IV Politics of the Gilded Age:
Essential Question: Why was civil service reform
needed?
Vocabulary:
populism
greenbacks
inflation
graduated income tax
deflation
cooperatives
Civil Service Reforms
 Rutherford B. Hayes became president in 1877
 Tried to end patronage by firing officials who
were given jobs as a reward for their party
support
 Replaced them with reformers, which split
the Republican Party
 Between “Stalwarts” (loyalty)(pro
patronage)
 “Halfbreeds” (backed reform)
 No reforms were passed
Civil Service Reforms
 1880 Republicans James Garfield, a
“Halfbreed” and Chester A. Arthur “Stalwart”
won election
 Garfield did not believe in the spoils system
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“spoils of office” the government jobs handed
out after a victory. Anyone could petition for
a job.
 After repeated rejections for a job Charles
Guiteau shot Garfield less than 4 months into
presidency. Thought he would have a better
chance at a job under VP Chester A. Arthur
Civil Service Reforms
 Garfield’s assassination highlighted the
need for reforms
 Many Americans believed patronage made
government corrupt and ineffective
1883 Congress passed the Pendleton Act
 Required competitive exams to fill jobs.
Marked the beginning of professional Civil
Service
 Governments jobs are given out by
qualifications not political affiliation
 Only 10% of jobs were civil service in 1883
Why was civil service reform
needed? How did they accomplish
this?
The Election of 1884
 Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland
governor of New York
 Had a reputation for honesty
 Was a reformer
 Republicans nominated James G. Blaine
 Former Speaker of the House
 Rumored to have accepted bribes
 Some Republicans so unhappy with Blaine they
supported Cleveland. Called Mugwumps
The Election of 1884
 Cleveland narrowly won
 Some supporters expected to be rewarded
 Others wanted civil service increased
 Cleveland choose a middle road
 Economic problems replaced patronage
reform debate
Interstate Commerce Act
 Power of large corporations concerned Americans
 Large corporations negotiated rebates and lower rates,
while small business owners and farmers paid higher rates.
States began passing laws regulating railroad rates
 1886 Supreme Court ruled on the railroads in Wabash, St. Louis
and Pacific Railway v Illinois
 Only the federal government could regulate interstate commerce
 pressure forced Congress to act
 1887 Cleveland signed the Interstate commerce Act
 First federal law to regulate commerce
Election of 1884
 Tariffs another economic issue
 Democrats thought Congress should cut tariffs
 Raised prices of imported goods
 High tariffs forced nations to respond in kind
 Difficult for farmers to export surpluses
 December 1887 Cleveland proposed lowering
tariffs
 Democrat house passed/ Republican Senate
rejected
Republicans Gain Power
 1888 Benjamin Harrison received large
contributions from businesses
 They benefitted from high tariffs
 Cleveland and Democrats campaigned against
high tariffs
 Harrison lost the popular vote, but won the
electoral vote
 Republicans gained control of the White House
Republicans Regain Power
 1890 Representative William McKinley
pushed a bill that
 Cut tariffs
 Cut some taxes
 Increased rates on some other goods
 McKinley Tariff was meant to protect
American industry but caused a steep rise in
cost of goods
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
 To curb power of large business combination
known as trusts 1890 Congress passes the Sherman
Anti-trust Act
 Prohibited any “combination… or conspiracy
to restrain trade or commerce among several
states”
Politics in Washington
What actions did Congress take to reform
the civil service?
Why were these steps necessary?
Politics in Washington
 Many Americans thought that the patronage system of providing government jobs to
political supporters encouraged inefficiency and dishonesty in government. After
president Garfield’s assassination, Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which required a
percentage of government jobs be awarded on the basis of scores on written exams. The
percentage of government jobs filled through this system grew over time.
Unrest in Rural America
Guiding Question: What kind of problems
did farmers have?
