American History II: Note Set #9: Gilded Age Politics
 "The Gilded Age" (1877 – 1900)
 Viewpoints on Society
 Term coined by author Mark Twain to describe the corruption of the late 1800s
 “Gilding” is when a thin layer of gold is put over a worthless metal to create the illusion of value
 Differing Views on Social Values
 Social Darwinism
 Idea that humans evolve and improve due to competition
 No matter your origins, you can rise as high as your talents and hard work will take you
 Those who succeed deserve success, those who fail deserve to fail
 Andrew Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth"
 Carnegie believed in Social Darwinism, but also believed that those who profit from society have
a responsibility to improve society in return
 Carnegie gave millions of dollars to build schools, libraries, hospitals, orphanages, etc.
 Corrupt Politics
 Political Machines
 Urban political organizations run by party "bosses"
 Helped immigrants find jobs, housing and protection, in exchange for their votes
 William “Boss” Tweed (1823 – 1878) - most notorious of the political bosses
 Ran Tammany Hall (The Democratic Party’s political machine in NYC) from 1858 – 1871
 Used his position to make himself wealthy
 Arrested in 1871 and convicted of defrauding the city government of about $200 million
 Thomas Nast (1840 – 1902) - political cartoonist
 Targeted Boss Tweed and other bosses
 Creator of modern images of Uncle Sam and the Donkey and Elephant symbols for the
Democratic and Republican Parties
 Corruption and the Presidents of the Gilded Age
 Ulysses S. Grant (1822 – 1885), Republican, 18th President (1869 – 1877)
 Presidency was marred by scandals involving several members of his cabinet
 The Whiskey Ring: Scandal involving several members of Grant’s administration,
including his personal secretary, where federal employees took bribes from whiskey
distillers to help them avoid paying federal taxes on alcohol
 The Credit Mobilier Scandal: Scandal where several investors in the Union Pacific
Railroad bribed members of Congress with shares in the railroad in exchange for
lucrative federal grants
 Rutherford B. Hayes (1822 – 1893), Republican, 19th President (1877 – 1881)
 Reform-minded, fired corrupt officials who had been appointed by party bosses
 Hayes reforms split the Republican Party into "Stalwarts" and "Halfbreeds"
 “Stalwarts”: Republicans who supported the political machines and spoils system
 “Half-breeds”: Republicans who supported civil service reform and an end to the
political machines and spoils system
 James Garfield (1831 – 1881), Republican, 20th President (1881)
 A “Half-breed,” he was assassinated after only 200 days in office by a former supporter who felt
he deserved a government job that Garfield had refused to give him
 Chester A. Arthur (1829 – 1886), Republican, 21st President (1881-1885)
 A “Stalwart,” he was so affected by Garfield’s assassination that he became a “Half-breed” and
championed civil service reform
 Signed the Pendleton Act of 1883, ending the Andrew Jackson-era spoils system by creating the
US Civil Service Commission
 Federal employees now get jobs based on skills and merit, not political favoritism
 Election of 1884
 Republicans nominated former Speaker of the House and Sec. of State James Blaine, but many
voters believed he was corrupt due to his implication in several railroad scandals
 Democrats ran Governor of New York Grover Cleveland, who was seen as honest due to his
open admission of fathering a child out of wedlock with a mistress
 Grover Cleveland (1837 – 1908), Democrat, 22nd & 24th President (1885-89, 1893-97)
 Fought for political reforms, but at the same time was willing to use military force to limit labor
unions (Pullman Strike)
 Cleveland even won support from reform-minded Republicans (called Mugwumps)
 Benjamin Harrison (1833 – 1901), Republican, 23rd President (1889 – 1893)
 Had the first “billion dollar government” - federal budget exceeded $1 billion for first time
 Ran on campaign of supporting high tariffs
 Grover Cleveland Returns!
 1892: Cleveland was nominated by Democrats again and defeated both the Republican
candidate Harrison and the new Populist Party’s candidate James B. Weaver
 Shortly after taking office, US experienced the Panic of 1893 (financial crisis)
 William McKinley (1843 – 1901), Republican, 25th President (1897 – 1901)
 Defeated William Jennings Bryan in 1896 election, and won re-election in 1900, but was
assassinated in 1901 by an anarchist
 Political Reforms By the End of the Gilded Age
 Secret ballot voting: individual’s votes would be kept secret, not published
 Referendums: allows citizens to vote directly on important issues rather than leave the issues in the
hands of elected officials
 Recall Elections: allows voters to remove an elected official from office before their term is up
 Initiatives: allows voters to force elected officials to vote on a certain issue
 The Government Begins to Regulate the Monopolies
 Wabash v. Illinois - 1886 Supreme Court decision
 Court ruled that states cannot regulate railroad companies because railroads are engaged in
interstate commerce which can only be regulated by the federal government
 Interstate Commerce Act of 1887
 Reaction to Wabash v. Illinois decision
 Created the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate railroads by restricting rates and
ensuring that no discriminatory practices were used
 The McKinley Tariff of 1890
 Raised the tariff on imported goods to nearly 50%
 Passed Congress as part of a political deal: Republicans got the tariff, Democrats & Populists got
the Sherman Silver Purchase Act (which increased the amount of money in circulation)
 Tariff severely hurt farmers, but greatly helped industrialists
 Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890
 First federal law limiting trusts, monopolies, and cartels, but not really enforced until Theodore
Roosevelt’s presidency
 Designed to protect competition and to protect consumers from the dangers of monopolies
 United States v. EC Knight Co. (1895 Supreme Court decision)
 First test of the Sherman Antitrust Act
 EC Knight Co. was a sugar refinery that had a monopoly on sugar in US
 Court ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act could limit monopolies only in distribution (interstate
commerce), not in the manufacture of goods