A. Best and worst American civilization---1870 to 1900
•Major events
•Industrial expansion, inventors and inventions
•Continuation of the Manifest Destiny
•Settlement of the West
•Railroad = symbol of grow = distribution system
•Rise of a labor unions
•Rise of immigration
•Rise of urbanization
•Political parties took no clear cut stand on issues
•Captains of industry were the political leaders
•protect a laissez-faire system and capitalism..
•Countered socialism
B. Examples of Corruption
3. James A. Garfied--1881---Republican
•Assassinated by an upset spoilsman--Charles Guiteau
4. Chester A. Arthur---1881 to 1885---Republicans
•Pendleton Civil Service Act--reformed the spoils system
5. Grover Cleveland--1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897
•Only Democrat---Serves two terms but not consecutive
•Conflicts between business and labor.
•Formation of Labor Unions
•Haymarket Riot
•Pullman Strike
•Interstate Commerce Act--1887
•Tariff of 1894
6. Benjamin Harrison--1889 to 1893---Republican
•Four major laws were signed during his presidency:
•Sherman Anti-Trust Act
•Sherman Silver Purchase Act
•McKinley Tariff Act
•Dependent Pension Act
Phrase penned by Mark Twain
as satire for the way America
had become.
The Gilded Age suggests that there
was a glittering layer of prosperity that
covered the poverty and corruption that
existed in much of society.
Theme: The Coming of America
It needed to be reformed.
•The wealthy showed off their wealth
and were snobbish and stuck
up…….Ostentatious wealth or
conspicuous consumption
•Time of corruption, scandals in local,
state and national government.
•President Grant’s scandals
•End of Reconstruction and Jim Crow Era
•President Garfield’s assassination
•William Boss Tweed
1876 Presidential Tickets
1876 Presidential Election
1876 Election
•Tilden did not
receive enough
electoral votes.
*
•Special
Commission
gives votes to
Hayes.
•Hayes wins the
election
*Disputed
Electoral votes
164
369 total electoral votes, need 185 to win.
•Democrats
refuse to
recognize Hayes
as President
Rutherford B. Hayes
Samuel Tilden
The election of 1876 and the Compromise of 1877 are
referred to as the Corrupt Bargain.
The Democrats and Republicans work out a deal to
recognize Hayes as President
In return, President Hayes must end Reconstruction
and pull the Union troops out of the South.
Once this happens, there is no protection for the
Freedmen and the South will regain their states and go
back to the way it was.
The Political Crisis of 1877
 “Corrupt Bargain”
Part II?
A Political Crisis: The Compromise of 1877
social reality
After
Reconstruction, 1865 to 1876,
there were several ways that
Southern states kept Blacks from
voting and segregated, or separating
people by the color of their skin in
public facilities.
Jim
Crow laws, laws at the local and
state level which segregated whites
from blacks and kept African
Americans as 2nd class citizens and
from voting.
Sharecroppers
were
Freedmen and poor Whites
who stayed in the South
and continued to farm.
Sharecropping
is
primarily used in farming
Sharecropping
is based on
the “credit” system.
6. Sharecropper
cannot leave the
farm as long as he
is in debt to the
landlord.
1. Poor whites and
freedmen have no
jobs, no homes, and
no money to buy
land.
3. Hire poor whites
and freedmen as
laborers
5. At harvest time,
the sharecropper is
paid.
•Pays off debts.
•If sharecropper
owes more to the
landlord or store
than his share of the
crop is worth;
2. Landowners need
laborers and have no
money to pay
laborers. Based on a
system of “credit”
4. Landlord keeps track
of the money that
sharecroppers owe
him for housing, food
or local store.
•Sign contracts to
work landlord’s land
in exchange for a
part of the crop.
•Received 30 to 40%
of the harvest.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Part of
a business
venture
Raised their social
status
Received 1/3 to 1/2
of crop when
harvested
Raised their self
esteem
Sharecroppers
Blacks stay
in South
Some
landowners
refused to honor the
contract
Blacks poor
debt
and in
Economic slavery
Sharecroppers
Sharecropping
social reality
The systematic practice of
discriminating against and
segregating Black people
Practiced in the American
South from the end of
Reconstruction to the mid20th century
Derogatory name for a
Black person, ultimately from
the title of a 19th-century
minstrel song.
Goal: Take away political
and constitutional rights
guaranteed by Constitution:
Voting and equality of all
citizens under the law.
JC laws
Jim Crow Laws: segregated Whites and Blacks
in public facilities became the law after
Reconstruction:
•Used at the local, state levels and eventually
the national to separate the races in schools,
parks, transportation, restaurants, etc….
•kept Blacks, minorities and poor whites from
voting and as 2nd class citizen status
JC laws1
social reality
Poll Taxes: Before you could vote, you had
to pay taxes to vote. Most poor Blacks
could not pay the tax so they didn’t vote.
Literacy Test: You had to prove you could
read and write before you could vote….
Once again, most poor Blacks were not
literate.
Grandfather clause: If your grandfather
voted in the 1864 election than you could
vote…..Most Blacks did not vote in 1864, so
you couldn’t vote….
The Struggle for African
American Suffrage
1865
Civil War ends
Reconstruction
begins
1900s-1940s Jim Crow
laws prevent African
Americans from voting
1950s-1960s
Civil Rights
movement begins.
1870s
Reconstruction
ends.
Plessy vs Ferguson effected
social equality for Black
Americans from 1896 to 1960’s
social reality
Plessy vs.
Ferguson, 1896
Supreme Court legalized
segregation throughout
the nation.
•“Separate but Equal”
as long as public
facilities were equal
•Problem: Black
facilities never equal
to White facilities
The Civil Rights Act of 1875
 Crime for any individual to deny full equal
use of public facilities and public places.
 Prohibited discrimination in jury selection.
 SHORTCOMING  lacked a strong
enforcement mechanism.
 No new civil rights act was attempted or 90
years!
Voting Restrictions for African
Americans in the South, 1889-1950’s
South’s Backlash1
Lynchings
0 to 20
20 to 60
60 to 100
100 to 200
200 or more
Segregated
1% of Blacks integrated
Less than 5% integrated
25% or more integrated
JC laws/map
South’s Backlash1
The right to
vote was taken
away from the
Freedmen after
Reconstruction
Reconstruction Ends
There were five main factors that
contributed to the end of Reconstruction.
•Corruption: Reconstruction legislatures & Grant’s
administration symbolized corruption & poor government.
•The economy: Reconstruction legislatures taxed and spent
heavily, putting the southern states deeper into debt.
•Violence: As federal troops withdrew from the South, some
white Democrats used violence and intimidation to prevent
freedmen from voting. This tactic allowed white Southerners to
regain control of the state governments.
•The Democrats’ return to power: The pardoned exConfederates combined with other white Southerners to form a
new bloc of Democratic voters known as the Solid South. They
blocked Reconstruction policies.
•The Country: The Civil War was over and many Americans
wanted to return to what the country was doing before the war.
Successes and Failures of
Reconstruction
Successes
Failures
Union is restored.
Many white southerners bitter
towards US govt & Republicans.
South’s economy grows and new
wealth is created in the North.
The South is slow to
industrialize.
14th and 15th amendments
guarantee Blacks the rights of
citizenship, equal protection
under the law, and suffrage.
After US troops are withdrawn,
southern state governments and
terrorist organizations effectively
deny Blacks the right to vote.
Freedmen’s Bureau and other
organizations help many black
families obtain housing, jobs,
and schooling.
Many black and white
southerners remain caught in a
cycle of poverty.
Southern states adopt a system of
mandatory education.
Racist attitudes toward African
Americans continue, in both the
South and the North.
Quote by Frederick Douglass 1
Quote by Frederick Douglass 2
The wealthy lived extravagant lifestyles and
considered themselves elitists.
 The common people resented their snobbish attitudes
and wealth. There was a caste system in the U.S.
1861---------3 millionaires----------1900--------3,800
Two Different Worlds 1
1900, 90% of wealth, controlled by 10% of population.
The Emergence of
Political Machines
Political Machine
• Organized group that
controls a city’s political
party
• Give services to voters,
businesses for political,
financial support
• After Civil War, machines
gain control of major cities
• Machine organization:
precinct captains, ward
bosses, city boss
The Role of the Political Boss
•May serve as mayor he:
•controls city jobs, business licenses
•influences courts, municipal agencies
•arranges building projects, community
services
•Bosses paid by businesses, get voters’ loyalty,
extend influence
Immigrants and the Machine
•Many captains, bosses 1st or 2nd generation Americans
•Machines help immigrants with naturalization, jobs, housing
Election Fraud and Graft
•Machines use electoral fraud to win elections
•Graft—illegal use of political influence for personal gain
•Machines take kickbacks, bribes to allow legal, illegal activities
•Corrupt political leader put New
York City in debt
Political
boss
•1851 elected to city council
•1852 served in Congress
•Kept Democratic Party in power
in NYC called Tammany Hall
•Formed the Tweed Ring
•Bought votes, encouraged
corruption, controlled NYC politics
Received
large fees
for interests
(*kickbacks) from the
Erie Railroad
Tweed
Ring milked
the city with false
leases, padded bills,
false vouchers,
unnecessary repairs
and over-priced
goods
*Return of a portion of the
money received in a sale or
contract often illegal and
corrupt in return for special
favors.
Exposed
for his
corruption by
cartoonist and
editor, Thomas Nast
Tweed Ring fell
and 1873 Tweed
convicted of
embezzlement

