The Gilded Age

• 1860-1901

• Coined by Mark Twain because it was a time period of gilded prosperity that covered the dark corruption inside

• Huge gap between upper + lower classes

• Many political scandals

Civil Rights Act of 1875

• Ended segregation in public places

• Not heavily enforced + eventually declared unconstitutional

Mark Twain

• Famous Humorist + novelist

• Famous works like Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, etc.

• Wrote about the realities of Southern + frontier life

William Marcy “Boss” Tweed

• Political machine

• Leader of Tammany Hall

• Secretly pocketed money and got rich buying companies

• Exchanged favors for votes

• Targeted by Thomas Nast in his muckraking exposes

Tammany Hall

• Headquarters of Democrats in NYC

• Tweed Ring led by Boss Tweed

• Very corrupt + stole between $75mil-$200mil

Credit Mobilier Scandal

• 1872

• A two-part fraud conducted from 1864 to 1867 by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Crédit Mobilier of America construction company in the building of the eastern portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad

• Vice President Colfax was corrupt and purposely diverted investigations to prevent the scandal from being exposed

Panic of 1873

• Caused by a large bank failure

• The use of paper money and silver coins had heavily inflated the currency

Grant Administration

• Presidency from 1869-1877

• Scandals included the Credit Mobilier + Whiskey Ring scandals

• Cracked down on the KKK

• Was ultimately unable to help freedmen under Jim Crow laws

Whiskey Ring

• 1875

• A group of corrupt whiskey producers

• If it was known there would be a tax inspection soon, the Whiskey Ring was tipped off to prevent corruption from being exposed

• Empty warehouses

• 238 people indicted

• Orville E. Babcock escaped prosecution

Civil Service Reform

• 1871 - Civil Service Commission formed

• The assassination of President Garfield eventually led to ACTUAL reform

  • Pendleton Act

  • Roosevelt was placed on the Civil Service Commission

Jim Fisk and Jay Gould

• Manipulated Grant + controlled the gold market

• When Grant sold the gold owned by the US Treasury, it destabilized the market and hurt investors

Harper’s Weekly

• 1857 - Began publication

• Featured political commentary + Thomas Nast’s political cartoons

• Spread Republican party ideas

Thomas Nast

• Illustrator + cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly

• Created caricatures and icons (ex. Santa Claus)

• Targeted Boss Tweed and his corrupt ways

Roscoe Conkling

• Advisor to President Grant

• An American lawyer and Republican politician who represented New York in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate

• Patronage for Stalwarts

Stalwarts

• Wing of Republicans led by Roscoe Conkling

• Graft was the action of exchanging influence and favors for votes and political support

Mugwumps (Half-Breeds)

• Wing of Republicans led by James Garfield

• Favored civil service reform

James A. Garfield

• Lessened Republican corruption

• Vice President was Chester A. Arthur (Stalwart)

• 1881 - After being assassinated, he became a martyr for the reform movement

Pendleton Act

• 1883

• Garfield being assassinated led to actual reform

• A new Civil Service Commission was formed

• Competency tests were required for civil servants

• Hiring process based on merit, not patronage

“Bloody Shirt”

• “Waving the bloody shirt” referred to the Southern Democrats starting the Civil War

• Kept Republicans in power

Billion-Dollar Congress

• 1890 - Spent $1 bil on patronage + actual expenses

• The McKinley Tariff was a 50% import tax used to cover Gilded Age expenses

Grover Cleveland

• 1884 & 1892 - Elected President

• Conservative Democrat

• Refused to expand the federal gov’t for welfare

• Reduced tariffs

• During the Panic of 1893, he sought the support of JP Morgan

• Didn’t support striking workers

• Rejected annexation of Hawaii

• Gold standard

Mulligan Letters

• 1884

• Elections of 1876 + 1884

• James Mulligan + James G. Blaine

• James G. Blaine wrote a series of letters to a Boston businessman, Warren Fisher Jr., that indicated Blaine had used his official power as Speaker of the House of Representatives to promote the fortunes of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad

Benjamin Harrison

• 1888 - Elected President

• Supported Cleveland’s reforms

• Pro-imperialism + pro-tariff + pro-silver

• Placed Roosevelt on Civil Service Commission

Custodial Presidency

• Presidents during the Gilded Age

• The power of the executive branch decreased, while that of Congress increased

BIG PICTURE

• Gilded Age - Economic growth + one-party rule & corruption

• Political corruption - Unfair privileges + stealing $

• Investigative journalism - Expose political corruption

• Assassination of Garfield → Reform gov’t

• Long periods of power → Bad for US