20th President
*Republican*
*1881 *
Born: Nov 19, 1831, Ohio
VP: Chester Arthur
Died: Sept 19, 1881, NJ
I. Politics
under Garfield
A. Political Parties of the Gilded
Age
Democratic
Republican
Bloc
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
B. Problems within the
Republican Party
 Quick review from last class…
Civil Service = public service jobs that are
appointed instead of elected
 Remember: Because of the “Spoils System”,
some people involved in public service/politics
were not qualified for their jobs… During the
late 1800’s, many sought to reform this
process.
(1) Election of 1880 Facts:
1. Because of differences over civil service reform,
the Republican party split into two factions:
a. Stalwarts:(Arthur) conservative Republicans
who opposed Civil Service Reform
b. Half-breeds:(Garfield) moderate faction of
Republicans who supported Civil Service
Reform (which began under Rutherford B.
Hayes)
2. This split caused confusion over who to choose
as the presidential candidate in 1880!
D. Republicans and the 1880
Election
Half Breeds
Sen. James G. Blaine
(Maine)
Stalwarts
Sen. Roscoe Conkling
(New York)
Compromise!
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur (VP)
C. Presidential Election of 1880
1. Incumbent (current holder of office) president
Rutherford B. Hayes planned to retire at the end
of one term, which opened wide the door of
opportunity!
2. Candidates for the Election of 1880:
(1 cont)
a. Democrat: Winfield S. Hanfield (P)
William English (VP)
VS.
b. Republican: James Garfield (P)
Chester A. Aurthur (VP)
E. Issues of the Election of 1880
1. Only the tariff question divided the parties
***Tariff = tax on imported goods, used primarily to
protect young American industries
a. Democrats:
Supported tariff for revenue only
(what would pay for the cost of gov’t)
b. Republicans:
Supported a high tariff to help protect
industry in the North (make Americans
buy American products!!!)
Election Results
Solid South: term which describes the voting bloc of
the South from 1876 to 1960
Excerpt from Inaugural Address of 1881
“The elevation of the negro race from slavery to the full
rights of citizenship is the most important political
change we have known since the adoption of the
Constitution of 1787… It has freed us from the
perpetual danger of war and dissolution. It has
added immensely to the moral and industrial forces
of our people. It has liberated the master as well as
the slave from a relation which wronged and
enfeebled both… It has given new inspiration to the
power of self-help in both races by making labor
more honorable to the one and more necessary to
the other. The influence of this force will grow
greater and bear richer fruit with the coming years.”
What does that excerpt from
Garfield’s first speech as
President tell us about
him???
II. Economics under
Garfield
A. (2) Several different economic theories began
circulating the nation:
1. Capitalism: an economic system based on
private ownership of the means of production
and distribution.
*encourages private investment and business in
contrast to a government-controlled economy.
2. Communism: No private ownership! Property
and the production of goods are owned
collectively by the community.
3. Social Darwinism
a. Applying Darwin’s theory of evolution,
Social Darwinists claimed that business
competition was natural and would
weed out the “unfit”
businesses/businessmen.
(The strong businesses would survive and the
weak would fail.)
b. In their viewpoint, the poor should not
be helped; nature should take its course.
B. (3) Big business started getting out of
control!!!
1. Corporation: a type of business
organization that raises money by selling
shares of stock in the company.
(Stockholders receive part of the profit of the
company in return for their investment.)
2. Trust: the combination of several
corporations under the management of a
common board of trustees.
3. Monopoly: the exclusive possession or
control of an industry by one
business/trust/owner.
III. Social aspects of
Garfield’s presidency
A. Social Gospel (4)
1. During the late 1800’s and on into the 20th
century, people began protesting the way of life
forced upon the financially misfortunate
Americans.
2. One result of this was a new movement known
as (4) Social Gospel, which urged people
to apply Christian principles (remember,
America was predominantly Christian at this
point) to the country’s social problems.
3. Many churches began providing social services
such as job training and education.
4. In that same spirit, we have the foundation of
the Salvation Army (5)
a. Started in Great
Britain by William
Booth - came to the
US in 1881.
b. This organization
inspired many muchneeded services, in this
GILDED country
including women's social
work, the first food
depot, the first day nursery, and the
first Army missionary hospital.
B. Gov’t vs. Native
Americans
1. The government continued their policy of
rounding up the Native Americans and
sending them to reservations.
2. While most of the nation’s citizens agreed
with the government’s treatment of the
Native Americans, there were some who
spoke out against this practice.
(6) Helen Hunt Jackson was one of the first
authors to draw attention to the
mistreatment of the Indians through her
book A Century of Dishonor.
a. Far-reaching
in its influence, the
book created quite
a stir amongst the
American public. Many were outraged
by her stance of criticizing the government!
b. Her book outlined the
U.S.
government's habit of
violating treaties and
disregarding the rights
of various Indian tribes
across the United
States.
nd
2
III. The
Presidential
Assassination
(7) At July 2, 1881, 9:30 a.m., in a Washington
D.C. train station,
-Charles J. Guiteau shot President Garfield
1. Guiteau stalked the president for
weeks and had backed down three
previous times.
2. Fired a .44 British Bulldog at the
back of the president in the waiting
room of the railway station.
*2 shots: one grazed the arm, one
entered his back
***Random info***
Alexander Graham Bell
invented a metal-detecting
device he thought would find
the bullet in Garfield’s body.
The results of the experiment
were inconclusive as there was
a humming sound no matter
where the wand was placed on
the president’s body. Bell was
unaware that the White House
bed had a coil spring mattress
(a new invention). If Bell had
moved Garfield off the bed,
the apparatus would have
detected where the bullet was
and, knowing this, the surgeons
may have saved Garfield’s life.
B. Garfield’s Death
1. The bullet didn’t kill him- the doctors did!!!
(Doctors stuck their un-sanitized fingers and unsterilized instruments into the open wound.)
2. In the end, the doctors had taken a three-inch
wound and turned it into a twenty-inch gouge that
was massively infected. On September 15, 1881,
symptoms of blood poisoning appeared. On
September 19, 1881 after a few hours of
unconsciousness, he died.
3. At the autopsy, examiners determined that the
bullet had lodged itself some four inches from the
spine in a protective cyst. Their conclusion?
Garfield would have survived if the
doctors had left him alone!!!
(At his trial, Guiteau argued that he did not kill the
President – the doctors did. That argument might
get you off today but not in the 1880's.)
4. Guiteau was hanged a year later.
Why did Guiteau shoot
the President?
“His death was a political necessity.”
“It will unite the Republican party.”
~Guiteau – written on the morning of the assassination
1. WHY?? Guiteau wanted civil service reform to
end! (he like the old fashioned Spoils Systemfriends get you jobs whether you are qualified or
not!)
2. He will be classified as a
disappointed office seeker –
yep, he was crazy!
D. How does history see
Garfield?
He was only in office 4 months, but…
1. Garfield did have time to appoint his cabinet, and in
doing so, he refused to cave in to party politics.
Historians speculate that had Garfield served his
term, he would have continued toward civil service
reform, carrying on in the honorable legacy of Hayes.
2. He was also determined to fight for the civil rights
of black Southerners, as he made clear in his 1881
Inaugural address- STILL 16 years after the end of
the Civil War- 4 years after the end of
Reconstruction.