What is the Gilded Age?

Mark Twain co-authored a novel entitled The Gilded Age in 1873. The process of gilding involves applying a thin layer of gold to an object to make it appear more valuable. Twain’s title is used by historians to describe a time period in American History that is characterized by prosperity and industrialization that thinly disguised corruption in politics and business.

Characteristics of this time period

• Political corruption• Materialism • Polarized wealth • Industry• Ethnic diversity (beginning

1880)

                                                                                 

The wealthy lived extravagant lifestyles and considered themselves elitists.

The common people resented their snobbish attitudes and wealth. There was a caste system in the U.S.

1861---------3 millionaires----------1900--------3,800 1900, 90% of wealth, controlled by 10% of population.

In 1890, 11 million of the nation's 12 million families earned less than $1200 per year; of this group, the average annual income was $380, well below the poverty line. Rural Americans and new immigrants crowded

into urban areas. 

What does the economy have to do with politics and

the Gilded Age?

A Two-Party Stalemate

A Two-Party Stalemate

Two-Party “Balance”Two-Party “Balance”

• Why did people participate in politics at this time? (there 3 big ones)

• How did the reasons mentioned above affect voter turn outs?

• How is party loyalty different today? How is it the same? (How do people choose a party?)

• Region, religion, ethnicity

Intense Voter

Loyalty to the

Two MajorPolitical Parties

Intense Voter

Loyalty to the

Two MajorPolitical Parties

Well-Defined Voting Blocs

Well-Defined Voting Blocs

DemocraticBloc

RepublicanBloc

White southerners(preservation ofwhite supremacy)

Catholics

Recent immigrants(esp.Jewish immigrants)

Urban working poor (pro-labor)

Most farmers

Northern whites(pro-business)

African Americans

Northern Protestants

“old stock”

Most of the middleclass

Pro immigration restriction & temperance

What was one issue the parties focused on? (there weren’t

many)

Name one thing the government had supported

financially.

National Government• Delivered the mail, maintained the military,

conducted foreign policy, collected tariffs and taxes.

• Supported economic development.• Gave subsidies to the RR. • Pensions for Veterans• The two parties and the bosses that ran

them were more powerful. • Presidents pretty much just made

appointments. (100,000)

Political Machine• Organized group that controls

a city’s political party

• Give services to voters businesses for political, financial support

• After Civil War, machines gain control of major cities

• Machine organization: precinct captains, ward bosses, city boss

The Emergence of Political Machines

• When French prime minister Georges Clemenceau visited, he said the nation had gone from a stage of barbarism to one of decadence -- without achieving any civilization between the two.

The Role of the Political Boss• May serve as mayor he:

• controls city jobs, business licenses• influences courts, municipal agencies• arranges building projects, community

services•Bosses paid by businesses, get voters’ loyalty, extend influence

Immigrants and the Machine• Many captains, bosses 1st or 2nd generation Americans• Machines help immigrants with naturalization, jobs, housing

Election Fraud and Graft•Machines use electoral fraud to win elections•Graft—illegal use of political influence for personal gain•Machines take kickbacks, bribes to allow illegal activities

The Tweed Ring in NYC

The Tweed Ring in NYC

William Marcy Tweed (notorious head of Tammany Hall’s political machine)

[Thomas Nast crusading cartoonist/reporter]

• Corrupt political leader put New York City in debtü Political boss

• 1851 elected to city council• 1852 served in Congress

• Kept Democratic Party in power in NYC called Tammany Hall

• Formed the Tweed Ring• Bought votes, encouraged corruption,

controlled NYC politics

Received large fees for (*kickbacks) from the

Erie Railroad

Tweed Ring milked the city with false leases,

padded bills, false vouchers, unnecessary repairs and over-priced

goods *Return of a portion of the money

received in a sale or contract often illegal and corrupt in return

for special favors.

v Exposed for his corruption by cartoonist and editor, Thomas

Nast. v Nast had been assailing the Tweed Ring for years through his creative and powerful images, but

intensified his assault in the summer and fall of 1871.  Boss Tweed reportedly exclaimed,  “I

don't care a straw for your newspaper articles; my

constituents don’t know how to read, but they can’t help seeing

them damned pictures!"  v 1873 Tweed convicted of embezzlement. Jailed in NYC,

later died there

Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt.

Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt.« From 1870-1900 Govt. did

verylittle domestically.

« Main duties of the federal govt.:

Ø Deliver the mail.

Ø Maintain a national military.

Ø Collect taxes & tariffs.

Ø Conduct a foreign policy.

« Exception administer the annual Civil War veterans’ pension.

The Presidency as a Symbolic Office

The Presidency as a Symbolic Office

« Party bosses ruled.

« Presidents should avoid offending anyfactions within theirown party.

« The President justdoled out federal jobs.

Ø 1865 53,000 people worked for the federal govt.

Ø 1890 166,000 “ “ “ “ “ “

Senator Roscoe Conkling

1880 Presidential Election: Republicans

1880 Presidential Election: Republicans

Half Breeds Stalwarts

Sen. James G. Blaine Sen. Roscoe Conkling (Maine) (New York)

James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur (VP)

compromise

• Stalwarts (Republicans) led by Senator Roscoe Conkling of NY.

• Stalwarts ready for reform were known as the Half-Breeds (half Republican, named by the Stalwarts), and led by James Blaine from Maine. – Garfield makes Blaine his Sec of State.

1880 Presidential Election: Democrats1880 Presidential

Election: Democrats

Republicans

1880 Presidential

Election

1880 Presidential

Election

Garfield and Arthur• Popular vote- smallest difference in history• Charles J. Guiteau (Stalwart) shoots Garfield and the President dies on September 19, 1881- early instance of insanity case

1881: Garfield Assassinated!1881: Garfield Assassinated!

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

• Guiteau was hanged for murder• Arthur surprised many critics

– Pendleton Act of 1883• Competitive Examinations

• Republicans abandon Arthur, he dies in 1886- cerebral hemorrhage

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.

• Known as a man of elegant taste who loved to throw lavish parties, Arthur came to the presidency as "The Gentleman Boss." Disgusted with the shabby look of the executive mansion, Arthur hired the most famous designer in New York, Louis Comfort Tiffany, to transform it into a showplace befitting the office. His wife, Ellen Lewis Herndon, had died before he assumed office. And although Arthur loved to showcase his two children at White House social affairs, he much preferred fishing, feasting with his cronies, and administrative work to family life. Because he knew that he suffered from a fatal kidney disease, Arthur did not actively seek reelection for a second term and died less than two years after leaving office.

• http://millercenter.org/president/arthur/essays/biography/1

1884 Presidential Election

1884 Presidential Election

Grover Cleveland James Blaine * (DEM) (REP)

Republican “Mugwumps”Republican

“Mugwumps”« Republicans who switched parties and supported Cleveland in 1884. Cleveland was known to be the veto governor, who fought corruption in NY.

« Social Darwinists, they believed in the elite being in charge..

ØTheir target was political corruption, not social or economic reform!

TheMugwu

mps

TheMugwu

mpsMen may come and men may go, but the work of reform shall go on forever.

« Will support Cleveland in the1884 election.

A Dirty Campaign

A Dirty Campaign

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

“The continental liar from the state of Maine!”

• Was Sec of State for Garfield

Rum, Romanism & Rebellion!

Rum, Romanism & Rebellion! Made in reference

to the Democratic Party.

Blaine was slow torepudiate the remark, possibly causing many Catholics to vote Cleveland.

Narrow victory forCleveland [he wins NY by only 1149 votes!

Dr. Samuel Burchard,

supporter of Blaine

1884 Presidential

Election

1884 Presidential

Election

Cleveland’s First TermCleveland’s First Term

« The “Veto Governor” from New York.

