The Gilded Age 1877-1900
Issues & Problems
African Americans & Social Tensions
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Experienced a narrowing of rights
President Hayes removed federal troops from the
South after the Election of 1876
 Compromise

of 1877
Southern states passed several restrictive measures
to get around the 15th Amendment
Disenfranchisement
Literacy tests
 Poll Tax
 Grandfather clause
required ancestors to
have voted prior to
1866
 Intimidation by violence
 1894—130,000
registered black voters v
1904—1,300
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Image: http://bergetoons.blogspot.com
Segregation
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Jim Crow Laws—kept
blacks & whites
segregated
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Railroad cars
Waiting stations
Jury boxes & Bibles
Cemeteries
Restaurants
Parks
Hospitals
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Image: www.solcomhouse.com
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Segregation Cont’d
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De facto Segregation
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)Homer Plessy sat in a car reserved for
whites & was arrested
 Argued the Separate Car Act violated 14th amendment
Supreme Court maintained that Jim Crow Laws were constitutional
because “separate but equal” facilities didn’t violate the 14th
amendment
Not equal in reality
 Ex.: In 1915, $14 for every white student in S.C. v. less than $3
for every black student
Booker T. Washington
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Most famous black leader
of the 19th century
Born a slave in 1856
Called for blacks to build
up economic resources &
establish reputations

Shouldn’t focus on
overturning Jim Crow
Championed education
Taught at Tuskegee Institute
in Alabama
 vocational education

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Prove themselves
W.E.B. DuBois
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Criticized Washington for
accommodating southern
whites & segregation
Argued for full &
immediate equality for
blacks
Blacks should not limit
themselves to a vocational
education
Blacks shouldn’t have to
“earn” the right to vote
W.E.B Du Bois
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Wrote an essay called, “The Talented Tenth” in
1903
The term described the likelihood of 1 in 10 African
American men becoming leaders
These talented tenth need to step up to the plate
and be role models
Advocated classical education as opposed to just
industrial/vocational education
Niagara Movement

Founded the Niagara
movement in 1905

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Black civil rights
organization
Educated blacks should
make a difference and
take action now
Called for end to
disenfranchisement,
segregation, and policies
of accommodation
Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Movement
Ida B. Wells
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Fought for justice for blacks
Schoolteacher in Memphis,
Tennessee
Bought a local newspaper—
“Free Speech”
Wrote articles against
mistreatment of blacks
Wrote editorials attacking
lynching in the South
Run out of town for crusade
against lynching
DISCRIMINATION IN THE
WEST
Chinese & Mexican Americans
Chinese Immigrants
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Barred from employment in California cities & attacked
by mobs of whites for taking “white” jobs.
Segregated schools
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882—prohibited Chinese
laborers from entering the country
Several federal court cases sided with Chinese and
upheld their rights
Yick Wo v. Hopkins
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1886
Supreme Court sided with a Chinese immigrant that
challenged a California law banning him from
operating a laundry
1898
Supreme court ruling of Wong Kim Ark
Mexican Americans
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Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo (1848) had
guaranteed property
rights of Mexicans who
lived in the Southwest
prior to the MexicanAmerican War
Despite treaty, many
Mexican-Americans lost
their land
Image: http://www.cah.utexas.edu
Mexican-Americans & Land
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U.S. Courts put burden of proof on MexicanAmericans to show they owned the land
Different legal customs & communally held land
made ownership difficult to prove
“Sante Fe Ring”—group of whites that used political
connections to take millions of acres of land in New
Mexico through fed. Gov. grants
Mexican Americans cont’d
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Fought to maintain rights and
land
“Las Gorras Blancas” (1889)
fought back by cutting holes in
fences, burning barns, haystacks,
& scattering livestock of large
white ranch owners.
Hispanic citizens in Tucson formed
the “Alianza Hispano-Americana”
in 1894 to protect their culture,
interests, & legal rights.
Image: southvalleyart.com
Women
Gains & Setbacks
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Left out of 14th & 15th
Amendments
In 1869, Susan B. Anthony &
Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed
the National Woman Suffrage
Association
1872, Anthony voted illegally in
an election in New York—tried
and convicted
Fined $100
 Never paid the fine
 U.S. Government took no
collection action against her
Women’s reform in other areas
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By 1906, only 4 Western states granted women’s
suffrage—Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, & Idaho
More women attending college
By 1900, women represented 1/3 of ALL college
students.
Frances Willard formed the Women’s Christian
Temperance Union
prohibit sale of alcohol
 public health, welfare reform
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POLITICS & ECONOMICS
Challenges of the Gilded Age
Stalemate in politics
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Parties evenly divided
No group could gain control for a significant amount
of time
Between 1877-1897, Republicans or Democrats
gained control of the White House & both houses of
Congress at the same time only twice.
Neither held control for more than 2 years
Difficult to pass new legislation
Presidents of the Gilded Age
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Weak in comparison to Lincoln
Won by slim margins
Lacked integrity
Hayes won through the Compromise of 1877
1880—Garfield (Republican)/ Arthur
1884—Cleveland wins as first democrat in 24 years
1888—Benjamin Harrison (Republican) lost popular
vote
1892—Cleveland
1896—McKinley (Republican)
Age of Corruption
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Many government officials
accepted bribes
Spoils System
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Made parties very
powerful
Political cartoons—big
money & corruption
Thomas Nast—editorial
cartoonist “Father of the
American Cartoon
Image: www.npr.org
Civil Service Reform
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Civil Service—system of federal jobs in the
executive branch
Jobs to be awarded on basis of expertise
regardless of reigning political party
Civil service reform becomes a reality after the
assassination of President James Garfield (1881)
 Shot
by Charles J. Guiteau because he believed the
Republican Party owed him a gov. job
Chester A. Arthur & Civil Service Reform
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Garfield’s vice
president
Supported civil service
reform
Public indignation over
assassination
Signed Pendleton
Civil Service Act in
1883

Formed Civil Service
Commission
 Civil
service exam for
those who wanted to
work for the
government
 Reduced power of the
spoils system
Economic Challenges

Debate on tariffs
 Republicans
supported high
tariffs
 Democrats
thought
tariffs increased cost
of goods & hurt
American farmers
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Major parties committed to
the gold standard
Rise of populists & bimetalists
Coinage act of 1873
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Reversed policy of making
gold and silver coins
“Crime of 1873”
Anti-silver—undermine
economy
Pro-silver—rise in prices
would increase income