Chapter 20 Outline

I. Gilded Age Politics and Agrarian Revolt

A. Paradoxial Politics

1. Gilded Age: 35 years b/w the end of the Civil War and the end of the 19 th cent.

2. Local politics controlled by rings usually having a powerful boss who ran things,
using his machine – a network of neighborhood activists and officials – to govern the
town or the city.

a) Various city rings and bosses usually corrupt and rarely efficient, but
they did bring structure, stability, and services to the cities

b) NYC Willian “Boss” Tweed used Tammany Hall ring as a city machine to
dominate the city. He was arrested in 1871 and convicted in 1873

3. Party loyalty = powerful. Republicans and Democrats were not willing to

embrace controversial issues or take bold initiatives – neither had a commanding
advantage w/the electorate.

a) Gilded Age long viewed as a political mediocrity

4. Voter turnout: 70-80%

a) Even though politicians failed to address crucial issues, politicians still

voted because they believed that they actually were dealing with “real” issues,
but mostly it reflects the extreme partisanship and local nature of political
culture during the age.

B. Partisan Politics

1. City machines (local party officials) used patronage and favoritism to retain the
loyalty of business supporters while providing needs to the working class

2. Republican Party – attracted mainly Protestants of British descent. Base was

New England. Relied on votes of African Americans and Union Veterans of the Civil War

a) Pressed nativist policies. They saw saloons as the root of all evil because
of immigrants bringing in alcohol.

3. Democrats – unruly coalition embracing southern whites, immigrants, and

Catholics

C. Political Stalemate at the National Level

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1. Between 1869-1913, Republicans monopolized the White House except for that
of the two nonconsecutive terms of the New York Democrat Grover Cleveland

a) Between 1872-96 no president won a majority of the popular vote

2. Lackluster (boring & uneventful) presidents also contributed to the political

stalemate

a) Republicans controlled the Senate and the Democrats controlled the

House

D. State and Local Initiatives

1. Americans during the Gilded Age expected little direct support from the federal
government. Residents of the western territories basically had to look out for
themselves.

2. Over 60% of the nation’s spending and taxing was exercised by state and local
authorities. The large cities spent far more on local services than did the federal gov. ¾
of all public employees worked for state and local govs.

E. Corruption and Reform: Hayes to Harrison

1. States attempted to regulate big business – mostly overturned by courts

a) Close alliance developed between business owners and political leaders

2. After each election, it was expected that the victorious party would throw out
the defeated party’s appointees and appoint its own men to office

a) Patronage of awarding gov. jobs invited corruption

3. Struggle for cleaner gov. became a foremost issue

F. Haves and Civil Service Reform

1. President Rutherford B. Hayes embodied the “party of morality”. 1877 – new

style of uprightness

a) Son of an Ohio farmer, wounded 4 times in the Civil War, elected gov. of
Ohio and served 3 terms.

b) Presidency suffered from the supposedly secret deal that awarded him
victory over the NY Democrat Samuel Tilden in the 1876 election

2. Hayes’s Republican party was split between the Stalwarts (led by Sen. Roscoe
Conkling) and the Half Breeds (led by James G. Blaine from ME)
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a) The Stalwarts had been stalwart in their support of Pres. Grant during
the furor over the misbehavior of his cabinet members. They promoted Radical
Reconstruction of the South and the “spoils” system

b) The half breeds were only half-loyal to Grant and half-committed to

reform of the spoils system

3. Hayes aligned himself w/the growing public discontent of the corruption in the
Grant administration.

a) 1877 – issued an an executive order declaring that those already in

office would be dismissed only for the good of the gov. and not for political
reasons

b) Responded to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 by sending in troops

and breaking the strike.

c) Wanted to expand currency by vetoing the Bland-Allison Act

(overridden by Congress)

G. Garfield and Arthur

1. The Stalwarts, led by Conkling, brought Ulysses S. Grant forward for a 3 rd time.
He held slight lead over James G. Blaine and John Sherman. When Wisconsin’s
delegates switched their votes to James. A Garfield, the convention nominated Chester.
A Arthur for vice president.