« First Democratic elected since 1856.

« A public office is a public trust!

« His laissez-faire presidency:

Ø Opposed bills to assist the poor aswell as the rich. Ø“The government should not support the people”

Ø Vetoed over 200 special pension billsfor Civil War veterans!

Bravo, Señor Clevelando!

Bravo, Señor Clevelando!

The Tariff IssueThe Tariff Issue« After the Civil War, Congress raised

tariffs to protect new US industries.

« Big business wanted to continue this;consumers did not.

« 1885 tariffs earned the US $100 mil. in surplus!

« Mugwumps opposed it WHY???

« President Cleveland’s view on tariffs????

« Tariffs became a major issue in the 1888 presidential election.

Filing the Rough Edges

Filing the Rough Edges

Tariff of 1888

1888 Presidential Election

1888 Presidential Election

Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison

(DEM) * (REP)

• Republicans raised and spent a lot of money to get Harrison elected.

• Seen as the most corrupt election in US history.

1888 Presidential

Election

1888 Presidential

Election

Disposing the Surplus

Disposing the Surplus

Changing Public Opinion

Changing Public Opinion« Americans wanted the federal govt. to

dealwith growing soc. & eco. problems & to curbthe power of the trusts:

Ø Interstate Commerce Act – 1887

Ø Sherman Antitrust Act – 1890

Ø McKinley Tariff – 1890

§ Based on the theory that prosperityflowed directly from protectionism.

§ Increased already high rates another 4%!

1892 Presidential Election

1892 Presidential Election

Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison

again! * (DEM) (REP)

1892 Presidential

Election

1892 Presidential

Election

Cleveland Loses Support Fast!

Cleveland Loses Support Fast!« The only President to serve two non-

consecutive terms.

« Blamed for the 1893 Panic.

« Defended the gold standard by repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act (Cleveland said the US had weakened gold reserves and did not need to purchase silver)

« Used federal troops in the 1894Pullman strike.

« Refused to sign the Wilson-GormanTariff of 1894.

Populists – “People’s Party”

• Formed out of the Grange (est. by Oliver Kelley in the 1860s) & Farmer Alliances (1875)– Originally social groups to help unite the few families

on the plains– Began to work to improve the lot of the farmers – co-

ops, silos etc. • Mostly small farmers who could not compete with

big, mechanized farms• A lot of participation by women.

– Mary Lease “raise less corn & more hell”• For coinage of silver, to increase money in

circulation so that they could pay off debts easier.

Omaha Platform1892 & James Weaver for President

• 1890 Farmers’ Alliances met in Ocala, Fl and issued the Ocala Demands

• Federal warehouses (collateral)• Abolition of national banks• Direct election of US Senators• End absentee landownership• Regulation of railroads, phones, telegraphs• Post offices with savings banks inside• Graduated income tax (wealthy pay more)• Coinage of silver

Silver & Gold Issue• Value was 16 to 1• Crime of ’73 (Govt stops coining silver because miners

weren’t selling it to the mint because the value was so low)

• Populist called for the “dollar of their daddy” after the panic of 1893, becomes THE ISSUE in the 1896 presidential election

• Cross of Gold Speech of by Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan – The Democrats were looking to get the vote of the Populists and

before Bryan’s speech they were split on their platform concerning silver

– "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold".– Populist decide to support the Democrats and WJ

Bryan.

Democrats 1896

Youngest man ever nominated for President & the first to travel around to campaign.

Republicans 1896

McKinley

• Republicans spent a lot of money again! $7 million compared to the Democrats $300,000

• They believed gold was essential to the honor and survival of the nation

Results

McKinley comes into office & things calm down

• Exhaustion of dissent: labor unrest had subsided, agrarian protest declined, gradual easing of economic crisis

• Dingley Tariff (raises tariffs again)• Gold Standard Act of 1900• Foreign crops fails helping out America• America enters another cycle of prosperity

• Possibly due to new gold mining techniques.