Chapter 18

Chapter 18:Politics of the Gilded

Age

Timeline of Presidents through this era…

GrantHayes

GarfieldArthur

ClevelandHarrison

Cleveland

The “Gilded Age”"What is the chief end of man?--to get rich. In what way?--dishonestly if

we can; honestly if we must."

-- Mark Twain-1871

“Gilded” - covered in a thin layer of gold. Often hiding something unattractive

underneath.

This is a time of extreme wealth and poverty.

Section 1 Parties in Balance• 1876-1892 - 3 of 5

Presidential elections were decide by less than 1% of the vote

• Couldn’t win both houses

• Timid Presidents is the result

• Scared to upset balance and lose power/votes

1876 Rutherford B. Hayes

• Riddled with rumors of “fraud”– “His Fraudulency”, and

“Rutherfraud” • plagued by corruption,

miscounts• Announced, “one term”-

– opened the door for others to oppose him within his own party.

Strike !

• Depression of 1873• Hayes in office in March of 1877

• Baltimore/Ohio RR (B&O)• Strike, rioting spreads through Pittsburgh,

Baltimore, Chicago, and St. Louis…• Hayes sends federal troops to Martinsburg,

WV (Governor requested)• Troops used as strikebreakers

• Deflation-prices are falling• Dollar could buy more, but

farmers/businessmen who had loans, had to work twice as hard

• New “payback” dollars not worth same as “debt” dollars

• Farmers/Business push for “greenbacks” or for more coined silver

• Sought to raise prices (inflate)• Coined silver dollars, prices did rise• Called Free silver because it production was

unlimited

(Cha-Ching): Money

Bland-Allison Act• Government

coin $2 Million silver / month

• Result?

• Prices go up- • (Good for

Farmers and Businessmen)

• Richards P. Bland, a Congressman from Missouri, was able to gain passage of a bill that provided for liberal coinage of silver. The more conservative Senate toned down the House proposal and with the support of Senator William B. Allison of Iowa agreed on the terms of what became the Bland-Allison Act:

– The U.S. Treasury was instructed to purchase between $2 million and $4 million worth of silver each month from the western mines

– The metal was to be minted into silver dollars as legal tender.

• Reactions to this measure were predictable.

– The mining and debtor interests argued that the Bland-Allison did not go far enough and urged the "free and unlimited coinage of silver." The conservative forces took the opposite approach, urged repeal of Bland-Allison and argued that economic sanity could only be restored by adherence to the gold standard.

• President Rutherford B. Hayes, influenced by industrial and banking interests, vetoed the measure. Congress promptly overrode the veto.

Spoiled Rotten

• “To the victor goes the spoils”

• After election is won, it is a mad scramble for jobs- gov’t jobs

• People thought that if you worked hard for the campaign, you deserved a gov’t job.

• But, the result was: no qualifications

• Critics say, “Out with the Party Hacks”

Reforming Spoiled Gov’t• Leads to Civil Service Reform• Carl Shurz and Harper’s Weekly’s

George W. Curtis lead reform• President Ulysses S. Grant appoints

a commission, but “Stalwarts”, or Republican Bosses prevent anything from ever happening

• Most famous Stalwart- Roscoe Conkling: NY State Boss

“Pump your brakes, Mr. C.”

• What did the Bland-Allison Act try to accomplish? How?

• What “system” needed serious reform to ensure political positions were filled with competent leaders?

• What group tried to prevent reform from happening? Why?

NY Customhouse Shuffle• Hayes in office, pushes for reform• Wants to change hiring in the NY

Customhouse• 2/3 of the nation’s revenue of tariffs

went to 1000 people working there• Reform included: No gov’t workers

involved in campaigning• Asked Chester A. Arthur and Alonzo B.

Cornell to resign from Customhouse• Conkling furious, fights back

First attempt at

regulating spoils system

Battle Lines Are Drawn• Business vs Reform

• Stalwarts vs. ‘Half breeds”

Business interests Business and civil service reform,

hands off South

Boss Conkling JamesG. Blaine

NY Stalwart “Plumed Knight”

Blaine, the “Plumed Knight”

James Gillespie Blaine, the "Plumed Knight" (1830-

1893)

Election of 1880• At the Republican convention, it

became deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, so the party chose- James A. Garfield

• To cater to the Stalwarts, the VP ticket went to Chester Arthur (business guy)

• Democrats choose: General Winfield Scott Hancock

• Outcome 1880: Bloody Shirt, Garfield wins

“The Bloody Shirt"

• In the years following the Civil War, each party struggled to find political issues to distinguish it from the other and to try to seize government power.

• From 1868 to 1880, the most common Republican campaign tactic was to wave the "Bloody Shirt" to remind voters of the South's dishonor of seceding and causing the Civil War. This tactic painted all Democrats as traitors to the Union.

Whoa, slow down.

• What caused such a rift in the Republican Party before the election of 1880?

• Who was involved? What did they support?

• Did one of them get nominated for President?

• How was the South characterized?

Garfield begins..• Garfield elected• Solid South-Democrats

from 1880-1920• Credit Mobilier• Bribed w/ stock in his

company• Garfield names rivals of

Stalwarts (& Conkling) to head customhouse jobs

Credit Mobilier Scandal• (Flashback- 1872) Grant reelected

• Transcontinental Railroad Approved

• Union Pacific/ Central Pacific RR

• Union Pacific creates Credit Mobilier which receives pay for work done , or not.

