Aim: How did the American
government help to make big
business grow?
Do Now
Read pages 440-443.
Answer the questions on the note sheet.
Turn in your HW.
Look at the HW board for your assignment.
Objectives
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By the end of this lesson, you, one redblooded American student, will be able to:
List the ways in which political
leaders responded to the
problems of the late 1800s.
Let’s Discuss
Yesterday, we discussed the major
industrial figures in American big business
in the late 1800s.
 Today, we are going to play a game
called:

Who Am I?
Who am I? Question 1
I was a Scottish immigrant who made a lot
of money in the steel industry. Unlike my
fellow robber barons, I donated my money
into forming a university that bears my
name in Pennsylvania and I currently have
an entertainment center in NYC named in
my honor.
 Who am I?

Who Am I? Question 2

I made my money in transportation. I
started out in NY by owning the small
railroad and shipping lines within the city,
then I consolidated my companies to form
the biggest rail company on the east
coast. I have a street named in my honor
in Staten Island while there is a university
named in my honor in Tennessee. Who
am I?
Who Am I? Question 3

I established Standard Oil in Cleveland,
Ohio back in the 1870s. By 1900, I had
owned over 90% of the oil refineries in the
United States. I used my money to build a
center in New York, establish the
University of Chicago and my influence is
the reason why Jay-Z owns a record
company which is named for me.
(Although their spelling is incorrect.) Who
am I?
Questions
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What did the alliance of big business and government lead to?
What had backed paper money since the beginning of the United States?
What does it mean when the United States went on the gold standard?
What was the purpose of the Bland-Allison Bill?
Who were the Half-Breeds? the Stalwarts?
Who did the Republicans nominate for President in 1880?
If he was nominated and elected, Ulysses Grant would have been elected
for a third term. Why would this occur without a problem?
What did the Hatch Act provide?
What happened to interfere with Cleveland’s popularity?
Reasons for the alliance between big
business and government are due to five
reasons.
1. A Two-Party Stalemate
Two-Party “Balance”
2. Intense
Voter Loyalty
to the
Two Major
Political Parties
3. Well-Defined Voting Blocs
Democratic
Democratic
Bloc
Bloc
Republican
Bloc
 White southerners
(preservation of
white supremacy)
 Northern whites
(pro-business)
 Catholics
 Northern
Protestants
 Recent immigrants
(esp. Jews)
 Urban working
poor (pro-labor)
 Most farmers
 African Americans
 Old WASPs (support
for anti-immigrant
laws)
 Most of the middle
class
4. 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.
5. The Presidency as a Symbolic
Office
 Party bosses ruled.
 Presidents should
avoid offending any
factions within their
own party.
 The President just
doled out federal jobs.
Senator Roscoe Conkling
 1865  53,000 people worked for the federal govt.
 1890  166,000
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3. Business and Government

During the late 1800s, big business received support
from the United States Government.
1)
What did the alliance of big business and government
lead to?
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Many people thought that society and government
were not what they appeared to be on the surface.
The American writer, Mark Twain, called the late
1800s, the Gilded Age. He pointed out that underneath
the surface was corruption.
Attempts were made at reforming the system.
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3.1 Presidents During the Gilded
Age
The Presidents of the late 1800s, were not
active leaders.
 One reason was due to the delicate
balance between the Republicans and the
Democrats.
 Although the Republicans were in control
of the presidency, they did not have
enough power to control things completely