2. July 2, 1881 – President Garfield was shot in DC by Charles Guiteau  Chester

Arthur now president and demonstrated surprising leadership qualities . He emerged as
a civil service and tariff reformer. The tariff continued to be the most controversial
national political issue.

a) The high tariff was impending economic growth. The result was the
“mongrel tariff” of 1883 – different rates for different commodities

H. The Scurrilous Campaign

1. Republicans nominated James G. Blaine, leader of the Half-Breed Republicans

2. Democrats nominated Stephen Grover Cleveland as a reform candidate. He was

elected gov. of NY in 1882, and before that mayor of Buffalo in 1881. He possessed little
charisma but stubborn integrity.

a) Scandal erupted – Cleveland had an affair w/Maria Halpin as revealed

by the Buffalo Evening Telegraph
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3. Blaine and his supporters committed 2 fateful blunders: 1) he attended a lavish

fund-raising dinner w/millionaires. 2) failed to defend the Irish Catholics in an insult

4. The electoral vote stood in Cleveland’s favor 219 to 182

I. Cleveland and the Special Interests

1. Cleveland held to a strictly limited view of government’s role in both economic

and social interests. He held a lecture on the need to limit the powers and functions of
the government.

2. Congress passed the first Civil War pension law in 1862 for Union veterans
disabled in service and their families. However, by 1892, the Grand Army of the Republic
tried to get pensions paid for any disability.

3. Cleveland advocated railroad regulation. 1887: Interstate Commerce

Commission which required that all freight and railroad rates be reasonable.

4. Cleveland’s most dramatic challenge: tariff reform. Republicans assumed that

national prosperity and tariffs were closely linked. Others thought that government
tariff policies had fostered big business at the expense of small producers and retailers
by effectively shutting out the foreigner imports, thereby enabling American
corporations to dominate their market and charge higher prices for their products.

J. Election of 1888

1. Cleveland (Democrat), Benjamin Harrison (Republican), Charles F. Murchison

2. Benjamin Harrison was overshadowed by Secretary of State James G. Blaine. He

aimed to reward those responsible for his victory. He owed a heavy debt to the Union
war Veterans.

a) 1890: signed the Dependent Pension Act. Then approved Anti-Trust Act,
Sherman Silver Purchase Act, McKinley Tariff Act, and the admission of Idaho,
Wyoming as new states.

b) Sherman Anti-Trust Act: forbade contracts, combinations, of

conspiracies in restraint of trade or in the effort to establish monopolies in
interstate or foreign commerce

3. In 1889, Wisconsin Republicans pushed through a law that struck at parochial

schools

K. The Farm and Agrarian Protest Movements

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1. The Democratic victory revealed a deep-seated unrest in the farming

communities of the South and the western Midwest.

2. Collective action by farmers was difficult, for communication and organization

was especially difficult because of the individualism.

3. Farming communities of the South and the West began to find voice in the
Granger movement, the Farmers’ Alliances, and the new People’s party (aka Populist)

L. Economic Conditions

1. Many farmers in the South and Midwest suffered worsening economic and
social conditions. The source of their problems was a long decline in commodity prices.

a) The railroads and the food processors were seen as the villains.

b) High tariffs and debt also operated to the farmers’ advantage.

M. The Granger Movement

1. Oliver H. Kelley founded the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry in

1867. It started out as a social and educational response to the isolation of farm folk,
but as it grew, it began to promote farmer-owned cooperatives for the buying and
selling of crops.

2. Grangers’ chief political goal was state regulation of the rates charged by
railroads and crop warehouses.

3. Munn v. Illinois (1877) the Supreme Ct. affirmed that the state had the right to
regulate property that was clothed in a public interest.

N. Farmers’ Alliances

1. Offered social and recreational activities for their members, but they also
emphasized political action. They represented marginal farmers.

