gilded age1

Gilded Age

1. A Two-Party 1. A Two-Party StalemateStalemate

1. A Two-Party 1. A Two-Party StalemateStalemate

Intense Intense

Voter Voter Loyalty Loyalty

to theto theTwo Two

MajorMajorPoliticaPolitica

l l PartiesParties

Intense Intense

Voter Voter Loyalty Loyalty

to theto theTwo Two

MajorMajorPoliticaPolitica

l l PartiesParties

3. Well-Defined Voting 3. Well-Defined Voting BlocsBlocs

3. Well-Defined Voting 3. Well-Defined Voting BlocsBlocs

DemocraticBloc

DemocraticBloc

RepublicanBloc

RepublicanBloc

White southerners(preservation ofwhite supremacy)

Catholics

Recent immigrants(esp. Jews)

Urban working poor (pro-labor)

Most farmers

Northern whites(pro-business)

African Americans

Northern Protestants

Old WASPs (supportfor anti-immigrant laws)

Most of the middleclass

Well-Defined Voting Well-Defined Voting Blocs 2009Blocs 2009

emocraticBloc

Democrats RepublicansCatholics Pro businessJewishProtestants Catholics – pro lifeAfrican Americans ProtestantsRecent immigrants

Women women – pro lifeMost Farmers farmers in mid westYoung votersLower middle class Upper middle classMiddle class

Very Laissez Faire Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt.Federal Govt.

Very Laissez Faire Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt.Federal Govt.

From 1870-1900 Govt. did verylittle domestically.

Main duties of the federal govt.:

Deliver the mail.

Maintain a national military.

Collect taxes & tariffs.

Conduct a foreign policy.

Exception administer the annual Civil War veterans’ pension.

5. The Presidency as a 5. The Presidency as a Symbolic OfficeSymbolic Office

5. The Presidency as a 5. The Presidency as a Symbolic OfficeSymbolic Office Party bosses ruled.

Presidents should avoid offending anyfactions within theirown party.

The President justdoled out federal jobs.

1865 53,000 people worked for the federal govt.

1890 166,000 “ “ “ “ “ “

1880 Presidential 1880 Presidential Election: RepublicansElection: Republicans

1880 Presidential 1880 Presidential Election: RepublicansElection: Republicans

James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur (VP)

1880 Presidential 1880 Presidential Election: DemocratsElection: Democrats1880 Presidential 1880 Presidential

Election: DemocratsElection: Democrats

1880 1880 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

1880 1880 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

1881: Garfield 1881: Garfield Assassinated!Assassinated!1881: Garfield 1881: Garfield Assassinated!Assassinated!

Charles Guiteau:I Am a Stalwart, and Arthur is President now!

Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883)

Civil Service Act.

The “Magna Carta” of civil service reform.

1883 14,000 out of117,000 federal govt.jobs became civilservice exam positions.

1900 100,000 out of 200,000 civil service federal govt. jobs.

1884 Presidential 1884 Presidential ElectionElection

1884 Presidential 1884 Presidential ElectionElection

Grover Cleveland James Blaine * (DEM) (REP)

A Dirty A Dirty CampaignCampaign

A Dirty A Dirty CampaignCampaign

Ma, Ma…where’s my pa?He’s going to the White House, ha… ha… ha…!

1884 1884 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

1884 1884 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

Cleveland’s First Cleveland’s First TermTerm

Cleveland’s First Cleveland’s First TermTerm The “Veto Governor” from New

York.

First Democratic elected since 1856.

A public office is a public trust!

His laissez-faire presidency:

Opposed bills to assist the poor aswell as the rich.

Vetoed over 200 special pension billsfor Civil War veterans!

Interstate Commerce Act - 1887

No more rebates Set up Interstate Commerce

Commission – regulate the railroad Commission weak until Congress

passed more effective enforcement laws

1888 Presidential 1888 Presidential ElectionElection

1888 Presidential 1888 Presidential ElectionElection

Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison (DEM) * (REP)

Sherman Anti-Trust

No more trusts or monopolies Enforcement difficult Courts used it to control unions instead

of businesses

1892 Presidential 1892 Presidential ElectionElection

1892 Presidential 1892 Presidential ElectionElection

Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison again! * (DEM) (REP)

Cleveland Loses Cleveland Loses Support Fast!Support Fast!

Cleveland Loses Cleveland Loses Support Fast!Support Fast! The only President to serve

two non-consecutive terms.

Blamed for the 1893 Panic.

Defended the gold standard.

Used federal troops in the 1894Pullman strike.

Reforms and Reformers

Reformers – progressives

forward thinking people who wanted

to improve American life

the ills of society could be solved or

cured

Robert La Follette“Battling Bob”

More direct participation in government Introduced Primaries

voter’s select party’s candidates

Initiative – voters can propose legislation

Referendum- voters can overturn an existing law

Recall- voters can remove elected officials from office

Mother Jones

Mary Harris Jones March of the Mill Children Child Labor laws passed by states

“Slowly the cause of his children becomes the cause of all.”

John Muir

Protector of the Environment

Worked to set aside land for Parks

Upton Sinclair

Mukraker The Jungle – best

seller Congress passed

Meat Inspection Act Congress passed

Pure Food and Drug Act

Alice Paul

Wanted to win suffrage by constitutional amendment

states in the west gave women right to vote

Carrie Chapman Catt organized plans to win the right to vote

1920 – 19th amendment ratified

Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

Organized in 1874 Spoke out against “evils of

alcohol” Carrie Nation

radical crusader

18th Amendment – illegal to

sell alcohol in

United States

ratified in 1919

W.E.B. DuBois

Discrimination Lynching Disagreed with Booker T Washington –

education would win respect and jobs NAACP – worked for equal rights

Two Amendments

Income tax – 16 Amendment – ratified in 1913

Direct election on Senators – 17th Amendment

ratified in 1913

Election of 1896

William McKinley William Jennings Bryan

Republican Democrat

McKinley

USS Maine explodes in Cuban harbor Spanish-American war (chapter 23)

Election of 1900

William McKinley William Jennings Bryan

Republican Democrat

Teddy Roosevelt26th President

Intervenes in coal mining strike Makes Philippines a United States

territory Begins work on Panama Canal Youngest President (42)

Election of 1904

Roosevelt Alton B Parker

Republican Democrat

Teddy Roosevelt

Hepburn Act Meat Inspection Act Pure Food and Drug Act

Election of 1908

William Howard Taft Bryan Republican Democrat

Taft – 27th President

Triangle Shirtwaist company fire Standard Oil asked to dissolve under

Sherman Anti-Trust act Eight hour work day for all workers with

federal contracts 16th amendment ratified

Election of 1912

Taft Woodrow Wilson Teddy RooseveltRepublican Democrat Bull Moose

In 1912 presidential campaign saw issues raised that raised questions about the future of

American democracy,direct democracyconservation of natural resources

the future shape of the American economy,

the tariff regulation of big business labor question

and the relationship between the federal government and American citizens. 

women voting

race problems

Wilson – 28th President

New Freedom Federal Reserve system established 17th amendments ratified Panama Canal is completed WWI begins in Europe