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Ch. 23: Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age. 1. The “Bloody Shirt” Elects Grant. Election of 1868 Grant was a Civil War hero ( in the north ;) Elected because fellow Republicans “ waved the bloody shirt ”- meaning they revived country's violent memories of Civil War deaths. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Ch. 23: Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
1. The “Bloody Shirt” Elects Grant Election of 1868
Grant was a Civil War hero (in the north ;)
Elected because fellow Republicans “waved the bloody shirt”- meaning they revived country's violent memories of Civil War deaths.
Unexperienced in politics- his presidency is considered a failure due to scandals among his staff/friends and his inability to fire them.
2. Era of Good Stealings
Scandals of the Grant administration Jim Fisk and Jay Gould tried to corner
the gold market. Grant’s brother-in-law was bribed 25k .
Boss Tweed controlled the Democratic political machine in New York City until his bribes, intimidation, and fraudulent elections were uncovered.
Thomas Nast’s political cartoons helped dismantle Tweed’s empire and put him in jail, where he later died.
Boss Tweed: Can the law reach him?
2. Era of Good Stealings
More scandals of the Grant administration! 1872 Union Pacific Railroad
formed a construction company named Credit Mobilier and paid themselves a ton of extra cash.▪ 348% dividends!
Whiskey Ring avoiding federal taxes involved Grant’s secretary.
Secretary of War accepted bribes and resigned. Grant accepted his apology “with great regret.”
3. Depression, Deflation, and Inflation
Hard Money
Backed in gold
Rich/industrial leadersPreferred by creditors because they wanted to be paid back with the currency worth the most money.
Soft MoneyGreenbacks/Silver Backed Poor Westerners, farmersPreferred by debtors because it would make it easier to pay back debts
3. Depression, Deflation, and Inflation
Hard money policies were supported by Grant and the Republican party. Backlash: Democrats won the House in
1874, and the Greenback Labor party was formed.
4. Characteristics of Political Parties During The Gilded Age
A Two-Party Stalemate
Intense Voter Loyalty and Turnout
Well-Defined Voting BlocsDemocratic
BlocRepublican
Bloc
White southerners(preservation ofwhite supremacy)
Catholics Recent
immigrants(esp. Jews)
Urban working poor (pro-labor)
Most farmers
Northern whites(pro-business)
African Americans
Northern Protestants
Old WASPs (supportfor anti-immigrant laws)
Most of the middleclass
Laissez Faire Federal Government From 1870-1900 Govt. did very
little domestically. Main duties of the federal govt:
Deliver the mail.Maintain a national military.Collect taxes & tariffs.Conduct a foreign policy.
Exception administer the annual Civil War veterans’ pension.
Presidency As a Symbolic Office Party bosses ruled. Presidents should
avoid offending anyfactions within theirown party.
The President justdoled out federal jobs. 1865 53,000 people worked for the federal govt. 1890 166,000 “ “ “ “ “ “
Remember these forgettable Presidents? Yeah, me neither.1. Rutherford Hayes2. James Garfield3. Chester Arthur4. Grover Cleveland5. Benjamin Harrison6. Grover Cleveland
5. Compromise of 1877 Presidential Election of
1876 Hayes vs. Tilden was too close to call.
Compromise allowed Republican Hayes to win the presidency in exchange for removing federal troops from the South.
Resulted in loss of African American civil liberties in the South.
6. African Americans in the Post-Reconstruction South
Without federal troops, southern Democrats were able to infringe upon the rights of African Americans.
Jim Crow Laws promoted discrimination against blacks and segregation in public places.
Lynchings were acceptable. Blacks forced to sharecrop. Literacy tests, poll taxes were designed
to keep African Americans from voting. Grandfather clauses kept whites
exempt from these requirements.
7. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Segregation was considered
constitutional by the Supreme Court as long as facilities were “equal” to those of whites.
Catch phrase of the case: “Separate but equal”
8. Chinese Immigration Chinese immigrated to work in
gold mines, construct railroads, and complete least desired work. 9% of California’s population
Faced major discrimination especially by Irish and poor laborers who accused them of stealing jobs.
Result: Congress passed Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which prohibited any Chinese immigration. (Ended in 1943)
9. 1880 Presidential Election:
Half Breeds Stalwarts
James A. Garfield (Rep) vs. Winfield Scott Hancock (Dem)
compromise
Pretended to want reform
Openly favored a spoils system
10. President Garfield’s Assassination
Charles Guiteau:”I Am a Stalwart, and Arthur is now President of the United States!”
11. Pendleton Act (1883) Civil Service Reform
Act The “Magna Carta”
of civil service reform.
1883 14,000 out of117,000 federal govt.jobs became civilservice exam positions.
1900 100,000 out of
200,000 civil service federal govt. jobs.
12. Grover Cleveland Wins Election of 1884
First Democrat elected since Buchanan 28 years prior.
Supported lowering the tariff rate, which divided the two parties and got him kicked out in 1888.
Replaced by Benjamin Harrison… but he’ll be back.
13. Benjamin Harrison and the Billion Dollar Congress For the first time Congress
appropriated one billion dollars in spending mostly on: Civil War Pensions Purchased Silver
14. The Populist Party 1892, the Populist Party (aka
People’s Party) formed. Most support came from frustrated
farmers in the West and South. Party Platform:
Demanded inflation through silver coinage
Graduated income tax Government ownership of railroads,
telegraph, telephone Direct election of Senators One term limit for President Shorter workday Restrictions on immigrationPopulist ideas appealed to blacks, so the Southern Democrats tightened discrimination further.
15. Cleveland and Depression
Populists too weak, Republicans discredited, so Grover Cleveland wins his second term in 1892. Depression hits in 1893. Looking for help, Cleveland accepts a
loan of $65 million in gold from banking guru J.P. Morgan.
It helps the country’s economy, but the loan from Wall Street was condemned by many in the public.