6 gilded age politics

7/28/2019 6 Gilded Age Politics

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PoliticsintheGildedAge1869-1896

1. The"BloodyShirt"ElectsGrant(1868)a. Wavingthe"BloodyShirt"

i. themostcommonRepublicancampaigntacticfrom18681880ii. toremindvotersoftheSouth'sdishonorofsecedingandcausingtheCivilWariii. ThistacticpaintedallDemocratsasevildestroyersoftheUnion

b. TheRepublicansnominatedGeneralGrantforthepresidencyin1868i. Republican Party supported thecontinuation of theReconstruction

oftheSouthii. Grantstoodontheplatformof"justhavingpeace."

c. TheDemocratsnominatedHoratioSeymour.d. Grantwontheelectionof1868

2. TheEraofGoodStealings

a. JimFiskandJayGouldi. devisedaplottodrasticallyraisethepriceofthegoldmarketin1869ii. "BlackFriday"September24,1869iii. thetwoboughtalargeamountofgold,planningtosellitforaprofitiv. Tolowerthehighpriceofgold,Treasurywasforcedtosellgold

b. TheCreditMobilierScandali. eruptedin1872ii. Union Pacific Railroad insiders formed the Credit Mobilier

constructioncompanyiii. then hired themselves at inflated prices to build the railroad line,

earninghighdividendsiv. When itwas foundout thatgovernmentofficialswerepaidtostay

quietabouttheillicitbusiness,someofficialswerecensuredc. WilliamM."Boss"Tweed&TheTweedRing

i. To many late 19th century Americans, he personified publiccorruption

ii. Inthelate1860s,WilliamM.TweedwastheNewYorkCity'spoliticalboss

iii. His headquarters, located on East 14th Street, was known asTammanyHall

iv. Employedbribery,graft,andfraudulentelectionstomilkNewYorkofasmuchas$200million.

v. AsPoliticalBoss,Tweed:1.

orchestratedelections2. controlledthecity'smayor

3. rewardedpoliticalsupporters.vi. Hisprimarysourceoffundscamefromthebribesandkickbacksthat

hedemandedinexchangeofcitycontractsvii. TheconstructionoftheNewYorkCountyCourthouse

1. Begunin18612. Themostnotoriousexampleofurbancorruption


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3. Officially,thecitywoundupspendingnearly$13million4. roughly$178millionintoday'sdollars5. buildingshouldhavecostseveraltimesless6. Itsconstructioncostnearlytwiceasmuchasthepurchaseof

Alaskain18677. Thecorruptionwasbreathtakinginitsbreadthandboldness:

a. A carpenter was paid $360,751 (roughly $4.9 milliontoday) for onemonth's labor ina buildingwithverylittlewoodwork

b. Afurniturecontractorreceived$179,729($2.5million)forthreetablesand40chairs

c. A plasterer, Andrew J. Garvey, got $133,187 ($1.82million) for two days' work; his business acumenearnedhimthesobriquet"ThePrinceofPlasterers."

d. Tweedpersonallyprofitedfroma financial interestina Massachusetts quarry that provided thecourthouse'smarble

e. Whenacommitteeinvestigatedwhyittooksolongtobuild the courthouse, it spent $7,718 ($105,000) toprintitsreport

f. TheprintingcompanywasownedbyTweed8. The Tweed courthouse was not completed until 1880, two

decadesaftergroundwasbroken9. By then, the courthouse had become a symbol of public

corruptionviii. TheTideTurnsAgainsttheTweedRing

1. July18712. Twolow-level cityofficials had agrudge against the Tweed

Ring3. They provided The New York Times with reams ofdocumentationthatdetailedthecorruptionatthecourthouseandothercityprojects

4. TheTimespublishedastringofarticles5. ThomasNast

a. CreatedpoliticalcartoonsofTweedb. PublishedinHarper'sWeekly

6. Articles&Cartoonscreatedanationaloutcry7. Tweed and many of his cronies were soon facing criminal

chargesandpoliticaloblivion8. Tweedwaseventuallyputintoprisonwherehediedin1878

ix. Werebossesandpoliticalmachinesascorruptastheircriticscharged?1. Many machines professionalized urban police forces and

institutedthefirsthousingregulations2. Politicalalsobossesservedthewelfareneedsofimmigrants3. They offered jobs, food, fuel, and clothing to the new

immigrantsandthedestitutepoor4. Politicalmachinesalsoservedasaladderofsocialmobilityfor

ethnicgroupsblockedfromothermeansofrisinginsociety.


