong friend of Garfield’s, states in the Introduction that “this text-book is to put into the hands of the reader authentic materials for judging his [James Garfield’s] record.” This work also served as a useful reference for those writing and speaking about the politics of the parties and the issues of the day.

The Republican Political Handbook for Public Speakers and Local Committees, compiled by Henry O’Connor, 1880.

At first glance, the title of this handbook might lead the reader to believe it included a history of the Republican Party along with objective talking points for people writing about and speaking during the 1880 presidential campaign. A glance at the first page, however, reveals a the work’s true nature: “Part 1. The Democratic Party as the Party of Obstruction – Nothing if not Purely “Bourbon.” While the compilation eventually provided a short synopsis of both parties’ platforms towards the end of the book, a majority of this work contained speeches that focused on what the Republicans saw as the Democrat’s failures since the previous election.