• Using federal RR funding.

• Rep. Garfield and VP Schuyler Colfax bribed with Credit Mobilier stock to keep quiet.

“I am a Stalwart…”• Charles Guiteau- Chicago

lawyer • Failed to get job in “spoils”• Shoots Garfield in the back

at a RR station- 1881• “I am a Stalwart, and Arthur

is President now!”• 11 weeks later, Garfield

dies.

“I am a Stalwart…”

Hold up, wait a minute.

• What is Credit Mobilier?

• What effect did the spoils system have on Garfield’s presidency?

• What is a Stalwart? Who would most likely support Stalwart policy?

Arthur is President now!

• Arthur is seen as wealthy, Stalwart, high-class party hack

• WOW! Arthur calls for Civil Service Reform

• Why?

• **To avoid defeat in next election (1884) Balance!!!

Contributions of Chester Arthur

• Arthur worked on tariff reform• Modernized the Navy• But, “Could a leopard change his

spots?”• Blaine is nominated for Rep. Ticket

in 1884

Uh, what does that mean?

• Can a leopard change his spots?

• Party Hack

• Credit Mobilier

• Bloody Shirt

• Stalwart

• Half-Breed

• Civil Service Reform

Pendleton Act of 1883

• Civil service reform bill of 1883 called...• Pendleton Act of 1883- stopped appointment to

office for political reasons. Jobholders couldn’t be assessed to support the party.

• 15% of jobs were classified• decided by winners of qualification competition

exams• Stopped “pork barrel” legislation for river and

harbor work(Catering to your district of constituents)

Is there corruption today?

Wolfowitz 'broke World Bank laws' -A panel of

executives says its President broke bank rules in

awarding a substantial pay rise to his girlfriend. Iraq contracting scam •Three Army Reserve officers, two civilians accused in bid-rigging

scheme• Indictment says $8.6 million in reconstruction funds steered to a

contractor • Accused allegedly received kickbacks that included vehicles, jewelry,

real estate

Katrina storm fraudsters paid $1.4bn

The US government gave bogus assistance to

victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

The Republican majority leader in the House of RepresentativesTom DeLay has been indicted with criminal conspiracy

Jurors convict Scooter Libby on four of five charges

Cheney’s ex-aide faces jail time in CIA leak case

Not just in poor countries…

Section 2Democrats Come and Go

o Grover Cleveland the reformer

o “veto mayor”

o Stayed independent through years of corruption

Mugwumps• Blaine (r ) v. Cleveland

• Ridicule of Reformers

• Republicans call reformers MUGWUMPS after Algonquin Indian word for chief

• Attacked Cleveland for being a drunk and immoral

Serendipitous Events

• Two Events• Minister calls party (D) a party of “ rum,

Romanism, and rebellion”• Democrats jump on opportunity to alert Irish

about “Blaine’s remark” • Dinner• Feast of Blaine while starving children go hungry

Interstate Commerce Act of 1887

• Senator Shelby M Cullom (il)• Thought govt should regulate RR• RR too rich and powerful• No competition• No freight charge per distance• Couldn’t rely on fair rate, secret charges• New rates would be proportionate to distance• Public schedules and rates• ***Regulating “big business” ***

Tariffs (taxes)

• Treasury pulling 100 million more than its spent..cut taxation

• Reduce tariffs• Customs duties that raised the price of imported

goods• Big business and labor wanted high tariffs to

protect American industry against foreign competition

• A real Issue!•  

Election of 1888•  “unnecessary taxation is unjust

taxation”• (d) Cleveland• (r) Benjamin Harrison• aloof, unfriendly man• “front porch campaign” • Harrison wins with big dollar

support

Electoral reform• Civil rights bill• Harrison disliked the treatment of

Southern blacks at the polls• Blacks = Republicans• Why?• Lodge Bill• Filibuster to prevent bill from passing• Compromise= Tariff bill for Lodge Bill

Sherman Anti Trust Act

– By 1880, 90% of lamp oil made by Standard Oil

– EC Knight –sugar– American Tobacco Co- tobacco

• Issue interests both parties• “like passing a law against the wind”

– people and Congress for anti trust– Big business against

• Not until T Roosevelt does it stop

Section 3 Farmers • Local lodges organize into

Granges• collaborate to buy own seed

and fertilizer• Alliances -farmers become

more involved into politics, blaming RR and banks for farming demise

Populists• Founded by Western and Southern farmers in

1892

• Saw corruption everywhere:business, homes, Dem/Rep parties

• 5 Demands– free coinage– income tax– govt ownership of RR– shorter working day– direct election of Senators

Famous Populists

• Mary Elizabeth Lease (KS)• “What farmers need to raise less

corn and more hell.”• “Sockless” Jerry Simpson(KS)• Tom Watson (GA)• “...ants will carry me out the

keyhole...”

Section 4 Our Money...

• William Jennings Bryan (IL)• “Great Commoner” & “Prairie Avenger”• distrusted the rich• every argument posed him and God vs opponent and Satan

“You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold”

Election of 1896• Bryan vs. McKinley• McKinley campaign run by Mark

Hanna• spread the opinion that life would be in

shambles if Bryan won election.• Effective propaganda• Bryan couldn’t appeal to city and

industry• McKinley wins