Chapter
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Objectives
• Analyze the issue of corruption in national
politics in the 1870s and 1880s.
• Discuss civil service reform during the 1870s
and 1880s.
• Assess the importance of economic issues in
the politics of the Gilded Age.
The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges
Chapter
Section
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Terms and People
•
spoils system – a system in which politicians
awarded government jobs to loyal party workers
with little regard for their qualifications
•
civil service – a system that includes federal jobs
in the executive branch
•
Pendleton Civil Service Act – a law passed in
1883 that established a Civil Service Commission,
which wrote a civil service exam
•
gold standard – using gold as the basis of the
nation’s currency
The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges
Chapter
Section
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Why did the political structure change
during the Gilded Age?
Congress passed few laws between 1877 and
1900, in an era marked by inaction and political
corruption.
The Gilded Age raised questions about whether
or not democracy could succeed.
The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges
Chapter
Section
25 Section 1
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Between 1877
and 1897,
party loyalties
were evenly
divided.
• Neither political
party achieved
control of both the
White House and
Congress for more
than two years in a
row.
• Presidents during
the Gilded Age were
elected only by slim
margins.
The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges
Chapter
Section
25 Section 1
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Corruption plagued national politics as many officials
accepted bribes.
The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges
Chapter
Section
25 Section 1
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Writers, such as Mark Twain, expressed
concerns over the corruption.
The spoils system, in
which party supporters
received government
jobs regardless of
their qualifications,
shifted power to a few.
The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges
This system
made the
political parties
extremely
powerful.
Chapter
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A movement arose to promote civil service
reform.
Ending the
spoils system
was difficult.
Change finally happened,
in part, because
President James Garfield
was assassinated by a
man who believed the
Republican Party owed
him a job.
The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges
Chapter
Section
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Chester A. Arthur became President and
supported civil service reform.
In 1883, he signed into law the
Pendleton Civil Service Act,
which established a merit-based system for
government employment.
The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges
Chapter
Section
25 Section 1
2
The economic
issues of
tariffs and
monetary
policy caused
debate during
the Gilded Age.
Tariffs taxed imported
goods, which supported
American industry but
increased consumer prices.
Monetary policy disputes
concerned the gold
standard, where gold
became the basis of the
nation’s currency.
The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges
Chapter
Section
25 Section 1
2
Monetary policy centered on a debate over the
Coinage Act of 1873.
Some people
wanted to
use only gold
as money.
Some wanted
to use both
gold and
silver.
Bankers were worried silver would undermine the
economy. Farmers favored it to create inflation and
raise their income.
The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges
Chapter
Section
25 Section 1
2
Section Review
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The
Political
Cold War
and
Begins
Economic Challenges