Political Development 1 (1865-1890)

Question 1

Which branch of government could override President Johnson’s vetoes of the Radical Republican’s initiatives?

Answer 1

The Legislative branch - Congress

Question 2

Why did the Senate fail to impeach President Johnson?

Answer 2

They needed 1 more vote to convict Johnson - but his power to hinder radical reform was diminished

Question 3

What were Carpetbaggers?

Answer 3

Northerners who came to the south for political and economic reasons. They were considered corrupt who used Reconstruction to advance their own personal interests.

Question 4

Who didn’t support the Radical Republicans?

Answer 4

WASPS and the KKK

Question 5

What did the Radical Republicans aim to do?

Answer 5

To intervene and design laws which protected the emancipated blacks.

Question 6

Name 2 Radical Republicans

Answer 6

Representative Thaddeus Stevens
Senator Charles Sumner

Question 7

How many more votes did Ulysses Grant win with in 1868?

Answer 7

300,000 more votes for Republicans

Question 8

By 1869 which party was in control in all 3 branches of the federal government?

Answer 8

Republican Party

Question 9

What year was President Grant re-elected in?

Answer 9

1872

Question 10

Who were the political opposition of the Republicans during the reconstruction period?

Answer 10

The Democratic ‘Redeemers’

Question 11

Who were the violent opposition of the Republicans during the Reconstruction period?

Answer 11

The ‘White terrorists’

Question 12

Give 2 examples of increasing violence against African Americans in the USA

Answer 12

1868 - 1000 freedmen killed in Louisiana
1873 - Colfax Massacre - 150 freedmen killed

Question 13

When did the Federal troops intervene with lynchings in Louisiana?

Answer 13

1874

Question 14

What was the Amnesty Act of 1872?

Answer 14

It allowed ex-confederates to return to their political lives.

Question 15

What happened in 1873 which weakened Ulysses Grant’s presidency?

Answer 15

The 1873 Financial Panic (stocks and shares plummeted)

Question 16

What scandals did Grant face from 1869-1870?

Answer 16

• 1869 - Black Friday Gold Scandal
• The Railroad Speculation Scandal
• The Tweed Ring NYC operated Democratic political corruption under Grant’s nose in the 1870s and looted $45 million from the state.

Question 17

Who won the election of 1876?

Answer 17

Following the corrupt and fraudulent election in 1876 a commission was launched to decide who won the election. Republican Rutherford B Hayes (Governor of Ohio) was chosen by the Congressional Committee over Democrat Samuel Tilden (Governor of NYC).

Question 18

What was the Compromise of 1877?

Answer 18

President Hayes offered to remove Union troops from Confederate states and in return the Confederate states would recognise him as the President despite his potential lack of mandate.

Question 19

How was President Hayes viewed?

Answer 19

Decent president, stayed for 1 term but was a weak President

Question 20

Who was Hayes opposed by?

Answer 20

Republican Stalwarts - who advocated for African Americans rights and did not approve of Hayes’ lenient approach towards the Confederate states.

Question 21

What were Half-Breeds and who did they support?

Answer 21

They were another faction within the Republican party who support James G. Blaine. They were known as ‘half breeds’ as they strayed away from Stalwarts orthodoxy.

Question 22

Who won the election in 1880? When was he assassinated?

Answer 22

James Garfield won by 10,000 votes and was assassinated in 1881 and his vice president Chester Arthur became President.

Question 23

Who won the 1884 election?

Answer 23

Grover Cleveland (Democrat)

Question 24

Who was elected as President in 1888?

Answer 24

Benjamin Harrison (Republican)

Question 25

What year was Grover Cleveland re-elected in? Why?

Answer 25

1892 as he promised to keep tariffs.

Question 26

What 2 things did President Benjamin Harrison introduce?

Answer 26

War pensions
McKinley Tariff (1890)

Question 27

State 5 US Presidents that used ‘pork barrel’ politics?

Answer 27

President Hayes
President Garfield
President Arthur
President Cleveland
President Harrison

Question 28

What are ‘pork barrel’ politics?

Answer 28

Passing laws to reward supporters

Question 29

How did Congress respond to corrupt politics in 1890?

Answer 29

Sherman Anti-Trust. It ensured fair competition and stopped monopolies of industry.

Question 30

Summarise Political Development between 1865 and 1890

Answer 30

2 party’s had developed
The identity and ideology of the Republican and Democrats had developed
The American political system was still not yet fully formed
Politics very much was reacting to huge economic and social changes