Populism
 Populism was a movement to increase
farmer’s political power
 Populism – a political movement
founded in the 1890s representing
mainly farmers that favored free
coinage of silver, government control
of railroads and other large
industries,graduated income tax
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=bdKjmNeVgKI
Populism
 New technology helped produce more crops
 Increased supply caused prices to fall
 High tariffs made it harder to sell goods
overseas
 Mortgages and shipping costs were difficulties
for farmers
The Money Supply
 Some farmers thought adjusting the money
supply would help
 During Civil War the government increased
the money supply
 Printed greenbacks (paper currency)
 Could not be exchanged for silver or gold
 Increased money supply without increase of
goods caused inflation
The Money Supply
 Greenbacks – a unit of paper
currency first issued by the federal
government during the civil war
 Currency – paper money used as a
medium of exchange
 Inflation – an ongoing increase in
prices and decreases in the value of
money
The Money Supply
 After Civil War three types of
currency
 Greenbacks
 Gold and silver coins
 National bank notes backed by the
federal government bonds
 Bonds – a note issued by the
government that promises to pay off a
loan with interest
The Money Supply
 To get inflation under control
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government stopped greenbacks
Paying off its bonds
1873 Congress decided to stop
making silver coins
Money supply became insufficient for
growing economy and caused
deflation
Deflation – an ongoing decrease in
prices and an increase in the value of
money
The Money Supply
 Deflation hit farmers really hard
 Sold crops for less
 Had to borrow money for new seed
 Money supply low, interest rates were
up
 Rising interest made mortgages more
expensive
 Farmers had to make mortgage
payments
The Grange Take Actions
 Oliver H Kelly founded the
Grange in 1867
 1873 severe recession
 Farming income fell sharply
 Grangers forced states to regulate
railroad and warehouse rates
Grange Takes Action
 Granger created organizations called
cooperatives
 Cooperatives – a store where farmers
buy products from each other, an
enterprise owned and operated by
those who use its services
 None of these strategies worked for
farmers
 Strategy – a plan or method for
achieving a goal
The Farmer’s Alliance
 Began in 1890
 Had 1.5 to 3 million members
 Charles W Macune was the leader
 Organized large cooperatives called
exchanges
 Exchanges failed because they over
extended themselves
 Wholesalers, bankers and railroad
owners made it difficult to stay in
business
 Too small to affect world prices
Unrest in Rural America
 What measures did the nation take after the Civil War
to improve its economic situation?
 What was the result?
Unrest in Rural America
 It stopped printing greenbacks, began repaying bonds, and
stopped making coins out of silver.
 These measures resulted in deflation.
The Rise of Populism
 What were the goals of the People’s Party?
The Rise of Populism
 1890 many people in the alliance
were dissatisfied
 Became distrustful of both
Republicans and Democrats
 Believed both parties favored industry
and banks over farmers
 Midwest Alliance members wanted a
new party
 Southern leaders did not want to
weaken Democratic Party
The Rise of Populism
 Wanted Alliance member to make a
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list of demands
Promise to vote for candidates who
supported those demands
1892 1,000 delegates met in Omaha,
Nebraska
Formed the People’s Party
Nominated James B. Weaver for
president
The Rise of Populism
 Party’s platform
 Return to unlimited coinage
 Federal ownership of railroads
 Graduated income tax
 Graduated income tax – a tax based on net
income of an individual or business and
which taxes different income levels at
different rates
The Rise of Populism
 Adopted proposals to appeal to labor
 8 hour work day
 Immigration restrictions
 Populism had little appeal to urban voters
 They continued traditional party alliances
 Many workers continued to vote for
Democrats
 Grover Cleveland becomes president
(Democrat)
The Rise of Populism
Why did Southern Alliance groups resist the idea
of a national People’s Party?
The Rise of Populism
They did not want a new national party to
weaken the Democratic party’s influence in the
South.
The Election of 1896
 Why did the Populist’s support the Democratic
candidates- William Jennings Bryan- in 1896?
The Election of 1896
 People’s Party made free coinage of silver their
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focus
Held their convention after the Republicans
and the Democrats
Believed the Republicans would endorse the
gold standard
Expected Democrats to nominate Cleveland
who favored the gold standard
Hoped pro-silver Democrats would choose
Populists
The Election of 1896
 Strategy failed
 Williams Jennings Bryan made a pro-silver
speech
 Won democratic party nomination
 Faced a difficult choice
 Endorse Bryan and undermine their party
 Nominate own candidate and split the silver
vote
 They chose Bryan
The Election of 1896
 Republicans appealed to workers
 McKinley promised a “full dinner pail”
 Most business leaders supported the
Republicans
 Thought unlimited silver coinage would ruin
the country
 Employers warned workers if Bryan elected
the business would fail and unemployment
would rise further
The Election of 1896
 McKinley’s had a reputation of
 Moderate on labor issues
 Tolerant toward ethnic groups
 Helped improve the Republican image with
urban and immigrant workers
 McKinley won with a decisive victory
The Election of 1896
 Populist party declined after the election
 Efforts to end hardships for farmers failed
 Efforts to regulated big business failed
 Long after party’s demise
 Graduated income tax
 Further government regulation of the economy
were achieved
The Election of 1896
 Why did the Republicans win the election of 1896?
The Election of 1896
 They appealed to urban workers and business leaders,
and promised economic improvements at a time of
recession.