GILDED AGE POLITICS
APUSH
The “Politics of Equilibrium”
A Two-Party Stalemate
Well-Defined Voting Blocs
Democrats
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White Southerners
Catholics
Recent immigrants
Urban working poor
Most farmers
Republicans
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Northern whites
African Americans
Northern Protestants
Old WASPs
Most of the middle class
Presidency as a Symbolic Office
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Party bosses ruled
Presidents should avoid offending any factions
within their own party
The President just doled out federal jobs
Grant Administration
1868-1876
1868 Presidential Election
Grant Scandals & Grantism
The Tweed Ring in NYC
Who Stole the People’s Money?
1872 Presidential Election
Check Point
In the presidential election of 1868, Ulysses S. Grant
A. transformed his personal popularity into a large
majority in the popular vote
B. owed his victory to the votes of former slaves
C. gained his victory by winning the votes of the
majority of whites
D. demonstrated his political skill
E. All of these
New York’s notoriously corrupt Boss Tweed was
finally jailed under the pressure of
A. New York Times exposes and the cartoons of
Thomas Nast
B. federal income tax evasion charges
C. the RICO racketeering act
D. new York City’s ethics laws
E. testimony by Tweed’s partners in crime
The Credit Mobilier scandal involved
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
public utility company bribes
Bureau of Indian Affairs payoffs
railroad construction kickbacks
evasion of excise taxes on distilled liquor
manipulating the Wall Street stock market
During the Gilded Age, the Democrats and the
Republicans
A. had few significant policy differences
B. agreed on currency policy but not the tariff
C. disagreed primarily over the power of the
federal government
D. held similar views on all economic issues
except for civil-service reform
E. were divided over silver vs. gold currency
During the Gilded Age, the lifeblood of both the
Democratic and Republican parties was
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
the Grand Army of the Republic
the Roman Catholic Church
ideological commitment
big-city political machines
political patronage
Hayes Administration
1876-1880
1876 Presidential Election
The Political Crisis of 1877
“Corrupt Bargain” Part II?
Hayes Prevails
Rutherford B. Hayes
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Ended Reconstruction
Use of Federal troops to put down RR strike
Civil Service Reform
Southern Democrats appointed to cabinet
Garfield Administration
1880-1881
1880 Presidential Election
James Garfield
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Laissez Faire
Star Route Scandal
Spoils System
1881: Garfield Assassinated!
Charles Guiteau:
I am a Stalwart, and
Arthur is President now!
Chester Arthur
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Chinese Exclusion Act
Pendleton Act
Pendleton Act (1883)
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Civil Service Act
The “Magna Carta” of civil
service reform
1883 – 14,000 out of
117,000 federal
government jobs became
civil service exam
positions
1900 – 100,000 out of
200,000 civil service
federal government jobs
Republican “Mugwumps”
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Reformers who wouldn’t re-nominate Arthur
Reform to them – create a disinterested,
impartial government run by an educated elite
like themselves
Social Darwinists
Laissez faire government to them:
 Favoritism
and the spoils system seen as
government intervention in society
 Their target was political corruption, not social or
economic reform!
The Mugwumps
Men may come and
men may go, but the
work of reform
shall go on forever.
Check Point
The Compromise of 1877 resulted in
A. a renewal of the Republican commitment to
protect black civil rights in the South
B. the withdrawal of federal troops and
abandonment of black rights in the South
C. The election of a Democrat to the presidency
D. Republican support for an inflationary slivermoney policy
E. a plan to build the first transcontinental railroad
Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be
assassinated while in office; the second was
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Rutherford Hayes
William McKinley
Chester Arthur
Benjamin Harrison
James Garfield
The Pendleton Act required people applying for
many federal government jobs to
A. take a competitive examination
B. present a written recommendation from a
congressman or senator
C. agree to make financial contributions to their
political party
D. submit a resume listing their experience and
providing references
E. have a college degree
With the passage of the Pendleton Act,
prohibiting political contributions from many
federal workers, politicians increasingly sought
money from
A. new immigrants
B. contractors doing business with the federal
government
C. factory workers and farmers
D. foreign contributors
E. big corporations
Cleveland Administration
1884-1888
1884 Presidential Election
1884 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland (D)
James Blaine (R)
A Dirty Campaign
Ma, Ma…where’s my pa?
He’s going to the White House, ha…ha…ha…!
Little Lost Mugwump
Blaine in 1884
Cleveland’s First Term
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The “Veto Governor” from New York
First Democrat elected since 1856
A public office is a public trust!
His laissez-faire presidency:
 Opposed
bills to assist the poor as well as the rich
 Vetoed over 200 special pension bills for Civil
War veterans!
The Tariff Issue
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After the Civil War, Congress raised tariffs to
protect new United States industries
Big business wanted to continue this;
consumers did not
1885 – tariffs earned the US $100 million in
surplus
President Cleveland’s views on tariffs???
Tariffs became a major issue in the 1888
presidential election
Harrison Administration
1888-1892
1888 Presidential Election
1888 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland (D)
Benjamin Harrison (R)
Coming Out for Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
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Billion Dollar Budget
McKinley’s Tariff
Pursued Annexation of Hawaii
Cleveland Administration (again)
1892-1896
1892 Presidential Election
1892 Presidential Election
Cleveland (again)
Harrison
Cleveland Loses Support Fast!
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The only President to serve two nonconsecutive terms
Blamed for the 1893 Panic
Defended the gold standard
Used federal troops in the 1894 Pullman strike
Refused to sign the Wilson-Gorman Tariff in
1894
Repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act
Check Point
The sequence of presidential terms of the “forgettable
presidents” of the Gilded Age (including Cleveland’s
two nonconsecutive terms) was
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Cleveland, Hayes, Harrison, Cleveland, Arthur, Garfield
Garfield, Hayes, Harrison, Cleveland, Arthur, Cleveland
Cleveland, Garfield, Arthur, Hayes, Harrison, Cleveland
Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, Cleveland
Hayes, Garfield, Harrison, Cleveland, Arthur, Cleveland
Which one of the following Gilded Age presidents
had a different party affiliation from the other four?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford Hayes
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
Chester Arthur
Besides advocating a lower tariff, Grover Cleveland
stirred political opposition by
A.
B.
C.
D.
supporting free and unlimited coinage of silver
advocating federal aid to farmers
vetoing many veterans’ pension bills
spending the federal budget surplus on public
works
E. bringing his mistress and illegitimate child to
live in the White House
The Billion-Dollar Congress quickly disposed of rising
government surpluses by
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
providing subsidies to wheat, corn, & cotton farmers
building an expensive new steel navy
expanding pensions for Civil War veterans
cutting tariffs and other taxes
increasing spending on railroads and other
transportation projects
The major campaign issue of the 1888 presidential
election was
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
civil-service reform
the big trust question
the currency question
foreign policy
tariff policy