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5. InTheShameoftheCities,LincolnSteffensarguedthatitwasgreedy businessmen who kept the political machinesfunctioning

6. It was their hunger for government contracts, franchises,charters, and special privileges, hebelieved, that corruptedurbanpolitics

7. Attheendofthe19thandbeginningofthe20thcenturies,urbanreformerswouldseektoredeemthecitythrough:

a. beautificationcampaignsb. cityplanningc. rationalizationofcitygovernmentd. increasesincityservices

3. Electionof1872

a. LiberalRepublicanPartyi. Formedin1872ii. Inresponsetodisgustofthe:

1. politicalcorruptioninWashington2. militaryReconstructionoftheSouth

b. HoraceGreeleyi. TheLiberalRepublicanPartypresidentialcandidatefortheelectionof

1872ii. TheDemocraticPartyalsochoseGreeleyastheircandidate.iii. TheRepublicanPartycontinuedtoputitssupportbehindPresident

Grantiv. Grantwontheelectionof1872.

c. RepublicanCongressof1872i. PassedGeneralAmnestyActin1872

1. TheLiberalRepublicansforcedthisactspassage2. removed political disabilities from most of the formerConfederateleaders

ii. CongressalsoreducedhighCivilWartariffsiii. gavemildcivil-servicereformtotheGrantadministration

4. PallidPoliticsintheGildedAge

a. ThroughoutmostoftheGildedAge thepoliticalpartiesingovernmenthadbalancedout.

b. Few significant economic issues separated the Democrats and theRepublicans.

c. Democratsi. WereimmigrantLutheransandRomanCatholicsii. Believedintolerationofdifferencesinanimperfectworldiii. Opposed the government imposinga singlemoral standardon the

entiresocietyiv. WerefoundintheSouthandinthenorthernindustrialcities.

d. Republicansi. Tendedtostressstrictcodesofpersonalmorality


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ii. Believed that the government should play a role in regulating theeconomic

iii. Believedthatthegovernmentshouldplayaroleinthemoralaffairsofsociety

iv. WerefoundintheMidwestandNortheastv. ManyRepublicanvotescamefromtheGrandArmyoftheRepublic

1. a politically active fraternal organization of many UnionveteransoftheCivilWar

e. RepublicanPartywassplitintothreefactions:i. Stalwarts

1. Conservativefaction2. ledbyRoscoeConkling(R-NY)3. WerestalwartinoppositiontoHayeseffortstoreconcile

withtheSouth4. OpposedallformofCivilServiceReform5. supportedthesystemofswappingcivil-servantjobsforvotes

a. Giving someone a job if they vote for a specificparty/cause

b. AnewSpoilsSystemorPatronage6. BackedProtectiveTariff7. Sought3rdtermforUSGrant8. TypicalStalwartswere

a. RadicalRepublicansb. UnionWarVeteransc. RepublicanPoliticalBosses

ii. Half-Breeds1. Termofdisparagementginned-upbyStalwarts2. OpposedtotheStalwarts3.

ledbyJamesG.Blaine(R-ME)a. failedtoearnGOPnominationin1876&1880

4. JamesGarfieldalsoaffiliatedwiththeHalf-Breeds5. ModeratefactionofGOP6. BackedlenienttreatmentoftheSouth7. SupportedmoderateCivilServiceReform8. The main disagreement between the two groups was over

whowould give the jobs to the people who voted in theirfavor

iii. Liberals1. TheReformelementoftheGOP2. Supported:

a. Activecivilservicereformb. Tariffforrevenuegenerationonly

5. Electionof1876-TheHayesTildenStandoff

a. TheTwo-TermResolutioni. Congresspassedaresolutionthatremindedthecountry,andGrant,

ofthetwo-termtraditionforpresidencyii. Grantwasspeculatingaboutrunningfora3rdterm


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b. TheElectionof1876:i. GOPchoseRutherfordB.Hayesii. DemocratschoseSamuelJ.Tildeniii. Tildenwonthepopularvote,butwas1voteshyfromwinninginthe

