A. Best and worst American civilization---1870 to 1900• Major events

• Industrial expansion, inventors and inventions• Continuation of the Manifest Destiny• Settlement of the West• Railroad = symbol of grow = distribution system • Rise of a labor unions• Rise of immigration• Rise of urbanization

• Political parties took no clear cut stand on issues• Captains of industry were the political leaders

• protect a laissez-faire system and capitalism..• Countered socialism

B. Examples of Corruption

3. James A. Garfied--1881---Republican• Assassinated by an upset spoilsman--Charles Guiteau4. Chester A. Arthur---1881 to 1885---Republicans• Pendleton Civil Service Act--reformed the spoils system5. Grover Cleveland--1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897• Only Democrat---Serves two terms but not consecutive • Conflicts between business and labor.

• Formation of Labor Unions• Haymarket Riot• Pullman Strike

• Interstate Commerce Act--1887• Tariff of 1894

6. Benjamin Harrison--1889 to 1893---Republican• Four major laws were signed during his presidency:

• Sherman Anti-Trust Act• Sherman Silver Purchase Act• McKinley Tariff Act• Dependent Pension Act

Phrase penned by Mark Twain as satire for the way America

had become. The Gilded Age suggests that

there was a glittering layer of prosperity that covered the poverty and corruption that existed in much of society.

Theme: The Coming of America It needed to be reformed.

•The wealthy showed off their wealth and were snobbish and stuck up…….Ostentatious wealth or

conspicuous consumption•Time of corruption, scandals in local,

state and national government.•President Grant’s scandals

•End of Reconstruction and Jim Crow Era

•President Garfield’s assassination •William Boss Tweed

1876 Presidential Tickets

1876 Presidential Election

369 total electoral votes, need 185 to win.

164

1876 Election • Tilden did not

receive enough electoral

votes.• Special

Commission gives votes to

Hayes.• Hayes wins the election

• Democrats refuse to recognize Hayes as President

*

*Disputed Electoral

votes

The election of 1876 and the Compromise of 1877 are referred to as the Corrupt Bargain.

The Democrats and Republicans work out a deal to recognize Hayes as President

In return, President Hayes must end Reconstruction and pull the Union troops out of

the South.Once this happens, there is no protection for the Freedmen and the South will regain their

states and go back to the way it was.

Rutherford B. Hayes Samuel Tilden

The Political Crisis of 1877

“Corrupt Bargain” Part II?

A Political Crisis: The Compromise of 1877

social reality

After Reconstruction, 1865 to 1876, there were several ways

that Southern states kept Blacks from voting and segregated, or

separating people by the color of their skin in public facilities.

Jim Crow laws, laws at the local and state level which segregated

whites from blacks and kept African Americans as 2nd class

citizens and from voting.

Sharecroppers were Freedmen and poor

Whites who stayed in the South and continued to

farm.Sharecropping is primarily used in

farmingSharecropping is based on the “credit” system.

1. Poor whites and freedmen have no

jobs, no homes, and no money to buy

land.2. Landowners need laborers and have no

money to pay laborers. Based on a

system of “credit”

4. Landlord keeps track of the money that

sharecroppers owe him for housing, food

or local store.

5. At harvest time, the sharecropper is

paid.• Pays off debts.• If sharecropper owes more to the landlord or store than his share of the crop is worth;

6. Sharecropper cannot leave the

farm as long as he is in debt to the

landlord.

3. Hire poor whites and freedmen as

laborers• Sign contracts to

work landlord’s land in exchange for a part of the

crop.• Received 30 to

40% of the harvest.

Sharecroppers

Advantages Part of a business

ventureRaised their social status

Received 1/3 to 1/2 of crop when

harvestedRaised their self

esteem

DisadvantagesBlacks stay in

SouthSome landowners

refused to honor the contract

Blacks poor and in debt

Economic slavery

Sharecroppers

Sharecropping

social reality

The systematic practice of discriminating against and segregating Black people

Practiced in the American South from the end of

Reconstruction to the mid-20th century

Derogatory name for a Black person, ultimately from the title of a 19th-century minstrel song.

Goal: Take away political and constitutional rights

guaranteed by Constitution: Voting and equality of all citizens under the law.

JC laws

Jim Crow Laws: segregated Whites and Blacks in public facilities became the law

after Reconstruction:• Used at the local, state levels and

eventually the national to separate the races in schools, parks, transportation,

restaurants, etc….• kept Blacks, minorities and poor whites from voting and as 2nd class citizen status

JC laws1

Poll Taxes: Before you could vote, you had to pay taxes to vote. Most poor Blacks could not pay the tax so they

didn’t vote.Literacy Test: You had to prove you

could read and write before you could vote…. Once again, most poor Blacks

were not literate.Grandfather clause: If your

grandfather voted in the 1864 election than you could vote…..Most Blacks did

not vote in 1864, so you couldn’t vote….

social reality

The Struggle for African American Suffrage

1865Civil War ends Reconstruction

begins

1870sReconstruction

ends.