Later
Tweed was
arrested on a civil
charge and jailed in
NYC, later died there
The Presidency as a Symbolic Office
 Presidents avoided offending any
factions within their own party.
3 assassinations 1865 to 1901
Grant presidency considered most
scandalous in our history.
Impeachment of President Johnson
2 elections were corrupt.
 Congress held most of the power and
members of Congress took bribes.
Grant Administration Scandals
 Grant presided over an era of
unprecedented
growth and
corruption.
*
Credit Mobilier
Scandal.
*
Whiskey Ring.
*
The “Indian
Ring.”
*
The Salary
Grab
Credit Mobilier
•Phony construction company owned
by stockholders of Union Pacific
Railroad.
•Hired Credit Mobilier to build the
transcontinental railroad
•Charged the U.S. government nearly twice the
actual cost of the project.
•Bribed Congress to stop the investigation.
•Largest scandal in U.S. history, and led to
greater public awareness of government
corruption.
Whiskey Ring
•A group of President Grant’s
officials imported whiskey
•Used their offices to avoid paying
taxes
•Cheated US treasury of millions.
Salary Grab
•Congress gave itself a raise, $5,000 to $7,500 annually.
•Congressmen received a retroactive check for $5,000,
plus their raise……
•Became a political issue….Later repealed.
 Under the Spoils System (patronage), candidates for political
office would offer potential jobs in exchange for votes.
– gave supporters access to money and political favors.
 During the Gilded Age, the Republicans and Democrats had
roughly the same number of supporters.
– To keep party members loyal, candidates rewarded supporters and
tried to avoid controversial issues.
The Republicans
appealed to the industrialists,
bankers, and eastern farmers.


