1. Is now _______________
US History
Gilded Age
Where are we in 1877?
America…
4. Is an emerging _____________________ power
2. Has expanded out __________.
5. Continues to welcome immigrants in _______________
3. Is still an _______________ society.
6. May not be what it seems
Gilded Age (1877 – 1900) or so
__________________ referred to this time pd. as the Gilded Age. What does it mean to be gilded?
It is a thin layer of ________________ over a ___________________ metal. It was not a ________________
picture of America.
Politics of Business
More and more Americans became ____________________ during this time. How?
1. One could _________________ great fortunes.
2. One could _________________ great fortunes.
The number of wealthy climbed in America, but the number of ________________ climbed higher. Too many
people on_________________ rung.
Laissez-faire Policies
In the late 1800’s, most ____________ policies helped business grow. Why?
1. Strong __________________.
2. More people _____________________.
Gov’t aided business by ____________________ of business. _______________________ meant that gov’t
would leave business to businesses.
Politics of Business (part 2)
Railroads benefited from __________ loans and __________________. They also supported
_______________ leaders. Relationship between the two may have been a ______________ of
_________________. The ______________________ was used locally and on federal level. Elected officials
repaid _________________________.
Republicans
Competing Parties
Democrats
1. Mainly in _____ and _________
1. ______________ backed money
2. Supported ____________ tariffs
2. ______________tariffs
3. Wanted __________ for Union soldiers.
3. ______________ farm prices
4. Gov’t _________ to RR
4. ______________ gov’t aid to business
5. ______________ on immigration
5. ______________ blue laws
6. Enforcement of ________________
US History
Gilded Age
Reforms
Republicans “waved the _____________________” for years to get elected. Then, ___________________
civil service jobs to friends (as did Dems). Rutherford B. _____________________ broke the tradition and
offended his party. Strengthened the country, but ________________ the Republicans.
Election of 1880
Republicans were split, Party ______________, __________________________ – reform spoils system,
______________________– Keep the same (spoils). ____________________ – halfbreed won the nomination
and election, was ____________________ in 1881. _________________ became Pres. and ended spoils
Pendleton Civil Service Act
At the pressing of Arthur, __________________ passed this act. Civil Service jobs were to be awarded on
______________, not party affiliation. This effectively ended the spoils system started under _____________.
Cleveland Takes Office
Dem. Pres. Cleveland took office in ________________. To regulate unfair business practices, Congress
created the ___________________. It failed to have ___________________ to force RR to comply to the laws.
The __________________ was floundering.
Harrison Wins in 1888
___________________ was defeated by Harrison. He presided over the first ____________________
Congress. Surpluses turned into ___________________. Harrison pleased his Republican friends by raising
_______________. How do high tariffs help a hurting economy?
Coxey’s Army
___________________ won again in 1892. _____________________ was a problem and people marched on
Washington. Led by Jacob Coxey, they were arrested for ____________________________________.
Harrison’s Presidency
Grover Cleveland’s presidency came to a halt in the election of ______________. Benjamin _______________
took the oath in 1889 amid difficult political times. The Federal __________________ had too large a surplus
and Harrison and ____________________ meant to do away with it.
Draining the Treasury
____________________________ (1890) – Pay more vets and pay them more = more votes for Rep. Sherman
___________________________ (1890) – Gov’t to buy more silver and mint silver $. In return for SSPA,
wealthy_____________________ secured very high ___________________ tariffs. _________________ got
what they wanted and so did _________________________.
Populist Movement
Election of 1892 – ____________________ for Democrats, ____________________ for Republicans & James
Weaver. Populist platform called for gov’t control of _________, _______________________, telegraph;
shorter work _______________, one term limit for Pres., and __________________ restrictions.
___________________ won… again.
US History
Gilded Age
Cleveland’s Calamity
As soon as Cleveland took office, the U.S. entered the worst __________________ of the 19th C
_________________ money, a drained treasury, declining _____________, and foreign notes spelled doom.
Cleveland repealed the “__________________” and alienated his party. ___________________ stepped in to
help raise gold for the government.
Labor Pains
Hardest hit in the depression were small __________________ and the _________________ worker. The gov’t
was not in the business of ____________________ in people’s lives – good or bad. Labor strikes were put
down by ________________ troops. Strikers and their ___________________ were tried and imprisoned.
Election of 1896
Republican candidate – _____________________, Democratic/Populist – ________________________
McKinley was “propped up” by big __________________. Bryan supported “__________________” ,the
agrarian masses as well as the factory worker. In the end, McKinley won. The ____________ & S. for Bryan,
the rest for President.
McKinley’s Presidency
Once in office, the _________________ ended and good times were here again. _______________________
hailed themselves as the reason for prosperity. __________________ were raised once more to try and raise
revenue. The “free silver” issue died out as did the _________________ Movement.