Politics in the Gilded Age

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Politics in the Gilded Age
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A. The Gilded Age
Samuel Clemens Mark Twain
Charles Dudley Warner
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• 1.Gilding coating something in a thin layer of
  gold.
• 2. The nickname The Gilded Age was coined by
  Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their
  fictional book The Gilded Age A Tale of Today
  (1873). It referred to the period of time in
  American history stretching from roughly 1870
  1900

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3. What made it Gilded?

• a. America, despite its appearance of promise and
  prosperity, was plagued with corruption and
  scandal.
• b. Two themes caused dissention
• i. Laissez Faire hands off
• ii. Government gained new authority and power at
  all levels- especially local level.

http//us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lectur
e04.html
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4. Democrats Republicans

• a. After the Civil War, both parties appeased
  special interest groups.
• b. Neither party had clear control of the
  government
• i. Republicans maintained the presidency from
  1868-1912 (except for Clevelands presidencies)
• ii. Democrats controlled Congress and most state
  legislature
• c. Each struggled to find clear platforms

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• d. When all else failed, Republicans quickly
  jumped waving The Bloody Shirt, reminding
  voters of the Souths dishonor of seceding and
  causing the Civil War (Southern states were
  Democrat).
• This tactic painted all Democrats as traitors.

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Political Parties of the Gilded Age
DemocraticBloc
RepublicanBloc

• Northern whites(pro-business)
• African Americans
• Northern Protestants
• Most of the middleclass

• White southerners(preservation ofwhite
  supremacy)
• Catholics
• Recent immigrants(esp. Jews)
• Urban working poor (pro-labor)
• Most farmers

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5. Political Machines

• a. As city officials gained more power, they
  increased taxes to pay for city up-keep.
  Competition among groups for control of city
  government grew intense.
• b. Political machines unofficial city
  organizations designed to keep a particular party
  or group in power (arose due to clashing
  interests among groups of politicians)

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• c. Most political machines were headed by a
  powerful boss who may or may not have actually
  held a public office.
• d. Kickback promising a job contract to a
  company, hiking the price of the job, and then
  receiving a portion of the earnings, which would
  be known as graft funds illegally acquired
  through dishonorable behavior.

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• e. Most political bosses were corrupt however
  there were a few honest leaders.
• i. Ex. George Cox (Republican) who won election
  to Cincinnatis city council in 1879
• aa. He used his machine to guarantee victories
  and business contracts to party faithfuls, but
• bb. He also worked with local reformers to
  improve the quality of the police force and city
  services.

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• f. Most notoriously corrupt political boss was
  William Boss Tweed of NYC.
• i. Led Tammany Hall in the early 1870s
• ii. Grew rich off kickbacks/graft from the citys
  construction jobs, which were padded with fake
  expenses
• iii. Tweed was arrested in 1873 and died in jail.

I don't care who does the electing, so long as I
get to do the nominating. -Boss Tweed
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Analyze Nast vs Boss Tweed Cartoon
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(No Transcript)
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Political Machine Basics

• WHAT???
• Political parties that controlled local and state
  government in late 1800s
• WHY??
• Cities were growing fast!
• City government disorganized with few reliable
  services (police, fire, welfare)
• Immigrants wanted protection, help

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The Dwarf and the Thief by Thomas Nast
Can The Law Reach Him ?
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B. Election of 1876

• 1. Rutherford B. Hayes (OH)- Repub
• a. Promised home rule in the South and civil/
  political rights for all (contradictory).
• 2. Samuel Tilden (NY)- Democrat
• 3. Tilden won popular vote, but electoral college
  votes from SC, FL, LA were disputed.
• 4. Each party claimed they won.

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Election of 1876
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C. The Compromise of 1877

• 1. An electoral commission was set up to
  determine who would be awarded the disputed
  votes Congress also had to approve their
  decision.
• 2. Republicans and Democrats agreed that if
  Hayes won the election he would remove federal
  troops from the south.

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3. As a result of the compromise, Democrats
regained control of SC, LA, FL
andReconstruction in the South officially ended
on May 1, 1877. 4. A political
cartoon by Thomas Nast of
Harpers Weekly used a sports analogy
for the Compromise of 1877.
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A brief FYI
Nast created todays symbols of the Republican
(Elephant) and Democrat (Donkey) Parties (Dec.
27, 1879).
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• After the removal of the troops from the South
  after Reconstruction, whites are again free to
  discriminate against African-Americans (thus, the
  passage of Jim Crow laws).

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Analyze Election of 1877 Map
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D. Political attitude of the late 19th century

• 1. With few exceptions, Washington (that means
  federal politicians) generally ignored the social
  consequences of industrialization.
• 2. However, others throughout the country forced
  the issues.

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E. Stirrings of Reform

• 1. With the presidency of Hayes came the first
  stirrings of government reform.
• 2. The use of public offices as rewards for
  political party work is known as the "Spoils
  System." This system cycled in and out of
  government through presidencies from Jefferson to
  Grant.

