GILDED AGE POLITICS 1876-1890

When was Rutherford B. Hayes president?

1877-1881

How did Hayes want to reform the civil service?

Introduce a meritocratic system of appointments instead of the spoils system

What difficulties did Hayes face in trying to reform the civil service?

Opposition from the stalwart faction of the Republican Party, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling

How did Hayes ultimately reform the Civil Service?

Appointed avid reformer Carl Schurz to secretary of the interior and William M Evarts (Secretary of State) to lead special committee to draw up new rules on federal appointments

Issued an executive order that forbade federal officeholders from being required to make campaign donations or be altogether involved in party politics

What was the Railroad Strike of 1877?

1st national labour walkout

Workers protested pay cuts made by railroad companies response to 1873 panic

Militia units sent in to force them back to work — troops fired on workers and 20 died in Pittsburgh

What impact did the Railroad strike of 1877 have on Hayes' image?

Hayes won the support of business leaders for his support and helped establish the principle that federal gov would support business in face of strike action

When was the Bland-Allison Act passed and what did it do?

1878 — Required US Treasury to buy certain amounts of silver and put into circulation as silver dollars

When was James A. Garfield President?

1881-

How did Garfield come to be President?

Tension at Republican Convention between Stalwarts who supported Grant as Presidential nominee and Half-Breeds who supported Senator Blaine of Maine

Led to Rep Convention being deadlocked

Anti-Grant faction rallied around the more moderate half-breed Garfield — won nomination by majority of 9000 votes

What did Garfield advocate for?

'Hard money' policies backed by gold (which displeased farmers who wanted Greenbacks)

When was Chester Arthur President?

1881-4

What was Cleveland's position on tariffs, and what did he do to promote this position?

1 supported a lower tariff
2 tried to convince Congress to lower rates
3 ran for a second term on a low tariffs platform

What was Arthur's attitude towards political corruption?

Against it

Prosecuted former cronies of the Star Routes Fraud Cases

Vetoed an $18m river and harbour development bill for pork-barrel elements

What did the Tariff Act 1883 achieve?

Measly tariff reduction of 1.47% — came to be known as 'Mongrel Tariff'

What did the Pendleton Act do and when was it passed?

1883-It established a civil-service commission to prepare competitive exams for federal jobs and forbade federal officeholders from making contributions to party campaigns.
Also empowered President to reserve a classified list for Civil Service reform

How successful was the Pendleton Act 1883?

Initially — only covered 14,000 (12%) of federal employees
By end of century (within 17 years) number of classified posts rose to nearly 95,000 (40%)

When was Grover Cleveland President?

1885-1889, 1893-1897

Why was Cleveland known as the 'veto mayor'?

Vetoed 413 bills, twice more than all previous presidents combined

What was the 1893 Financial Panic?

Most severe economic depression in US history by that point
By 1894, 18% unemployed and railroad construction fallen by 50%

How did Cleveland respond to the extreme financial crisis of the 1890s? What impact did this have?

He at first repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in an effort to halt the bleeding of gold from the Treasury. Later, in 1895, he borrowed $65 million in gold from J.P. Morgan and other bankers in order to save the gold standard

Outraged farmers and Democrats lost everywhere but the Deep South in 1894 Congressional Elections

What were some of the strengths of Gilded Age politics?

1. Rise of 3rd parties allowed for debate of issues not discussed by main parties
EG: The Granger Movement, the Greenback-Labour Party and cultural issues such as temperance, church observance
2. High participation and public partisanship
3. Figures of integrity within politics e.g. Carl Shurz, pro-Civil Service Reform under Hayes

What evidence is there that there was a stalemate between the two major parties during the Gilded Age?

Winning margin in 3/5 elections between 1876-92 was less than 1%
Except between 1889-91, no one party controlled House, Senate and Presidency simultaneously

What evidence is there that Cleveland believed in a small gov?

Vetoed a trivial $10,000 relief bill for drought-stricken Texas farmers because 'People should support the government, but the government should not supported the people'

How influential was the Tweed Ring (Democrats Party machine, NY)?

Distributed 60,000 posts 1869-71, increasing city debt by $70m

Who were party machines led by? Why were party machines so dominant?

City bosses — immigrant origin
State bosses - old American stock
Party bosses and their highly organised machines would influence politics using patronage
Instructed voters (usually immigrants) how to vote in return for help finding homes, jobs or keeping out of trouble with the police
Successful due to lack of public welfare organisations and lack of a secret ballot

What was the Bland Allison Act of 1878 and why was it unsuccessful?

Required the U.S. Treasury to buy between $2-4m of silver and put it into circulation as silver dollars.
Did not add appreciably to currency or halt decline in farming or silver prices

What impact did the Pendleton Act have on party funding?

Forbidding of campaign contributions from federal employees meant that parties would be more reliant on financial support of big business

What was the 1879 Arrears of Pension Act?

Provided pensions for disability connected with war service

What was the 1887 Dependent Pension Bill and why was Congress unable to pass it as an act?

Act aimed to provide pensions for any veterans that had been honourably discharged
Vetoed for Cleveland as he believed it could be used or fraud

When did the Republicans eventually pass the Dependent Pension Act?

1890

Who was pleased by the 1890 Silver Purchase Act?

Pleased western miners as it obligated gov to buy their stock of silver but did not satisfy those who wanted unlimited coinage

What was the 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act?

Passed by Congress to promote competition by prohibiting the forming of trusts or monopolies
Authorised federal government to institute proceedings against trusts in order to dissolve them
Unsuccessful due to being inadequately enforced and the vague language used

What was the 1890 McKinley Tariff?

More protective than previous tariffs - Raised the average duty on imports to almost 50%
Passed by Republicans to reward the industrialists that had be caked them in the 1888 Congressional elections as it protected domestic industries from foreign competition

How did Cleveland alienate the Grand Army of the Republic (and who were the GAR)?

GAR — most powerful lobby in the county
Angered them by scrutinising private pensions bills for benefit of Civil War vets and vetoing those which seemed fraudulent

What did Cleveland compel Western railroad, lumber and cattle industries to do?

Give up a total of 81m acres of public lands to which they had no legal title

Who were the Mugwumps?

•Republicans who refused to support fellow Republican James G. Blaine as candidate for president
•instead they supported the Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the 1884 election
•They railed against government corruption
•They opposed the patronage system prevalent in politics

Who were the Stalwarts?

republicans who were most resistant to abandoning the spoil system

Who were the "Halfbreeds"? What did they want?

Led by James G. Blaine, they were the moderately liberal faction of the republican party. Supported the Civil Service Reform