1950s-1960sCivil Rights

movement begins.

1900s-1940s Jim Crow laws prevent African

Americans from voting

Plessy vs Ferguson effected social equality for Black

Americans from 1896 to 1960’s

social reality

Plessy vs. Ferguson, 1896

Supreme Court legalized segregation

throughout the nation.

• “Separate but Equal” as long as public facilities

were equal• Problem: Black

facilities never equal to White

facilities

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 Crime for any individual to deny full equal

use of public facilities and public places. Prohibited discrimination in jury selection. SHORTCOMING lacked a strong

enforcement mechanism. No new civil rights act was attempted or 90

years!

Voting Restrictions for African Americans in the South, 1889-1950’s

South’s Backlash1

0 to 2020 to 6060 to 100100 to 200200 or more

Lynchings

JC laws/map

Segregated1% of Blacks integrated Less than 5% integrated

25% or more integrated

South’s Backlash1

The right to vote was taken away

from the Freedmen after Reconstruction

Reconstruction EndsThere were five main factors that

contributed to the end of Reconstruction.• Corruption: Reconstruction legislatures & Grant’s

administration symbolized corruption & poor government.

• The economy: Reconstruction legislatures taxed and spent heavily, putting the southern states deeper into debt.

• Violence: As federal troops withdrew from the South, some white Democrats used violence and intimidation to prevent freedmen from voting. This tactic allowed white Southerners to regain control of the state governments.

• The Democrats’ return to power: The pardoned ex-Confederates combined with other white Southerners to form a new bloc of Democratic voters known as the Solid South. They blocked Reconstruction policies.

• The Country: The Civil War was over and many Americans wanted to return to what the country was doing before the war.

Successes and Failures of Reconstruction

Successes Failures

Union is restored. Many white southerners bitter towards US govt & Republicans.South’s economy grows and

new wealth is created in the North.

The South is slow to industrialize.

14th and 15th amendments guarantee Blacks the rights of citizenship, equal protection under the law, and suffrage.

After US troops are withdrawn, southern state governments and terrorist organizations effectively deny Blacks the right to vote.Freedmen’s Bureau and

other organizations help many black families obtain housing, jobs, and schooling.

Many black and white southerners remain caught in a cycle of poverty.

Southern states adopt a system of mandatory education.

Racist attitudes toward African Americans continue, in both the South and the North.

Quote by Frederick Douglass 1

Quote by Frederick Douglass 2

                                                                                 

Two Different Worlds 1

The wealthy lived extravagant lifestyles and considered themselves elitists.

The common people resented their snobbish attitudes and wealth. There was a caste system in

the U.S. 1861---------3 millionaires----------1900--------3,800

1900, 90% of wealth, controlled by 10% of population.

Political Machine• Organized group that

controls a city’s political party

• Give services to voters, businesses for political, financial support

• After Civil War, machines gain control of major cities

• Machine organization: precinct captains, ward bosses, city boss

The Emergence of Political Machines

The Role of the Political Boss• May serve as mayor he:

• controls city jobs, business licenses• influences courts, municipal

agencies• arranges building projects,

community services•Bosses paid by businesses, get voters’ loyalty, extend influence

Immigrants and the Machine• Many captains, bosses 1st or 2nd generation Americans• Machines help immigrants with naturalization, jobs,

housing

Election Fraud and Graft•Machines use electoral fraud to win elections•Graft—illegal use of political influence for personal gain•Machines take kickbacks, bribes to allow legal, illegal activities

• Corrupt political leader put New York City in debtPolitical boss

• 1851 elected to city council• 1852 served in Congress

• Kept Democratic Party in power in NYC called Tammany Hall

• Formed the Tweed Ring• Bought votes, encouraged corruption, controlled NYC politics

Received large fees for interests

(*kickbacks) from the Erie Railroad

Tweed Ring milked the city with false

leases, padded bills, false vouchers,

unnecessary repairs and over-priced goods

*Return of a portion of the money received in a sale or contract often illegal and corrupt in return for

special favors.

Exposed for his corruption by cartoonist and editor, Thomas

Nast Tweed Ring fell and 1873 Tweed

convicted of embezzlement

Later Tweed was arrested on a civil charge and jailed in NYC, later died

there

The Presidency as a Symbolic Office Presidents avoided offending any

factions within their own party.3 assassinations 1865 to 1901Grant presidency considered most

scandalous in our history. Impeachment of President Johnson2 elections were corrupt.

