Chapter 19: National Politics in the Gilded Age 1877-1900 Flashcards
(29 cards)
“Waving the Bloody Shirt”
Tactic used by the Republican Party during campaigns
~Reminded Union veterans that their wounds were caused by Southern Democrats
Patronage
Provided government jobs to those in the party who had been loyal during the campaign
~Roscoe Conkling (Senator) became a powerful leader of his party (Republican) by dictating who would be appointed
Stalwarts
Senator Conkling and his followers
~Fought for patronage for his followers/ideas
Half-Breeds
James G. Blaine and his followers
~Stalwarts’ “rivals”
Mugwumps
Republicans who refused to play the patronage game
Rutherford B. Hayes
Most significant act was to end Reconstruction by withdrawing the last federal troops from the South
~Tried to establish honest government after the corrupt Grant administration
~Cut off the flow of liquor to the White House
~Vetoed efforts to restrict Chinese immigration
James Garfield
Half-Breed of Ohio
~Appointed many Half-Breeds to federal office
~A Stalwart shot him (he didn’t appoint Stalwarts) and he died after 11 weeks
~Chester A. Arthur became president
Chester A. Arthur
A Stalwart himself, he proved to be a better president than expected
~Distanced himself from the Stalwarts
~Supported a bill reforming civil service
~Approved the development of a modern navy
~Didn’t get renomination
Grover Cleveland
Democratic nomination in 1884. He had been honest, frugal, conscientious, and uncompromising
~Implemented a new civil service system
~Vetoed hundreds of private pensions from “Civil War veterans”
~Interstate Commerce Act of 1887: governments first attempt to regulate business
~Dawes Act
The Pendelton Civil Service Act (1881)
Set up civil service commission and created a system where you were tested to receive a federal office
~Selected on the basis of their scores
~Prohibited civil servants from making political contributions
Panic of 1873
Led many Americans to blame the gold standard for restricting the money supply and causing the depression
“Soft Money”
To expand U.S. currency, soft money advocates campaigned for more paper money and the unlimited minting of silver coins
“Hard Money”
Advocated by businesses, bankers, creditors and investors, provided for money backed by gold stored in government vaults
~Dollars backed by gold would hold up against inflation
Specie Resumption Act (1875)
Withdrew the last of the Greenbacks from circulation
Greenback Party
Supporters of paper money started their own political party
~Became somewhat unpopular
~14 elected into Congress in 1878
Bland-Allison Act (1878)
A compromise law passed over Hayes’ veto
~Allowed only a limited coinage of between $2 million to $4 million in silver each month at a ratio of 16:1
Benjamin Harrison
Who the Republicans campaigned for in the Election of 1888
McKinley Tariff (1890)
Raised the tax on foreign products to a peacetime high of over 48%
Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890)
Increased the coinage of silver but in amounts too small to satisfy farmers and miners
Omaha Platform
The Populist Party’s solution to the economic problems of the time
~Called for political and economic reforms
~Demanded the restoration of the government to the people by:
1. Direct popular election of U.S. Senators
2. Enacting of state laws by voters
~Advocated (economically):
1. Unlimited coinage
2. A graduated income tax
3. Public ownership of railroads
4. Telegraph and telephone system owned by the government
5. Loans and federal warehouses for farmers
6. 8 hour work days
James Weaver
The Populist nomination for president in 1892
~Won more than 1 million votes and 22 electorals
Panic of 1893
Stock Market crash due to over speculation
~Dozens of railroads went into bankruptcy
~Depression continued for almost 4 years
~20% unemployment
Wilson Gorman Tariff (1894)
Provided for:
1. Moderate reduction tax rates
2. A 2% income tax
~Declared unconstitutional because it was an income tax
Coxey’s Army
A march to Washington by thousands of unemployed by the Populist leader Jacob A. Coxey
~Demanded that the federal government spend $500 million on public works programs to create jobs
~Coxey arrested for trespassing
