Gilded Politics
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Transcript of Gilded Politics
8/4/2019 Gilded Politics
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/gilded-politics 1/17
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Page 1
Gilded Age Politics
All that Glitters, is not Gold
8/4/2019 Gilded Politics
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Nickname
• “Gilded Age”
– Mark Twain and Charles Dudley
Warner – Corruption of Grant’s presidency
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Politics, Parties, Patronage, andPresidents
• American beliefs:
– Mistrust organized power
– Harmony of Laissez-Faire
– Government Passivity
– Government’s job is to “clear the way of impediments and dangers, and leave everyclass and every individual free and safe in theexertions and pursuits of life.” --RoscoeConkling
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• “One might search the whole list of
Congress, Judiciary, and Executive duringthe twenty-five years 1870-95 and findlittle but damaged reputation.”
• Henry Adams (grandson of John Quincy Adams)
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Corruption
• Congress=dominant branch of gov’t
– PATRONAGE
• Little party difference
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Well-Defined Voting Blocs
DemocraticBloc
RepublicanBloc
White southerners(preservation ofwhite supremacy)
Catholics
Recent immigrants
(esp. Jews)
Urban workingpoor (pro-labor)
Most farmers
Northern whites(pro-business)
African Americans
NorthernProtestants
Old WASPs (supportfor anti-immigrantlaws)
Most of the middle
class
8/4/2019 Gilded Politics
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The Presidents
• 3/5 Presidential Elections, difference of1%!!
• No strong identification with a particular
issue• One Democratic Prez, little difference from
Republicans
• Americans expect patronage
8/4/2019 Gilded Politics
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So what DID matter?
• The Tariff
• Currency
• Civil Service• Regulation of RRs
8/4/2019 Gilded Politics
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Tariff
• Regional attitudes
• Party lines
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Currency
• Paper money (greenbacks) for gold
or silver (specie)
• The gold standard
• Pressure to coin silver
– “Hard money”, “Soft money”
8/4/2019 Gilded Politics
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Civil Service
• “…a subject almost as dangerous in
political conversation in Washington asslavery itself in the old days before the
war.” --Henry Adams• Spoils system
– How funded
• Movement for competitive exams
• The Pendleton Act of 1883
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Increasing Political Participation
• 78.5% average voter turnout in the 1880s – Approx 63.8% in 2008
• Election hoopla
• Emotional local issues
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Role of immigrants
• Increasing political participation
• Bosses deliver votes – Mutual self interest
• Tammany Hall
8/4/2019 Gilded Politics
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1884, a Dirty Election Year
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1884, A Dirty Election Year
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Speaking of dirty…
• Rapid urban growth
demands for services – Fertile ground for graft and bossism
– Power vacuum
– Patronage for votes and contributions
– Improvements for kickbacks
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Boss Tweed