They favored the gold standard
(sound money) and high
tariffs
Blue laws, regulations that
prohibited certain activities
people considered immoral.

The Democrats
attracted the less privileged
groups.
such as northern urban
immigrants, laborers,
southern planters, and
western farmers.
Supported soft money and
silver coinage.
1880 Presidential Election
•Assassinated by an
upset Spoilsman.
•Led to VP Chester
Arthur becoming
president
•Supported a
change to the
corrupt spoils
system.
•Signed into the law the Pendleton Act also called the Civil
Service Act.
•Required candidates applying for government positions to a test
to determine their qualifications.
President
Rutherford Hayes
Elected in 1877
 Reformed the civil service,
appointing qualified political
independents instead of
giving positions to
supporters.
 Ended Reconstruction
 No Congressional support or
from the Republican Party.
 Hayes did not seek a second
term.

President James A.
Garfield

1880 election, Republicans
were split into 3 factions.
 Stalwarts defended the spoils
system—Senator Roscoe
Conkling
 Half-Breeds reform but still
supported it– Senator James
Blaine
 Independents opposed the
spoils system.
Garfield wanted reforms.
His running-mate was
Chester Arthur, a Stalwart.
 July 2, 1881 Garfield was
assassinated by a Stalwart
who wanted Arthur as
president.

1881: Garfield Assassinated!
Charles Guiteau:
I Am a Stalwart, and Arthur is
President now!
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.
Arthur Reforms the Civil Service
After the assassination, President Arthur was able to get
congressional support for the Pendleton Civil Service Act.
which created a commission of classified government jobs
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
•President McKinley had just been re-elected in 1900
and beginning his 2nd term when he was
assassinated in 1901…
•VP Roosevelt became President.
1876 Election
•Tilden did not
receive enough
electoral votes.
*
•Special
Commission
gives votes to
Hayes.
•Hayes wins the
election
*Disputed
Electoral votes
164
369 total electoral votes, need 185 to win.
•Democrats
refuse to
recognize Hayes
as President
Rutherford B. Hayes
Samuel Tilden
The election of 1876 and the Compromise of 1877 are
referred to as the Corrupt Bargain.
The Democrats and Republicans work out a deal to
recognize Hayes as President
In return, President Hayes must end Reconstruction
and pull the Union troops out of the South.
Once this happens, there is no protection for the
Freedmen and the South will regain their states and go
back to the way it was.
An economic belief supported by
the U.S. that opposes the
government regulating business.
In
the late 1800’s businesses operated without
much government regulation. This is known as
laissez-faire economics.
Laissez-faire
means ‘allow to be’ in French or
the government stays out of you business.
Laissez
faire supports our economic system of
capitalism
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.
Economic system characterized
by private property ownership
Individuals and companies compete for their
own economic gain (Profit)
Capitalists determine the prices of goods and
services.
Production and distribution are privately or
corporately owned.
Reinvestment of profits
Supports laissez faire
Economic system based on
cooperation rather than
competition
Believes in
government ownership of
business and capital
Government controls production and
distribution of goods.
Opposite
of laissez faire and
capitalism