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Politics in the Gilded Age
“I know now that all that glitters is not gold... However, I still go underrating men of gold, and glorifying men of mica. Commonplace human nature cannot rise above that.”
― Mark Twain
Waving the Bloody Shirt! Republicans
nominated Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant great soldier had no political
experience Democrats?
could only denounce military Reconstruction
Waving the Bloody Shirt!
The Republicans got Grant elected (barely) by “waving the bloody shirt”
1868 Presidential Election1868 Presidential Election
President Ulysses S. GrantPresident Ulysses S. Grant
The Era of Good Stealings
Despite the Civil War, the population grew Partially due to immigration
politics became very corrupt Railroad promoters cheated gullible
customers Too many judges and legislators put
their power up for hire
The Era of Good Stealings
Jim Fisk and Jay Gould notorious millionaires In 1869, they concocted a plot to corner
the gold market Plan would only work if the treasury
stopped selling gold they worked on President Grant directly
and through his brother-in-law plan failed when the treasury sold gold
The Era of Good Stealings
Tweed Ring (AKA, “Tammany Hall) of NYC Headed by “Boss” Tweed
Used bribery, graft, and fake elections to cheat the city of as much as $200 million
caught when The New York Times secured evidence of his misdeeds
died in jail
The Tweed Ring in NYCThe Tweed Ring in NYC
William Marcy Tweed (notorious head of Tammany Hall’s political machine)
[Thomas Nast crusading cartoonist/reporter]
Who Stole the People’s Money?Who Stole the People’s Money?
A Carnival of Corruption
Grant failed to see corruption going on many of his friends wanted offices his cabinet was totally corrupt
Credit Mobilier railroad construction company that
paiditself huge sums of money for small railroad construction
NY newspaper reported it 2 members of Congress were formally
censured company had given some of its stock to the
congressmen Vice President was shown to have accepted
20 shares of stock
And They Say He Wants a Third TermAnd They Say He Wants a Third Term
The Election of 1872The Election of 1872 Rumors of corruption
during Grant’s first term discredit Republicans
Horace Greeley runsas a Democrat/LiberalRepublican candidate
Greeley attacked as afool and a crank.
Greeley died on November 29, 1872!
1872 Presidential Election1872 Presidential Election
Popular Vote for President: 1872
Popular Vote for President: 1872
The Panic of 1873The Panic of 1873
Causes: Unrestrained speculation on the railroads Too easy credit
Started when… failure of the NY banking firm Jay Cooke &
Company, which was headed by the rich Jay Cooke, a financier of the Civil War
Depression, Deflation, & Inflation
Greenbacks that had been issued in the Civil War were being recalled but now, during the panic
“cheap-money” supporters wanted greenbacks to be printed en mass again, to create inflation
supporters of “hard-money” (actual gold and silver) persuaded Grant to veto a bill that would print more paper money
Depression, Deflation, & Inflation
• Resumption Act of 1875 government would withdraw greenbacks & make
all further redemption of paper money in gold at face value, starting in 1879
Debtors now cried that silver was under-valued (another call for inflation), Grant refused to coin more silver dollars,
which (stopped in 1873) new silver discoveries in the later 1870s shot
the price of silver way down. Grant’s name remained fused to sound money, though not sound government.
Depression, Deflation, & Inflation
greenbacks regain their value few greenback holders exchange their more
convenient bills for gold when Redemption Day came in 1879
1878, the Bland-Allison Act instructed the Treasury to buy and coin between $2 million and $4 million worth of silver bullion each month. The minimum was actually coined and its effect was minimal on creating “cheap money.”
Depression, Deflation, & Inflation
Republican hard-money policy, led to the election of a Democratic House of
Representatives in 1874 Spawned the Greenback Labor Party in 1878
primarily composed of prairie farmers who went into debt during the Panic of 1873
fought for increased monetary circulation through issuance of paper currency and bimetallism (using both gold and silver as legal tender)
supported inflationary sought benefits for labor such as shorter working
hours and a national labor bureau. wanted the government to print more greenbacks.
