GILDED AGE POLITICS

APUSH

The “Politics of Equilibrium”

A Two-Party Stalemate

Well-Defined Voting Blocs

White Southerners Catholics Recent immigrants Urban working poor Most farmers

Northern whites African Americans Northern Protestants Old WASPs Most of the middle

class

Democrats Republicans

Presidency as a Symbolic Office

Party bosses ruled Presidents should avoid offending any

factions within their own party The President just doled out federal jobs

1868-1876

Grant Administration

1868 Presidential Election

Grant Scandals & Grantism

The Tweed Ring in NYC

Who Stole the People’s Money?

1872 Presidential Election

Check Point

In the presidential election of 1868, Ulysses S. Grant

A. transformed his personal popularity into a large majority in the popular vote

B. owed his victory to the votes of former slaves

C. gained his victory by winning the votes of the majority of whites

D. demonstrated his political skillE. All of these

New York’s notoriously corrupt Boss Tweed was finally jailed under the pressure of

A.New York Times exposes and the cartoons of Thomas NastB.federal income tax evasion chargesC.the RICO racketeering actD.new York City’s ethics lawsE.testimony by Tweed’s partners in crime

The Credit Mobilier scandal involved

A.public utility company bribesB.Bureau of Indian Affairs payoffsC.railroad construction kickbacksD.evasion of excise taxes on distilled liquorE.manipulating the Wall Street stock market

During the Gilded Age, the Democrats and the Republicans

A.had few significant policy differencesB.agreed on currency policy but not the tariffC.disagreed primarily over the power of the federal governmentD.held similar views on all economic issues except for civil-service reformE.were divided over silver vs. gold currency

During the Gilded Age, the lifeblood of both the Democratic and Republican parties was

A.the Grand Army of the RepublicB.the Roman Catholic ChurchC.ideological commitmentD.big-city political machinesE.political patronage

1876-1880

Hayes Administration

1876 Presidential Election

The Political Crisis of 1877

“Corrupt Bargain” Part II?

Hayes Prevails

Rutherford B. Hayes

Ended Reconstruction Use of Federal troops to put down RR

strike Civil Service Reform Southern Democrats appointed to

cabinet

1880-1881

Garfield Administration

1880 Presidential Election

James Garfield

Laissez Faire Star Route Scandal Spoils System

1881: Garfield Assassinated!

Charles Guiteau:I am a Stalwart, and Arthur is President

now!

Chester Arthur

Chinese Exclusion Act Pendleton Act

Pendleton Act (1883)

Civil Service Act The “Magna Carta” of

civil service reform 1883 – 14,000 out of

117,000 federal government jobs became civil service exam positions

1900 – 100,000 out of 200,000 civil service federal government jobs

Republican “Mugwumps”

Reformers who wouldn’t re-nominate Arthur

Reform to them – create a disinterested, impartial government run by an educated elite like themselves

Social Darwinists Laissez faire government to them:

Favoritism and the spoils system seen as government intervention in society

Their target was political corruption, not social or economic reform!

The Mugwumps

Men may come and men may go, but

the work of reform shall go

on forever.

Check Point

The Compromise of 1877 resulted in

A.a renewal of the Republican commitment to protect black civil rights in the SouthB.the withdrawal of federal troops and abandonment of black rights in the SouthC.The election of a Democrat to the presidencyD.Republican support for an inflationary sliver-money policyE.a plan to build the first transcontinental railroad

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated while in office; the second was

A.Rutherford HayesB.William McKinleyC.Chester ArthurD.Benjamin HarrisonE.James Garfield

The Pendleton Act required people applying for many federal government jobs to

A.take a competitive examinationB.present a written recommendation from a congressman or senatorC.agree to make financial contributions to their political partyD.submit a resume listing their experience and providing referencesE.have a college degree

With the passage of the Pendleton Act, prohibiting political contributions from many federal workers, politicians increasingly sought money from

A.new immigrantsB.contractors doing business with the federal governmentC.factory workers and farmersD.foreign contributorsE.big corporations

1884-1888

Cleveland Administration

1884 Presidential Election

1884 Presidential Election

Grover Cleveland (D) James Blaine (R)

A Dirty Campaign

Ma, Ma…where’s my pa?He’s going to the White House, ha…ha…ha…!

Little Lost Mugwump

Blaine in 1884

Cleveland’s First Term

The “Veto Governor” from New York First Democrat elected since 1856 A public office is a public trust! His laissez-faire presidency:

Opposed bills to assist the poor as well as the rich

Vetoed over 200 special pension bills for Civil War veterans!

The Tariff Issue

After the Civil War, Congress raised tariffs to protect new United States industries

Big business wanted to continue this; consumers did not

1885 – tariffs earned the US $100 million in surplus

President Cleveland’s views on tariffs??? Tariffs became a major issue in the 1888

presidential election

1888-1892

Harrison Administration

1888 Presidential Election

1888 Presidential Election

Grover Cleveland (D) Benjamin Harrison (R)

Coming Out for Harrison

Benjamin Harrison

Billion Dollar Budget McKinley’s Tariff Pursued Annexation of Hawaii

1892-1896

Cleveland Administration (again)

1892 Presidential Election

1892 Presidential Election

Cleveland (again) Harrison

Cleveland Loses Support Fast!

The only President to serve two non-consecutive terms

Blamed for the 1893 Panic Defended the gold standard Used federal troops in the 1894 Pullman

strike Refused to sign the Wilson-Gorman Tariff

in 1894 Repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act

Check Point

The sequence of presidential terms of the “forgettable presidents” of the Gilded Age (including Cleveland’s two nonconsecutive terms) was

A.Cleveland, Hayes, Harrison, Cleveland, Arthur, GarfieldB.Garfield, Hayes, Harrison, Cleveland, Arthur, ClevelandC.Cleveland, Garfield, Arthur, Hayes, Harrison, ClevelandD.Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, ClevelandE.Hayes, Garfield, Harrison, Cleveland, Arthur, Cleveland

Which one of the following Gilded Age presidents had a different party affiliation from the other four?

A.Ulysses S. GrantB.Rutherford HayesC.Grover ClevelandD.Benjamin HarrisonE.Chester Arthur

Besides advocating a lower tariff, Grover Cleveland stirred political opposition by

A.supporting free and unlimited coinage of silverB.advocating federal aid to farmersC.vetoing many veterans’ pension billsD.spending the federal budget surplus on public worksE.bringing his mistress and illegitimate child to live in the White House

The Billion-Dollar Congress quickly disposed of rising government surpluses by

A.providing subsidies to wheat, corn, & cotton farmersB.building an expensive new steel navyC.expanding pensions for Civil War veteransD.cutting tariffs and other taxesE.increasing spending on railroads and other transportation projects

The major campaign issue of the 1888 presidential election was

A.civil-service reformB.the big trust questionC.the currency questionD.foreign policyE.tariff policy