ElectoralCollegeiv. Thedeterminingelectoralvoteswouldcomefromthreestates:

1. Louisiana2. SouthCarolina3. Florida

v. Eachofthese3senttwosetsofballotstoCongress1. onewiththeDemocratsvictorious2. theotherwiththeRepublicansvictorious3. thus,therewasnowinnerinthesestates

vi. Itwasnecessarytofindthetruepoliticalpartywinnerofthestatesvii. Itwasunknownwhowouldjudgethewinnerofthestatesbecause

1. thepresidentoftheSenatewasaRepublican2. theSpeakeroftheHousewasaDemocrat

6. TheCompromiseof1877andtheEndofReconstruction

a. TheElectoralCountAct(Compromiseof1877)i. PassedbyCongressin1877ii. Set upanelectoral commission consistingof 15men selectedfrom

the:1. Senate2. HouseofRepresentatives3. SupremeCourt

iii. Thiscommissionwasmadetodeterminewhichpartywouldwintheelection

iv. Thecommitteefinallydetermined:1. the Republicanshad been victorious in the disputedballotsfromthethreestates

2. givingtheRepublicansthepresidency3. withoutopeningtheballotsfromthethreedisputedstates

b. TheDemocratsi. wereoutragedattheoutcomeii. but agreed that RepublicanHayescouldtakeoffice ifhe withdrew

thefederaltroopsfromLouisianaandSouthCarolinac. FirsttimeinhistorytheElectoralCollegeandPopularVotedifferedd. WiththeHayes-Tildendeal,theRepublicanPartyabandoneditscommitment

toracialequalitye. TheCivilRightsActof1875

i. Supposedly guaranteed equal accommodations inpublicplaces andprohibitedracialdiscriminationinjuryselection

ii. TheSupremeCourt1. endeduprulingmostoftheActunconstitutional2. declaring that the 14th Amendment only prohibited

government violations of civil rights, not the denial of civilrightsbyindividuals


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7. TheBirthofJimCrowinthePost-ReconstructionSouth

a. ReconstructionhadendedintheSouthb. Democrats

i. resumedtheirpoliticalpowerintheSouthii. begantoexercisetheirdiscriminationuponblacks

c. Blackswereforcedintosharecroppingandtenantfarmingd. Throughthe"crop-lien"system,smallfarmerswhorentedoutlandfromthe

plantation owners were kept inperpetual debt and forced to continue toworkfortheowners

e. State-levellegalcodesofsegregationknownasJimCrowlawswereenactedf. The Southern states also enacted literacy requirements, voter-registration

laws, and poll taxes to ensure the denial of voting for the South's blackpopulation

g. Plessyv.Ferguson(1896)i. ThecaseoriginatedinLouisianaii. In1890LApassedtheSeparateCarLaw,providingthatseparatecars

beprovidedforwhitesandblacksiii. In1892,passengerHomerPlessyrefusedtositinaJimCrowcariv. HewasbroughtbeforeJudgeJohnH.FergusonoftheCriminalCourt

forNewOrleansv. Intheoriginaltrial,Plessyisfoundguilty,andthisdecisionwasupheld

bytheLouisianaSupremeCourtvi. The lawwas laterchallengedin theUS SupremeCourtongrounds

thatitconflictedwiththe13thand14thAmendmentsvii. TheSupremeCourtruled7-1infavoroftheSouth'ssegregationviii. Declaringthatseparatebutequalfacilitiesforblackswerelegalunder

the14thAmendment.

8. TheElectionof1880-Garfieldvs.Scott

a. PresidentHayeswasdespisedbyhisownRepublicanPartyb. JamesA.Garfieldwaschosenasthepresidentialcandidatefortheelectionof

1880c. Hisvice-presidentwasChesterA.Arthur,aformerStalwartd. TheDemocratschoseCivilWarhero,WinfieldScotte. Garfieldwontheelectionof1880f. GarfieldsAssassination

i. assassinatedbyCharlesJ.GuiteauataWashingtonrailroadstationii. Guiteau,claimingtobeaStalwart,shotthepresidentiii. claimedthattheConklingiteswouldnowgetallthegoodjobsnow

thatChesterArthurwasPresident.g. ThedeathofGarfieldshockedpoliticiansintoreformingthespoilssystem.h. ThereformwassupportedbyPresidentArthur,shockinghiscriticsi. ThePendletonActof1883

i. madecampaigncontributionsfromfederalemployeesillegalii. itestablishedtheCivilServiceCommissiontomakeappointmentsto

federaljobsonthebasisofcompetitiveexaminationiii. Itwasbasicallymadetostoppoliticalcorruption


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iv. Thecivil-servicereformforcedpoliticianstogainsupportandfundsfrombig-businessleaders.