2. In 1886, a white minister in Texas responded w/the Colored Farmers’ National

Alliance. Its objective was economic justice, not social equality.

3. Unlike the Grange, the Alliance proposed an elaborate economic program. In

1887, Charles W. Macune, the new Alliance pres., proposed that Texas farmers create
their own Alliance Exchange in an effort to free themselves from their dependence upon
grain processors and banks.

O. Farm Politics
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1. Mary Elizabeth Lease – joined the Alliance as well as the Knights of Labor and
applied or oratorical gifts to the cause of free silver (?????)

a) Viewed the urban-industrial East as the enemy of the working classes

2. Thomas E. Watson – GA, urged African American tenant farmers and

sharecroppers to join w/their white counterparts in ousting the white political elite.

P. The Populist Party and the Election of 1892

1. 1891 – delegates met to form the People’s Party

a) William Peffer and Tom Watson were the 1st People’s party candidates
elected to the Senate.

2. Focused on issues of finance, transportation, and land. Demanded

implementation of the subtreasury plan, unlimited coinage of silver, and increase in the
money supply, and a graduated income tax. Forbid land ownership by immigrants who
were not citizens.

a) Candidate: James B. Weaver (Iowa)

3. 1892 campaign: Democrats: Cleveland; Republicans: Benjamin Harrison

4. Populists believed that God was on their side in their fight

Q. The Economy and the Silver Situation

1. The nation’s money supply in the late 19 th century lacked the flexibility to grow
along w/the expanding economy.

2. Mint Act of 1792: authorized free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at a
ratio of 15:1. 1837 Congress changed the ratio to 16:1.

R. Depression of 1893

1. Philadelphia and Reading Railroad declared bankruptcy, setting off a national

financial panic.

2. Jacob S. Coxey – Ohio Populist who demanded that the fed. Gov. provide the
unemployed w/meaningful work
Title Description
Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner's 1873 novel, the title of which became
the popular name for the period from the end of the Civil War to the turn of the
The Gilded Age century.
Chapter 20 Outline

1877 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld a Granger law allowing the state to
Munn v. Illinois regulate grain elevators.

Wabash Railroad v. Reversing the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Munn v. Illinois, the 1886 decision
Illinois disallowed state regulation of interstate commerce.
In 1868 guaranteed rights of citizenship to former slaves, in words similar to those
Fourteenth Amendment of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
The appointive offices that were available on both the local and national levels,
and were expected to be filled after an election by individuals on the side of the
spoils of office winning party.
Republican President in the aftermath of Reconstruction from 1877 to 1881,
known for his new style of uprightness, a sharp contrast to the graft and
Rutherford B. Hayes corruption of the Grant administration.

Conservative Republican party faction during the presidency of Rutherford B.

Hayes, 1877-81; led by Senator Roscoe B. Conkling of New York, Stalwarts opposed
Stalwarts civil service reform and favored a third term for President Ulysses S. Grant.
During the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-81, a moderate Republican
party faction led by Senator James G. Blaine that favored some reforms of the civil
Half-Breeds service system and a restrained policy toward the defeated South.
Republican Senator from New York who led the Stalwarts during the presidency of
Rutherford B, Hayes, 1877-81; involved in a scandal over corrupt federal custom
Roscoe Conkling houses that pitted him against the president.
Republican Senator from Maine who led the Half-Breeds during the presidency of
Rutherford B, Hayes, narrowly lost to Grover Cleveland in the 1884 presidential
James G. Blaine election, and served as secretary of State under Benjamin Harrison.
Replaced the spoils system, which filled federal government jobs with persons
civil service loyal to the party, with a merit system for public employees.
Passed in 1878 over President Rutherford B. Hayes's veto, the inflationary measure
authorized the purchase each month of 2 to 4 million dollars' worth of silver for
Bland-Allison Act coinage.
A distinguished Civil War veteran who became speaker of the house and was
elected president in 1881; was shot by a disgruntled office seeker and died from
James A. Garfield complications after a little over six months in office.