1876 Presidential Tickets1876 Presidential Tickets
1876 Presidential Election1876 Presidential Election
The Political Crisis of 1877The Political Crisis of 1877
“Corrupt Bargain”Part II?
Hayes PrevailsHayes Prevails
A Political Crisis: The “Compromise” of 1877A Political Crisis: The
“Compromise” of 1877
Well-Defined Voting Blocks
Well-Defined Voting Blocks
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
Laissez Faire GovernmentLaissez Faire Government Government stayed out of domestic
policies from about 1877-1900
Deliver the mail
Maintain a national military
Collect taxes & tariffs
Conduct a foreign policy
A Symbolic PresidencyA Symbolic Presidency
Party bosses ruled
Presidents should avoid offending anyfactions within theirown party
The President justdoled out federal jobs.
1865 53,000 people worked for the federal govt.
1890 166,000 “ “ “ “ “ “
The Birth of Jim Crow in the Post-Reconstruction South
Reconstruction ended …military returned northward whites asserted their power Literacy requirements for voting began, voter registration laws emerged poll taxes began targeted at black voters
The Birth of Jim Crow in the Post-Reconstruction South
Most blacks became sharecroppers providing nothing but labor
Or tenant farmers if they could provide their own tools
Plessy v. Ferguson: 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in the
case of that “separate but equal” facilities were constitutional “Jim Crow” segregation was legalized
Class Conflicts & Ethnic Clashes
Railroad Strike Background
1877, the presidents of the nation’s 4 largestrailroads decided to cut wages by 10%.
Workers struck back, stopping work President Hayes sent troops to stop this violence erupted more than 100 people died in the several
weeks of chaos
Class Conflicts & Ethnic Clashes
Failure of the railroad strike? showed weakness of the labor
movement Note: this was partly caused by friction
between races, especially between the Irish and the Chinese.
In San Francisco, Irish-born Denis Kearney incited his followers to terrorize the Chinese
Class Conflicts & Ethnic Clashes
Anti-Chinese sentiment: 1879-Congress passed a bill severely
restricting the influx of Chinese immigrants (most of whom were males who had come to California to work on the railroads Hayes vetoed the bill
Said that it violated an existing treaty with China After Hayes left office, the Chinese
Exclusion Act, was passed in first law limiting immigration.
James A. Garfield 1880 : Republicans nominated James A.
Garfield from Ohio rose to the rank of major general in the Civil War
Democrats chose Winfield S. Hancock Civil War general (appealed to the South)
1880 Presidential
Election
1880 Presidential
Election
James A. Garfield campaign avoided touchy issues Garfield squeaked by in the popular vote Garfield died after being shot in the head by a
disappointed office seeker
Republican infighting
StalwartsRepublicans fighting for civil service reform during Garfield's term; they supported Cleveland
Half-breeds Favored tariff reform and social did not seem to be dedicated members of
either party
Chester Arthur
Chester Arthur surprised many called for reform Republican party
slowly embraces reform
Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883)
Civil Service Act
1883 14,000 out of117,000 federal governmentjobs became civilservice exam positions
1900 100,000 out of 200,000 government jobs were exam positions
Republican “Mugwumps”Republican
“Mugwumps” Reformers who wouldn’t re-nominateChester A. Arthur
Reform to them
create an impartial government run by an educated elite
Social Darwinists
Laissez faire government to them
Favoritism & the spoils system seen as govt. intervention in society.
Their target was political corruption, not social or economic reform!
TheMugwump
s
TheMugwump
sMen may come and men may go, but the work of reform shall go on forever. Will support
Cleveland in the1884 election.
1884 Presidential Election1884 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland James Blaine * (DEM) (REP)
A Dirty Campaign
A Dirty Campaign
Ma, Ma…where’s my pa?He’s going to the White House, ha… ha… ha…!
1884 Presidential
Election
1884 Presidential
Election
Cleveland’s First TermCleveland’s First Term The “Veto Governor” from New York
First Democratic elected since 1856
A public office is a public trust!
His laissez-faire presidency:
Opposed bills to assist the poor aswell as the rich
Vetoed over 200 special pension billsfor Civil War veterans!