Congress held most of the power and members of Congress took bribes.

Grant Administration Scandals Grant presided over an era of

unprecedented growth and corruption.

* Credit Mobilier Scandal.

* Whiskey Ring.* The “Indian

Ring.”* The Salary

Grab

Credit Mobilier• Phony construction company

owned by stockholders of Union Pacific Railroad.

• Hired Credit Mobilier to build the transcontinental railroad

• Charged the U.S. government nearly twice the actual cost of the project.

• Bribed Congress to stop the investigation. • Largest scandal in U.S. history, and led to

greater public awareness of government corruption.

Whiskey Ring• A group of President Grant’s

officials imported whiskey• Used their offices to avoid

paying taxes • Cheated US treasury of

millions.

Salary Grab• Congress gave itself a raise, $5,000 to $7,500

annually.• Congressmen received a retroactive check for

$5,000, plus their raise……• Became a political issue….Later repealed.

Under the Spoils System (patronage), candidates for political office would offer potential jobs in exchange for votes.– gave supporters access to money and political favors.

During the Gilded Age, the Republicans and Democrats had roughly the same number of supporters. – To keep party members loyal, candidates rewarded

supporters and tried to avoid controversial issues.

The Republicans appealed to the

industrialists, bankers, and eastern farmers.

They favored the gold standard (sound money)

and high tariffs Blue laws, regulations

that prohibited certain activities people

considered immoral.

The Democrats attracted the less privileged groups.

such as northern urban immigrants, laborers, southern planters, and

western farmers. Supported soft money

and silver coinage.

1880 Presidential Election

• Assassinated by an upset

Spoilsman.• Led to VP

Chester Arthur becoming president

• Supported a change to the corrupt spoils

system.

• Signed into the law the Pendleton Act also called the Civil Service Act.

• Required candidates applying for government positions to a test to determine their qualifications.

President Rutherford

Hayes Elected in 1877

Reformed the civil service, appointing qualified political

independents instead of giving positions to

supporters. Ended Reconstruction

No Congressional support or from the Republican Party.

Hayes did not seek a second term.

President James A. Garfield

1880 election, Republicans were split

into 3 factions. Stalwarts defended the

spoils system—Senator Roscoe Conkling

Half-Breeds reform but still supported it– Senator James Blaine

Independents opposed the spoils system.

Garfield wanted reforms. His running-mate was

Chester Arthur, a Stalwart.

July 2, 1881 Garfield was assassinated by a

Stalwart who wanted Arthur as president.

1881: Garfield Assassinated!

Charles Guiteau:I Am a Stalwart, and Arthur is President now!

Pendleton Act (1883) Civil Service Act. The “Magna Carta”

of civil service reform.

1883 14,000 out of 117,000 federal govt. jobs became civil service exam positions.

1900 100,000 out of 200,000 civil service federal govt. jobs.

Arthur Reforms the Civil Service After the assassination, President Arthur was able to

get congressional support for the Pendleton Civil Service Act. which created a commission of

classified government jobs

• President McKinley had just been re-elected in 1900 and beginning his 2nd term when he was assassinated in

1901…• VP Roosevelt became President.

William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt

369 total electoral votes, need 185 to win.

164

1876 Election • Tilden did not

receive enough electoral

votes.• Special

Commission gives votes to

Hayes.• Hayes wins the election

• Democrats refuse to recognize Hayes as President

*

*Disputed Electoral

votes

The election of 1876 and the Compromise of 1877 are referred to as the Corrupt Bargain.

The Democrats and Republicans work out a deal to recognize Hayes as President

In return, President Hayes must end Reconstruction and pull the Union troops out of

the South.Once this happens, there is no protection for the Freedmen and the South will regain their

states and go back to the way it was.

Rutherford B. Hayes Samuel Tilden

An economic belief supported by the U.S. that opposes the

government regulating business.

In the late 1800’s businesses operated without much government regulation.

This is known as laissez-faire economics.

Laissez-faire means ‘allow to be’ in French or the government stays out of

you business.Laissez faire supports our economic

system of capitalism

Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt. 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.

Economic system characterized by private

property ownershipIndividuals and companies compete for

their own economic gain (Profit)Capitalists determine the prices of goods

and services. Production and distribution are privately

or corporately owned.Reinvestment of profitsSupports laissez faire

Economic system based on cooperation rather than

competition Believes in government ownership

of business and capital Government controls production and

distribution of goods. Opposite of laissez faire and

capitalism