Ch. 23 Notes
Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
The Gilded Age
1. Ulysses S. Grant will be elected president in 1868 –
largely through the support of African American
voters in the south and the Republican tactic of
“waving the bloody shirt”, which reminded voters it
was the Democrats who started the Civil War.
2. The problem was that Grant had no political
experience and viewed the presidency as a reward
from a grateful nation for winning the Civil War – he
allowed his cabinet to handle running the country and
many of the men he chose were corrupt.
3. During the Gilded Age, waste, speculation and
corruption will be widespread in both business and
government.
Credit Mobilier
1. This scandal became public in 1872.
2. Union Pacific Railroad officials (responsible for
building the continental railroad) established the
Credit Mobilier construction company and then
used it to build the railroad.
3. Afraid they might be discovered, they gave out
shares of stock to numerous congressmen in
exchange for their support and silence (including
the vice president).
4. Eventually it became public – two congressmen
were censured.
Presidential Election of 1872
1. Because of corruption within Grant’s administration, a
group of Republicans, known as the Liberal
Republicans, broke from the party and promised to
clean up the federal government – they also wanted
to end the military occupation of the south.
2. The Liberal Republicans nominated Horace Greeley
(editor of the New York Tribune) for president – the
Democrats also endorsed Greely because the
Republicans and Democrats didn’t have many policy
differences – but he was such a controversial figure
that Grant ended up winning his bid for reelection.
Political Machines
1. The worst corruption was found at the state and
local level.
2. Political machines would offer benefits to
immigrants in exchange for votes – they would
then use their political positions for personal
gain.
3. The most famous/infamous example was Boss
Tweed and Tammany Hall in New York City.
4. Eventually, Tweed was brought down, largely
due to the New York Times and the political
cartoons of Thomas Nast.
The Panic of 1873
1. Industrialization was bringing major changes to U.S. society
and the country’s economy.
2. In 1873, the over-expansion of factories, railroads and mines
led to an economic panic (over 15,000 businesses went
bankrupt).
3. During this time, “greenbacks”, or paper currency, became a
major issue.
4. Greenbacks had been issued during the Civil War but the
treasury had been slowly withdrawing them from circulation.
5. Many people wanted more greenbacks put into circulation to
stimulate the economy – those that opposed the plan did so
because of the inflation that the paper currency created.
6. Others not only wanted more greenbacks in circulation, they
wanted the government to use silver to back them up – Grant
refused this plan.
Gilded Age Politics
1. During the Gilded Age, there was little
difference between the Republicans and
Democrats, but there were always high voter
turnouts in the elections.
2. One reason was that both parties used
patronage (spoils system) to reward their
supporters.
Political Parties of the Gilded Age
Democratic
Bloc
Republican
Bloc
 White southerners
(preservation of
white supremacy)
 Northern whites
(pro-business)
 Catholics
 Northern
Protestants
 Recent immigrants
(esp. Jews)
 Urban working
poor (pro-labor)
 Most farmers
 African Americans
 Old WASPs (support
for anti-immigrant
laws)
 Most of the middle
class
The Presidential Election of 1876
1. In 1876, the Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes and
the Democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden.
2. In a close race, three southern states (still under the control of
the Republicans due to the presence of the U.S. army in the
south) delivered contested results.
3. Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida ended up submitting
two sets of returns, one Democratic and one Republican.
4. Both candidates claimed victory and both refused to step
aside.
5. In the end, a special commission (comprised of 8 Republicans
and 7 Democrats) came up with the Compromise of 1877.
6. Under the Compromise, Hayes received the election - in
return he agreed to remove all federal troops from the south.
7. This is viewed as the official end of Reconstruction.
The Presidential Election of 1876
The “Redeemers”
1. White southern Democrats, calling themselves
Redeemers, slowly began retaking control of the state
governments of the south.
2. They slowly disfranchised African Americans through
the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and economic and
physical intimidation.
3. The southern states also began to legally segregate
the south through Jim Crow laws – taking de facto
segregation and turning it into de jure segregation.
4. In 1896, with the case of Plessey v. Ferguson, the U.S.
Supreme Court decided that under the 14th
Amendment, having separate facilities was legal as
long as they were equal (separate but equal
doctrine).
