Political
Paralysis in
the Gilded
Age
(1856-1909)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Paralysis
elected by 500,000 African Americans to whom the government
promptly paid less attention
little done to stop discrimination, prejudice, & harassment
poll taxes & gerrymandering in the South allow Democrats to
regain control of state governments
sharecropping cheats African Americans of land and profit
Panic of 1873 brings economic problems to the country
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freewheeling railroad promoters swindle gullible bond
buyers
unscrupulous manipulators toy with stock market
judges and legislator accept bribes throughout the system
Jim Fisk & Jay Gould attempt to corner gold market
(1869)
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Boss Tweed’s ring flourishes in New York City
Credit Mobilier scandal (1872)
Whiskey Ring (1874-75)
carpetbaggers in the South appear interested only in
profiteering and not in Reconstruction
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Election of 1876 standoff (Hayes v. Tilden)
southern white blacks vs. blacks in Jim Crow South
railroads owners vs. railroad workers (1877)
Californians v. Chinese immigrants (Chinese
Exclusion Act of 1882)
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Compromise of 1877 and House Electoral Commission
result in questionable presidential legitimacy
southern patronage promised by the Compromise
southern blacks are sold out in name of Republican
power
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last president born in a log cabin (Orange Township)
entered Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (Hiram)
where he preached, taught, & served as principal
Ohio State Senator (1859) and lawyer (1861)
Civil War veteran (1861-63)
U.S. Congressman (8 terms)
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Half-Breeds led by James G. Blaine vs. Stalwarts led
by Roscoe Conkling
debate over patronage splits the Republican party
Garfield is shot July 2, 1881 by deranged office-seeker
Charles Guiteau
dies September 19, 1881
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Half-Breeds led by James G. Blaine vs. Stalwarts led
by Roscoe Conkling
debate over patronage splits the Republican party
Garfield is shot July 2, 1881 by deranged office-seeker
Charles Guiteau
dies September 19, 1881
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sides with Half Breeds and supports the Pendleton Act (1883)
a landmark in civil service reform that dooms his re-election
Gilded
politicians now look to manufacturers and lobbyists for money
because city bosses have been weakened
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a believer in the merit system who eventually caved to
Democratic bosses & fired 2/3 of all federal employees
Cleveland’s appeals for lower tariffs pit consumers vs.
monopolies
battled pension grabbers supported by the Grand
Army of the Republic (GAR)
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tariffs run an embarrassing annual surplus of $145
million from tariffs passed in wartime
Congress insists on pork-barrel bills that spend the
surplus instead of voting to lower the tariff
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Paralysis
Speaker of the House “Czar” Reed breaks Democratic
quorum tactics to stall Republican measures
indebted farmers & aggrieved workers form a new
Populist Party (1892)
Harrison takes side of owners over labor in
Homestead Strike and Couer d’Alene district (1892)
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“Billion Dollar” Congress showers pensions on
veterans
government purchases of silver are increased
McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 boosts rates to their
highest peacetime levels ever
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Panic of 1893 is the most punishing economic
downturn of the 1800s, lasting 4 years
silverites and poor farmers vs. big business and the
gold standard
consumers (low tariffs) vs. industrialists (high tariffs)
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Cleveland secretly has malignant growth removed from
roof of his mouth so that “soft money” V.P. Adlai
Stevenson is not aware of the procedure
Cleveland secretly negotiates a $65 million gold loan with
J.P. Morgan for a $7 million commission
special interest protections weaken the lower WilsonGorman Tariff (1894)