The Gilded Age of America Political Developments 1868-1896.

The Gilded Age of AmericaPolitical Developments

1868-1896

The Grant Administration: 1868-1876

Credit Mobilier:

Railroad people made companyInflated prices, government moneyCongressmen and the VP took $

Black Friday:

Attempt to cornerthe gold market.

Grant allegedlyInvolved in keepingGold from beingSold.

Indian Ring:

Took bribes from businessessupplying goods to reservations

Secretary of War resigned

Corruption: The Era of Good Stealings!

The Growth of the Political Machines

Cartoons courtesy of Thomas Nast

Tammany Hall: Political Machine that ruled New York under the leadership of William Macy“Boss” Tweed.

DemocraticBloc

RepublicanBloc

White southerners(preservation ofwhite supremacy)

Catholics

Recent immigrants(esp. Jews)

Urban working poor (pro-labor)

Most farmers

Northern whites(pro-business)

African Americans

Northern Protestants

Old WASPs (supportfor anti-immigrant laws)

Most of the middleclass

GAR (Grand Army of Republic

The Two Political Parties during the Gilded Age

Gold vs. Silver and the Economy

Panic of ‘73

Overspending and over lending burstBanks went under

Battle of Soft Money vs. Hard Money

1875: Resumption Act led to pulling in more Greenbacks from circulation (deflation)

16 ounces of Silver was equal to 1 ounce of Gold (Legislative Decree)

Crime of ‘73: US government dropped coinage of silver dollars.

Compromise of 1877

Democrats agreed to accept Republican results from 3 contested states IF:

Withdrawal of ALL federal troops in SC and LA

End of Radical Reconstruction

Black Freedmen no more Union Army protection

Redemption for the South

Black America during the Gilded Age

Disenfranchisement

Poll TaxesAbolished in 1966 by the24th Amendment

Literacy Tests

Abolished in 1965 by the Voting Rights Act

Jim Crow in the South Come, listen, all you gals and boys, I'm just from

Tuckyhoe; I'm gwine to sing a little song, My name's Jim Crow.

Chorus: Wheel about, an' turn about, an' do jis so; Eb'ry time I wheel about, I jump Jim Crow.

I went down to de river, I didn't mean to stay, But there I see so many gals, I couldn't get away.

I'm rorer on de fiddle, an' down in ole Virginny, Dey say I play de skientific, like massa Paganini.

I cut so many munky shines, I dance de galloppade; An' w'en I done, I res' my head, on shubble, hoe or

spade.

I met Miss Dina Scrub one day, I gib her sich a buss; An' den she turn an' slap my face, an' make a mighty

fuss.

De udder gals dey 'gin to fight, I tel'd dem wait a bit; I'd hab dem all, jis one by one, as I tourt fit.

I wip de lion ob de west, I eat de alligator; I put more water in my mouf, den boil ten load ob

'tator.

De way dey bake de hoe cake, Virginny nebber tire; Dey put de doe upon de foot, an' stick 'em in de fire

Origin to Thomas Rice of NY

By the 1890’s Jim Crow Laws led to

crop-lien system of sharecroppingliteracy tests for votingvoter-registration lawspoll taxes

Homer Plessy

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

The Black Experience

Immediatism

From NorthHarvard educatedTalented Tenth/NAACP

Gradualism

From SouthFormer SlaveTuskegee Institute

WEB DuBois Booker T Washington

The Chinese: Builders of Railroads

“beefeater” vs. the “rice eater”

Kearneyites:

Anti-Chinese gangsMostly Irish

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882

Prohibited any immigrants from China to U.S

1871: L.A. riot, 20 Chinese dead1885: Wyoming, 28 dead,

75 homes destroyed1886: Seattle attempts to remove

ALL Chinese1887: Oregon, 31 Chinese gold miners

murdered, NO prosecutions

1898: U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark

Supreme Court ruled 14th Amendment guaranteed toall persons born in the U.S.

Jus soli over jus sanguinis

1880 Presidential Election: Republicans

Half Breeds Stalwarts

Sen. James G. Blaine Sen. Roscoe Conkling (Maine)

(New York)

James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur (VP)

compromise

1881: Garfield Assassinated!

Charles Guiteau:I Am a Stalwart, and

Arthur is President now!

Pendleton Act (1883) Civil Service Act.

The “Magna Carta” of civil service reform.

Shot: July 2, 1881Died: September 19, 1881

Competitive Exams for federal jobs

End of Spoils System

The Populists

In your group do the following

1. Explain what the Populist Part was

2. List supporters and members of the Populist Party

3. Outline specific beliefs that the Populist Party promoted or stood fori.e. their platform

1884 Presidential Election

Grover Cleveland James Blaine * (DEM) (REP)

Mugwumps bolted to Democrats Rum, Romanism,and Rebellion

Cleveland’s Illegitimate child

1888 Presidential Election

Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison (DEM) * (REP)

1892 Presidential Election

Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison again! * (DEM) (REP)

Hayes Presidency

Compromise of 1877

Railroad Strikes Hayes calls in federal

troops

Garfield/Arthur Presidency

Chinese Exclusion Act

Pendleton Act

Cleveland Presidency Part I

Vetoes of Pension Bills

Lowers Tariff

Though the people support the government, the government should not support the people

Harrison Presidency

McKinley Tariff Act of 1890

Billion Dollar Congress

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

of 1890

Homestead steel strike

Cleveland Presidency Part II

Panic of 1893

Plessy v. Ferguson

Repeal of Sherman Silver Purchase Act

Loan from JP Morgan: 65

million in gold

Wilson-Gorman Tariff

Major Political Issues during the Gilded Age

Tariff:

Explain the forces in favor of a high tariff and the forces against a high tariff.Include both political parties and society in general from Cleveland (I) throughCleveland (II).

Money Supply:

Explain the pros and cons of bimetallism as well as inflation vs. deflation.Describe which segments of society promoted bimetallism. 1875-1896

Civil Service:

Explain how reforming the government job structure splintered the Republican PartyAs well as the final reform that was legislated to combat the decades old spoils system