The Railroad Strike of 1877
1. Labor unions were growing in number in the northeast
because of the low pay, long hours and terrible working
conditions faced by laborers.
2. In 1877, the four largest railroads (the first major
industry/monopoly) cut salaries by 10%.
3. When this occurred, railroad workers went on strike –
4. Eventually, President Hayes called in federal troops to
break up the strike and get the railroads moving again –
100 people were killed and 2/3’s of the nations railroads
were idle.
5. Throughout the Gilded Age, government intervention
between the labor unions and big businesses always
favored big business.
Presidential Election of 1880
1. In this election, the Republicans were divided.
2. The Stalwarts, or old Republicans, supported the use
of the patronage system.
3. The Halfbreeds, of Liberal Republicans, were in favor
of government reform.
4. To keep the party together, the Republicans
nominated James Garfield (a Halfbreed) for president
and Chester A. Arthur (a Stalwart) for vice president.
5. The Democrats nominated a Civil War hero, Winfield
Scott Hancock.
6. It was a close election in the popular votes but the
Republicans won comfortably in the electoral votes.
The Assassination of Garfield
1. Garfield was shot in
the back in a
Washington D.C.
railroad station by
Charles Guiteau.
2. Guiteau was unhappy
that he didn’t get a
government job after
helping support
Garfield in the
election.
The Pendleton Act
1. When Arthur took over as president, he will sign into
law the Pendleton Act.
2. The Pendleton Act created the civil service and
required people applying for federal jobs to take a
competitive examination to prove they could handle
the requirements of the job.
3. By the year 1900, over half of all federal jobs fell
within the civil service area.
4. The Pendleton Act made government officials more
competent and accountable.
5. The problem it created is that it led political leaders to
turn to other avenues for support, and they will find it
with business leaders and big corporations.
The Chinese Exclusion Act
1. Another major piece of legislation passed during
Arthur’s time in office was the Chinese
Exclusion Act.
2. This law was an effect of the nativist sentiments
sweeping through the country.
3. In the west, the Chinese had been used as
laborers in the gold mines and in building the
transcontinental railroad.
4. Now that the railroad was finished, they were
viewed as competition for jobs that Americans
should have, so they were banned from entering
the nation.
Presidential Election of 1884
1. In this election, the Republicans nominate James
G. Blaine, the leader of the halfbreeds.
2. The Democrats nominate Grover Cleveland.
3. During the campaign, the Mulligan Letters are
made public and implicate Blaine in corruption
with a western railroad company.
4. A group of republicans, called the mugwumps,
will throw their support to Cleveland and he will
end up winning the election.
The Tariff
1. By this time, the tariff has become the major
political issue of the day.
2. The Republicans, who are viewed as the
party for big business, want a high, protective
tariff.
3. The Democrats, who get their support from
other groups, want the tariff’s lowered.
4. Cleveland will lower the tariff’s during this
time.
The Presidential Election of 1888
1. In this election, the Democrats will run
Grover Cleveland.
2. The Republicans will run Benjamin Harrison,
the grandson of William Henry Harrison.
3. The main issue is the tariff.
4. Cleveland wins the popular vote but fails to
win the electoral vote (because he loses his
home state of New York).
The McKinley Tariff
1. Under Harrison, the McKinley Tariff will be
passed – it’s the highest protective tariff the
country has ever had.
2. The tariff creates such a huge surplus that
Congress will spend over one billion dollars for
the first time ever – known as the Billion Dollar
Congress.
3. This hurts Harrison though and will allow
Cleveland to win again in 1892, making him the
only president to win two, nonconsecutive
terms of office.
The Populist
1. The Populist, or People’s Party, grows out of the discontent
of farmers in the Midwest.
2. The Populist wanted government ownership of railroads (and
the means of communication), the unlimited coinage of silver
(to put more money in circulation), an income tax (so we
could get rid of the tariff), a one-term presidency, the direct
election of Senators (they were chosen by state legislatures,
which were dominated by political machines) and
immigration restrictions.
3. The Populist didn’t gain much support from the south
because white Democrats convinced poor white farmers the
Populists wanted to give equality to African Americans.
4. It also didn’t gain much support from the labor movement
because the unlimited coinage of silver would cause inflation.