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Rutherford Hayes (1877-1881)
a) Became president in disputed Election of 1876.
b) Turned his efforts to civil service reform. Passed laws which
gave jobs based on merit and were designed to prevent corrupt
officials in government.
c) Had to address issues regarding currency reform.
1. Paper money used to be backed by gold and silver.
2. Silver coins dropped out of use, so the United States
went on the gold standard.
3. Hayes soon passes the Resumption Act, which was
designed to reduce the number of greenbacks in circulation
and they would be redeemed for gold.
4. During Hayes’ administration, large deposits of silver
were found in the western United States. Congressmen from
these states believed that silver could be used to back money
because it was cheaper than gold in price
5. Congress passes the Bland-Allison Act which is vetoed
by Hayes. However, the Congress overrides the veto.
1)
2)
3)
What had backed paper money since the
beginning of the United States?
What does it mean when the United
States went on the gold standard?
What was the purpose of the BlandAllison Bill?
Election of 1876: Rutherford
Hayes
Rutherford Hayes (1877-1881)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Election of 1880
The Republicans were deeply divided on who should
run for President in 1880.
Hayes refused a second term. The Republicans were
divided amongst the Stalwarts and Half-Breeds.
Ulysses S. Grant and James G. Blaine become the
leading candidates, however, the Republicans turn to
James Garfield and Chester Arthur for the nomination.
The Democrats turn to Winfield Scott and run on a
platform of civil service reform and a lower tariff.
The Election of 1880 was close. Garfield received 214
electoral votes, Scott received 155.
4) Who were the Half-Breeds? the
Stalwarts?
5) Who did the Republicans nominate for
President in 1880?
6) If he was nominated and elected, Ulysses
Grant would have been elected for a third
term. Why would this occur without a
problem?
1880 Presidential
Election: Republicans
Half Breeds
Stalwarts
Sen. James G. Blaine
(Maine)
Sen. Roscoe Conkling
(New York)
compromise
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur (VP)
Stalwart-Thomas Platt
Stalwart-Roscoe Conkling
1880 Presidential Election: Democrats
Election of 1880
James Garfield (1881)
1881: Garfield Assassinated!
Charles Guiteau:
I Am a Stalwart, and Arthur is
President now!
Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)
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James Garfield and Chester Arthur
1-They are elected in 1880.
2-When they are inaugurated in 1881, they appointed
Half-Breeds to many of the best jobs in the government.
3-This annoys the Stalwarts. As a result, the Stalwarts
attacked him.
4-Four months into his first term, Garfield is shot and
killed by a disappointed office seeker named Charles
Guiteau.
5-Chester Arthur replaced James Garfield. As president,
he refused to let the Stalwarts take the spoils of office.
Arthur passed the Pendleton Act, which now made it
mandatory for all government workers to take
examinations for their jobs.
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.
3.2 The Return of the
Democrats
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In the Election of 1884, the Republican Party
again was divided.
The policies of Chester Arthur found favor with
most Americans. However, these actions do not
impress the Republicans. The Stalwarts chose
James Blaine as their candidate even though he
was corrupt.
The problem was that the reformers of the
Republican Party called muguwumps, refused to
support him. They supported the Democratic
candidate Grover Cleveland, who is the first
Democratic President elected since James
Buchanan.
Republican “Mugwumps”
 Reformers who wouldn’t re-nominate
Chester A. Arthur.
 Reform to them  create a
disinterested, impartial govt. run by an
educated elite like themselves.
 Social Darwinists.
 Laissez faire government to them:
Favoritism & the spoils system seen as
govt. 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.
 Will support
Cleveland in the
1884 election.
Henry Adams-Muguwump
1884 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland
* (DEM)
James Blaine
(REP)
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
Election of 1884
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889/18931897)
Cleveland’s First Term
 The “Veto Governor” from New York.
 First Democratic 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!

1.
2.
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889;1893-1897)
He is the 22nd and 24th president.
When he became President, Cleveland made changes.
a. He added more jobs to the Pendleton Act.
b. He reduced federal spending.
c. He put 80,000,000 acres of land back under government
control.
d. He tried to get the tariff lowered.
e. In 1887, he passed the Interstate Commerce Act, which
established railroad regulations.
f. He passed the Hatch Act
7) What did the Hatch Act provide?
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Cleveland’s policies drew criticism from both
Democrats and Republicans.
1. Republicans believed he was limiting the
power of the free enterprise system.
2. Democrats believed he was passing too many
reforms, while others believed he was not
passing enough reforms.
Cleveland was nominated in 1888, but he lost in
the general election to Benjamin Harrison.
Cleveland would win re-election in 1892.
3.3 The Political Pendulum
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When Harrison defeated Cleveland in 1888, the
political pendulum swung back to the Republicans.
The Republicans ended many of Cleveland’s
policies.
Republicans gave political supporters jobs.
The Republicans voted for pensions for Civil War
veterans which Cleveland did not want.
The Republicans pass the McKinley Tariff which
raised the tariff to an all-time level high.
Voters were angered by the Republicans and reelected Cleveland.
Voters also gave the Congress back to the
Democrats.
1888 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland
(DEM)
Benjamin Harrison
* (REP)
Coming Out for Harrison
The Election of 1888
Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
Election of 1892
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Cleveland did not have much time to enjoy
his victory and the Democrats did not have
any time to enjoy their popularity.
8) What happened to interfere with
Cleveland’s popularity?
Cleveland Loses Support Fast!
 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 of 1894.
 Repealed the Sherman Silver
Purchase Act.
Panic of 1893
What Do You Know?
The Gilded Age refers to a time period when all
of the following were true EXCEPT:
a) America experienced a period of great
economic growth.
b) Population grew in big cities with people in
search of work and as immigrants entered the
country.
c) The income gap between the rich and poor
greatly increased.
d) All serious problems in business were resolved.
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a)
b)
c)
d)
Although presidential elections were widely popular,
presidents during the later half of the 19th Century were
seen as:
Weak, as Congress took the lead in establishing policy.
Pro-business, favoring a limited role for government in
regulating business.
Mainly Republican, but often working with a Democratic
Congress.
All of the above are correct.
Right after winning the presidential election in
1892, President Cleveland:
a) Reached out for support from his opponents.
b) Switched political parties.
c) Was faced with a severe economic depression
which affected his administration.
d) Pursued an agenda of compromise with the
Republicans.

After the Panic of 1893 began:
a) Numerous businesses failed in all American
industries.
b) Unemployment increased.
c) Several railroads were forced into bankruptcy.
d) A, B and C
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