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• 3. Hayess presidency marked the beginning of
  Civil Service Reform.
• a. Civil service jobs government jobs held by
  non-elected workers.
• b. Hayes tried to appoint qualified political
  independents to Cabinet posts and fired employees
  that were not needed however, Hayes did not have
  Congressional backing in this endeavor and
  angered many politicians.

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• 4. Because of differences over civil service
  reform, the Republican party split into two
  factions
• a. Stalwarts conservative Republicans
• who opposed Civil Service Reform
• b. Half-breeds moderate faction of
  Republicans who supported Civil Service Reform
  (which began
• under Rutherford B. Hayes)
• 5. This split caused confusion over who to
  choose as the presidential candidate in 1880!

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F. Election of 1880

• 1. Incumbent (current holder of office)
  president Rutherford B. Hayes planned to retire
  at the end of one term, which opened wide the
  door of opportunity!
• 2. Candidates for the Election of 1880
• a. Democrat Winfield S. Hancock (P)
• William English (VP)
• b. Republican James Garfield (P)
• Chester A. Arthur (VP)

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G. Republicans and the 1880 Election
Half Breeds
Stalwarts
Conflict!
Compromise!
James A. Garfield (P) Chester A. Arthur (VP)
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H. Issues of the Election

• 1. Only the tariff question divided the parties
• Tariff tax on imported goods, used
  primarily to protect young American industries
• a. Democrats Supported tariff for revenue only
  (what would pay for the cost of govt)
• b. Republicans Supported a high tariff to help
  protect industry in the North (make Americans buy
  American products!!!)

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Election Results? Garfield wins!!!
Solid South term which describes the voting bloc
of the South from 1876 to 1960
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I. The 2nd Presidential Assassination
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• 1. July 2, 1881, 930 a.m., Wash,
• D.C.- President Garfield was shot by Charles
  Guiteau.
• a. Guiteau stalked the president for
• weeks and had backed down three
• previous times.
• b. Fired a .44 British Bulldog at the
• back of the president in the waiting
• room of the railway station.
• 2 shots one grazed the arm, one
• entered his back

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Random info

• Alexander Graham Bell
• invented a metal-detecting
• device he thought would find
• the bullet in Garfields body.
• The results of the experiment
• were inconclusive as there was
• a humming sound no matter
• where the wand was placed on
• the presidents body. Bell was
• unaware that the White House
• bed had a coil spring mattress
• (a new invention). If Bell had
• moved Garfield off the bed,
• the apparatus would have
• detected where the bullet was
• and, knowing this, the surgeons
• may have saved Garfields life.

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• 2. Garfields Death
• a. The bullet didnt kill him- the doctors
  did!!! (Doctors stuck their un-sanitized fingers
  and un-sterilized instruments into the open
  wound)
• b. In the end, the doctors had taken a
  three-inch wound and turned it into a twenty-inch
  gouge that was massively infected. On September
  15, 1881, symptoms of blood poisoning appeared.
  On September 19, after a few hours of
  unconsciousness, he died.

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• c. At the autopsy, examiners determined that the
  bullet had lodged itself some four inches from
  the spine in a protective cyst.  Their
  conclusion? 
• Garfield would have survived if the
• doctors had left him alone!!! 
• (At his trial, Guiteau argued that he did not
  kill the President the doctors did.  That
  argument might get you off today but not in the
  1880's.)
• d. Guiteau was hanged a year later.

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• 3. Why did Guiteau shoot the Pres?
• His death was a political necessity
• It will unite the Republican party
• Guiteau written on the
• morning of the assassination
• a. He thought civil service reform would end
  under Arthur.
• b. Will be classified as a disappointed office
  seeker yep, he was crazy!

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4. Significance of Garfields death

• a. Pushed Congress to change the
• Spoils System
• b. Arthur changed course and focused
• on creating a modern civil service
• system
• c. Result? Pendleton Act of 1883
• i. Provided for open, competitive exams for
  applicants of government civil service jobs
• ii. Banned practice of requiring political
  contributions from civil servants

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5. Effect of the Pendleton Act??

• 1883 ? 14,000 out of 117,000 federal govt. jobs
  became civilservice exam positions.
• 1900 ? 100,000 out of 200,000 civil service
  federal govt. jobs.
• Much more accountability in govt!

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J. Arthur as President

• Pendleton Act is his most lasting legacy
• The tariff issue came to the forefront.
• Wanted to lower the tariff
• Congress compromise Mongrel Tariff (1883)
  reduced the overall tax by less than 1.5 -
  satisfied no one!
• c. Beginning of the 2 parties tariff
• struggle
• i. Repub ? high tariff
• ii.Dem ? free trade

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From the map, omit the following

• I. 1.
• Whole section
• letters b c
• Whole section