9. TheElectionof1884-TheBlaine-ClevelandMudslingers

a. GOPchoseJamesG.Blaineastheirpresidentialcandidatei. Oneofthemostpowerfulrepublicansofthe1870s&80sii. MemberoftheHousefrom18621876iii. Speakerfrom1868-18876

b. TheDemocratschoseGroverClevelandi. averyhonestandadmirablemanii. borninCaldwell,NJiii. GovernorofNYin1882

c. TheMugwumpsi. IndependentRepublicansii. refusedtosupportBlaineinthepresidentialcampaignof1884iii. boltedthepartyandvotedforClevelandiv. Theword,fromtheAlgonquianmugwompv. ItwaslaterappliedinUSpoliticalslangtoanyindependentvoter

d. TheCampaigni. Contrasted Cleveland's spotless public career with the uncertain

recordofBlaineii. ClevelandreceivedmuchMugwumpsupport

e. Clevelandwontheelectionof1884

10. TheFirstPresidencyofGroverCleveland-"OldGrover"TakesOvera. CouldClevelandandtheDemocraticParty,"thepartyofdisunion,"betrusted

togoverntheUnion?b. ClevelandreplacedthousandsoffederalemployeeswithDemocratsc. Vetoedabillin1887toprovideseedsfordrought-ravagedTexasfarmersi. statingthatthegovernmentshouldnotsupportthepeople

ii. thissummedupClevelandspoliticalphilosophyd. TheGrandArmyoftheRepublic

i. lobbied hundreds of unreasonable military pension bills throughCongress

ii. Clevelandvetoedmanyofthebillse. ClevelandBattlesforaLowerTariff

i. ThegrowingsurplusofmoneyintheTreasurycomingfromthehightariff

ii. whichwasmadetoraiserevenuesforthemilitaryduringtheCivilWariii. causedPresidentClevelandtoproposeloweringofthetariffinorder

tobringlowerpricestoconsumersiv. The lower tariff, introduced to Congress in 1887 and supported by

Cleveland, tremendouslyhurt the nation's factories and theoveralleconomy

v. Clevelandlostsupportbecauseofthetariff

11. TheElectionof1888Clevelandv.Harrisona. TheGOPchoseBenjaminHarrisonastheirpresidentialcandidate


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b. DemocratschoseClevelandc. Duringtheelection,thefirstmajorissuebetweenthetwopartieshadarisen:

tariffsd. Clevelandwonthepopularvotee. Harrisonwontheelectoralcollegef. SecondtimeinhistorytheElectoralCollege&PopularVotedifferedg. TheElectionof2000willbeonlyothertimethisoccurs

12. TheBillion-DollarCongress

a. DemocratswerepreparedtostopallHousebusinessb. ThomasB.Reed(R-ME)

i. SpeakeroftheHouseii. tookcontrolandintimidatedtheHousetohisimperiouswill

c. TheBillion-DollarCongress,namedforitslavishspending:i. gavepensionstoCivilWarveteransii. increasedgovernmentpurchasesonsilveriii. passedtheMcKinleyTariffActof1890

1. raisedtariffsyetagainandbroughtmoretroublestofarmers2. Farmers were forced to buy expensive products from

Americanmanufacturer3. while selling their ownproducts intothehighly competitive

worldmarkets.4. The Tariff Act caused the Republican Party to lose public

supportd. Inthecongressionalelectionsof1890,theRepublicanslosttheirmajorityin

Congress

13. TheElectionof1892Harrisonv.Clevelandv.Populistsa. ThePopulistsorPeople'sPartyi. formedfromfrustratedfarmersintheagriculturalbeltsoftheWest

andSouthii. ThePopulistsPlatform:

1. demanded inflation through free and unlimited coinage ofsilver

2. calledforagraduatedincometax3. government ownership of the railroads, telegraph, and

telephone4. thedirectelectionofU.S.senators5. aone-termlimitonthepresidency6. theadoptionoftheinitiativeandreferendumtoallowcitizens

toshapelegislationmoredirectly7. ashorterworkday8. immigrationrestriction

b. ThePopulistsnominatedGeneralJamesB.Weaverc. GOPnominatedHarrisond. DemocratsnominateClevelandagaine. In1892,aseriesofviolentworkerstrikessweptthroughthenationf. ThePopulistPartyfellfarshortofwinningtheelection


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g. ThePopulistslostbecausei. Theyhadascatteredbaseofpowerii. Theirideashadbeenco-optedbytheDemocratsiii. Theyreachedouttotheblackcommunity

1. Theybelievedthatablackmanhadeveryrighttovote2. The Populist Party counted onmany blacks votes from the

South3. Unfortunately,manySouthernblacksweredenied the right

tovoteduetoliteracytests4. TheSouthernwhitesvotedagainstthepartyduetheparty's

equalrightsviewstowardblacks

14. PresidentClevelandReduxa. ImmediateProblem:ThePanicof1893

i. wastheworsteconomicdownturnfortheUnitedStatesduringthe19thCentury

ii. causedby:1. overbuildingandover-speculation2. labordisorders3. theongoingagriculturaldepression

b. TheGold&SilverIssuei. The Treasurywasrequiredto issuelegal tender notesfor the silver

bullionthatithadpurchasedii. Ownersofthepapercurrencywouldthenpresentitforgold,andby

lawthenoteshadtobereissuediii. Thisprocessdepletedthe gold reserve inthe Treasuryto less than

$100millioniv. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 was created by the

administrationofBenjaminHarrisoninordertoincreasetheamountofsilverincirculation1. The drastic rise in silver caused the American people to

believe that the less expensive silver was going to replacegoldasthemainformofcurrency

2. The American people therefore began to withdraw theirassetsingold,depletingtheTreasury'sgoldsupply

3. ClevelandwasforcedtorepealtheSilverActPurchasein1893c. Cleveland turned to J.P.Morgan toborrow $65 million ingold inorder to

increasetheTreasury'sreserved. TheWilson-GormanTariffof1894

i. loweredtariffsii. containeda2%taxonincomesover$4,000iii. TheSupremeCourtruledincometaxesunconstitutionalin1895iv. causedtheDemocratstolosepositionsinCongressv. gavetheRepublicansanadvantage


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15. TheForgettablePresidents

a. Grantb. Hayesc. Garfieldd. Arthure. B.Harrisonf. Cleveland

16. TheElectionof1896-GoldenMcKinleyv.SilverBryan

a. TheGOPcandidatewasWilliamMcKinleyi. MarcusAlonzoHannaledtheRepublicanpresidentialcampaignii. Hannafeltthattheprimefunctionofgovernmentwastoaidbusinessiii. TheRepublicanplatformsupportedthegoldstandard

b. TheDemocraticcandidatewasWilliamJenningsBryani. The platformdemanded inflation through the unlimited coinage of

silver

1. attheratioof16ouncesofsilverto1ounceofgold2. meaningthatthesilverinadollarwouldbeworthabout50

centsc. TheElectionofClassConflict

i. PlowholdersversusBondholdersii. ManyofMcKinleyvotescamefromtheEastiii. Many ofBryan's votescame from the debt-stricken South and the

trans-MississippiWestiv. ThewageearnersintheEastvotedfortheirjobsandhadnoreason

tofavorinflation,whichwastheheartofBryan'scampaignv. WilliamMcKinleywontheelectionof1896

17. TheFourthPartySystema. McKinley's election ushered in a new character to the American political

systemb. Diminishingvoterparticipationinelectionsc. theweakeningofpartyorganizationsd. thefadingofissueslikethemoneyquestionandcivil-servicereforme. cametoreplacedbytheconcernforindustrialregulationandthewelfareof

laborf. ScholarshavedubbedthisnewpoliticaleratheperiodoftheFourthParty

System

TheElectionof1900andanassassinsbulletwillspelltheendoftheGildedAgeandsparkthebeginningofProgressivism

6 gilded age politics

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