Government project or measure that includes benefits for most congressional

pork barrel districts.

Pendleton Civil Service Established the Civil Service Commission in 1883 and marked the end of the spoils
Act system.

Mongrel Tariff 1883 tariff that applied diverse rates for different commodities.
Name given to the reform element of the Republican party by party regulars who
considered them the "good government" crowd for ignoring partisan realities; also
goo-goo called the Mugwumps.
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Reform wing of the Republican party which supported Democrat Grover Cleveland
for president in 1884 over Republican James G. Blaine, whose influence peddling
Mugwump had been revealed in the Mulligan letters of 1876.
Reform Democrat who rose rapidly from obscurity to the White House; elected
president first in 1884 and then in 1892; his presidency represented no sharp
break with the conservative policies of his predecessors, except in opposing
governmental favors to business, but was noteworthy for railroad regulation and
Grover Cleveland tariff reform.
Phrase that may have cost James G. Blaine the 1885 presidential election; Blaine
lost much of the Irish vote when a delegation of Protestant ministers visited
Republican headquarters in New York, and one of them referred to the Democrats
"rum, Romanism, and as the party of "rum, romanism, and rebellion," an insult to Catholics that Blaine
rebellion" let slide.
Interstate Commerce Reacting to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Wabash Railroad v. Illinois, Congress
Commission established the ICC to curb abuses in the railroad industry by regulating rates.
Republican who defeated Grover Cleveland in the election of 1888; was a
competent and earnest figurehead whose administration was known for its
extravagant expenditures on military pensions and other programs but also
Benjamin Harrison enacted some of the most significant legislation of the entire period.
Political movement that grew out of the Patrons of Husbandry, an educational and
social organization for farmers founded in 1867; the Grange had its greatest
success in the Midwest of the 1870s, lobbying for government control of railroad
Granger movement and grain elevator rates and establishing farmers' cooperatives.
An educational and social organization for farmers founded in 1867, better known
Patrons of Husbandry as the Grange.
Formed in 1876 in reaction to economic depression, the party favored issuance of
unsecured paper money to help farmers repay debts; the movement for free
Greenback party coinage of silver took the place of the greenback movement by the 1880s.

Two separate organizations (Northwestern and Southern) of the 1880s and 1890s
that took the place of the Grange, worked for similar causes, and attracted
Farmers' Alliances landless, as well as landed, farmers to their membership.
Colorful leader of the farm movement in Kansas (as well as one of the state's first
female lawyers) who was a fiery public speaker on behalf of various causes such as
Mary Elizabeth Lease Irish nationalism, temperance, women's suffrage and free silver.
A charismatic agrarian radical who embraced the Alliance movement and was
"Sockless Jerry" Simpson elected to Congress in 1890.
The fixed ratio of the value of silver to gold that Congress established in 1837; 16
16:01 ounces of silver were considered equal to one ounce of gold.
Presidential candidate for the Populist party in the election of 1892 who was
James B. Weaver defeated by Grover Cleveland.
free and unlimited Owners of precious metals could have any quantity of their gold or silver coined
coinage free, except for a nominal fee to cover costs.
Term used by advocates of currency inflation to denounce Congress' general
revision of the coinage laws in 1873 dropping the provision for the coinage of
Crime of '73 silver, which they said was a move to ensure a scarcity of money.
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Protest group led by Jacob S. Coxey, a wealthy Ohio quarry owner turned Populist
that demanded that the federal government provide unemployed people with
meaningful work; its march on Washington attested to the growing political
Coxey's Army strength of populism.
Leader of the pro-silver forces, whose "Cross of Gold" speech at the Democratic
convention won him the Democratic presidential nomination, but fractured the
Democratic party into pro-silver and pro-Gold factions; he would ultimately lost to
William McKinley in the election of 1896 but his impassioned candidacy helped
transform the Democratic party into a vigorous instrument of "progressive" reform
William Jennings Bryan during the early twentieth century.