Politics in the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
1865-1900
-Dates are not formal. The Gilded Age is usually
considered to be from the end of the Civil War
to the turn of the century
-1900 usually marks the beginning of the
Progressive Era
-The developments that defined the Gilded Age
continued after 1900
The name came from the title of a book by Mark
Twain and Charles Dudley Warner: The Gilded
Age, published in 1873
Gilded Age Politics
• Republican dominance of the Presidency
– All Republican presidents (except Cleveland)
• Southern state governments became
Democratic
• Corruption at all levels
• Voter turnout was very high- close to 80% of
eligible voters in presidential elections
Election of 1868
Ulysses S. Grant (R) v. Horatio Seymour (D)
Grant won 214-80
Popular vote was much closer (votes of newly
enfranchised African Americans make the
difference)
Waving the “Bloody Shirt”- reviving memories of
the Civil War to gain political support
Scandals
• Crédit Mobilier
– Insiders gave stock to members of Congress to avoid
investigation of the huge profits they were making from
government subsidies for building the transcontinental
railroad
• “Jubilee Jim” Fisk and Jay Gould tried to corner the
gold market
• Whiskey Ring
– Federal revenue agents conspired with the liquor industry
to defraud the government of millions in taxes
• Belknap scandal
– Secretary of War Belknap was impeached for accepting
bribes from companies that had licenses to trade on
Native American reservations. He resigned.
Boss Tweed
• William Tweed was boss of the Democratic
Party in NY City
• The Tammany Hall machine controlled city
politics
• The Tweed Ring swindled $200 million from
New York taxpayers before Tweed was
exposed by The New York Times and Thomas
Nast
• Tweed was imprisoned.
• Graft- the acquisition of gain (as money) in
dishonest or questionable ways (MerriamWebster)
Thomas Nast
• Immigrant from Germany
• Cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly
• Popularizes the donkey and the elephant as
the symbols for the Democratic and
Republican parties
• Introduces the modern image of Santa Claus
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The Bosses of the Senate
Joseph Kepler in Puck
1889
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Ga_Cartoon/Ga_cartoon_38_00392.htm
The Election of 1872
• Liberal Republicans nominated Horace Greeley
(editor of the New York Tribune)
• Democrats endorsed Greeley
– Greeley blamed the South and Democrats for the Civil
War but accepted the Democratic nomination
• Republicans nominated Grant
• Grant won 286-66
• The Republicans reacted to the Liberal Republican
threat by passing a general amnesty act
(removing political restrictions on some former
Confederates, reducing high Civil War tariffs, and
passing some civil service reform
p491
Pallid Politics in the Gilded Age
• Presidential elections were close
• Between 1869 and 1891 the majority party in
the House switched six times
• Republicans and Democrats generally agreed
on most issues (tariff, civil-service reform, and
currency)
• Ethnic and cultural differences divided the
parties
• Two parties were highly competitive
• They were both well organized with fiercely
loyal members- partisanship was very high
• Straight ticket voting was common
• Election day was like a social event with
parades, marching bands, food
• Patronage was used to maintain party loyalty
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/24/voter-turnout-always-drops-off-for-midterm-elections-but-why/
Republicans
• Core of Republican strength came from men in
business and the middle class; most were AngloSaxon Protestants
• Beliefs can be traced back to Puritanism
• Stressed personal morality and believed gov’t
should play a role in regulating the economy and
moral affairs of society
• Political base was in the Midwest and rural and
small-town Northeast
• Supported pro-business economic program of
high tariffs
Republicans
• 1870s- leadership of the Republicans moved
away from the previous reformers to those
who played the patronage game
• Stalwarts
– Led by Roscoe Conkling (U.S. Senator from NY)
• Half-Breeds
– Led by James G. Blaine (Congressman from Maine)
Democrats
• Immigrant Lutherans and Catholics played an
important role in their strength
• Generally believed in more religious toleration
and did not believe that government should
impose a single moral standard on society
• Electoral base was in the South and in the
cities
• Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats
had a strong legislative agenda.
• Politics in this era has been characterized by
patronage and the objective of winning
elections in order to provide jobs to the party
faithful
• At the local level, issues such as prohibition
and education were important
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The Election of 1876
Rutherford B. Hayes (R) vs. Samuel Tilden (D)
• Tilden received 184 electoral votes of the 185
needed
• Four states- Oregon, Louisiana, SC and Floridawere in dispute
Compromise of 1877
• An electoral commission was established
consisting of fifteen members selected from
the Senate, the House and the Supreme Court
to count the votes
• As part of the compromise, it was agreed that
Hayes could take office in return for
withdrawing federal troops from Louisiana
and South Carolina (the two states in which
the troops remained)
Map 23-1 p494
The Election of 1880
James A. Garfield (R) vs. Winfield Scott Hancock
(D)
Garfield won 214-155
• 1881 Garfield was assassinated by Charles J.
Guiteau (who declared himself a Stalwart)
• Chester A. Arthur (a Stalwart) became
President
– Ended up being more reformist than expected
p499
Figure 23-1 p502
Pendleton Act 1883
• Garfield’s assassination helped push
politicians to reform the civil-service system
• Compulsory campaign contributions from
federal employees were made illegal
• The Civil Service Commission was established
to make appointments to federal jobs on the
basis of competitive examinations
• Civil-service reform and the decline of
patronage resulted in politicians looking to big
business for campaign contributions
• Mobilization of voters by party bosses gave
way to raising money from manufacturers and
lobbyists
The Election of 1884
James G. Blaine (R) vs. Grover Cleveland (D)
“Mugwumps”- reformers who did not want
Blaine because he was tainted with corruption
bolted the party
Cleveland won 219-182
(NY proved to be the difference)
Neither Blaine nor Cleveland had served in the
war
p502
“Old Grover” Takes Over
• Uses patronage
• Signs a tariff law that expands the tariff
• Signs the Interstate Commerce Act
The Election of 1888
Grover Cleveland (D) vs. Benjamin Harrison (R)
(Grandson of William Henry Harrison)
• The tariff issue divided the two partiesDemocrats want to lower it while Republicans
wanted to keep it
• Republicans raised $3 million
• Harrison won 233-168
• Pro-business policies
– Signs Sherman Antitrust Act
• First “Billion dollar Congress”
The Election of 1892
Cleveland (D) vs. Harrison (R) vs. Weaver
(Populist)
Cleveland won (the only President reelected
after being defeated)
Map 23-3 p507
• Cleveland signs Dawes Act
– drastically changing the legal status of Native
Americans
– Makes Native Americans individual land holders
on reservation lands
• The Panic of 1893 turns into a long depression
• The Pullman Strike is ended with use of the
U.S. Army
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