By: Ms. Susan M. PojerHorace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY

with additional slides by Bob Daugherty

By: Ms. Susan M. PojerHorace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY

with additional slides by Bob Daugherty

Gilded AgeGilded Age• The term Gilded Age comes

from Mark Twain as the title of one of his books

• On the outside the wealth might have looked like gold but in reality was only a thin layer of gild

• Politics of time is of little substance

• Forgettable presidents who rarely serve two terms

• Politicians and parties avoided taking stances

• Problems were largely ignored

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

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

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

2.2.Intense Intense Voter Voter

Loyalty Loyalty to theto the

Two MajorTwo MajorPolitical Political PartiesParties

(brass (brass bands, bands, flags, flags,

campaign campaign buttons, buttons, picnics, picnics,

free beer!)free beer!)

80% of 80% of voters voters turned turned

out!out!

2.2.Intense Intense Voter Voter

Loyalty Loyalty to theto the

Two MajorTwo MajorPolitical Political PartiesParties

(brass (brass bands, bands, flags, flags,

campaign campaign buttons, buttons, picnics, picnics,

free beer!)free beer!)

80% of 80% of voters voters turned turned

out!out!

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)

“Solid South”

Catholics

Recent immigrants(esp. Jews)

Urban working poor (pro-labor)

Most farmers

Northern whites(pro-business and pro-tariff)

African Americans

Northern Protestants

Old WASPs (supportfor anti-immigrant laws)

Most of the middleclass

4. Very Laissez Faire 4. Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt.Federal Govt.

4. Very Laissez Faire 4. Very Laissez Faire Federal Govt.Federal Govt. From 1870-1900 Govt. did very

little domestically.

Supreme Court opposed efforts to regulate business

Main duties of the federal govt.:

Deliver the mail.

Maintain a national military.

Collect taxes & tariffs.

Conduct a foreign policy.

administer the annual Civil War veterans’ pension.

Last Civil War Widow (and Pensioner)Alberta Martin

She married a Confederate veteran in 1927 when she was 21 years old.

He was 81.

He died four years later.

They had a son!

She died in 2004 at age 97 (and was still collecting her 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

Blaine and Conkling ruled.

Presidential candidates should avoid offending any factions within theirown party.

The President just doled out federal jobs.

Blaine of the “Halfbreeds”

Conkling of the “Stalwarts”

6. Patronage6. Patronage6. Patronage6. Patronage Politics meant

getting elected, holding office and rewarding party faithful with government jobs

1865 53,000 people worked for the federal govt.

1890 166,000

Conkling controlled New York Customs House jobs

Senator Roscoe Conkling

Leader of the Stalwart

Republicans

1880 Presidential 1880 Presidential Election: RepublicansElection: Republicans

1880 Presidential 1880 Presidential Election: RepublicansElection: Republicans

Half BreedsHalf Breeds StalwartsStalwarts

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

James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur (VP)

compromise

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

Election: DemocratsElection: Democrats

Inspecting the Inspecting the Democratic Curiosity Democratic Curiosity

ShopShop

Inspecting the Inspecting the Democratic Curiosity Democratic Curiosity

ShopShop

1880 1880 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

1880 1880 Presidential Presidential

ElectionElection

Garfield won by a mere 10,000 votes!

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

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

Shot by disappointed (really insane) office seeker named Charles Guiteau

Garfield lived for eleven weeks

Doctor's unsanitary practices contributed to his death

Chester A. Arthur:Chester A. Arthur:The Fox in the Chicken The Fox in the Chicken

Coop?Coop?

Chester A. Arthur:Chester A. Arthur:The Fox in the Chicken The Fox in the Chicken

Coop?Coop?

Chester A. Arthur: “A Chester A. Arthur: “A Pleasant Surprise”Pleasant Surprise”

Chester A. Arthur: “A Chester A. Arthur: “A Pleasant Surprise”Pleasant Surprise”Most expected very little from Arthur

Distanced himself from Conkling and the Stalwarts by refusing to hire Garfield's picks

He began building the US Navy that would win the Spanish-American War

Redecorated the White House (by Louis Tiffany)

Supported Civil Service Reform (“Only Nixon could go to China syndrome”)

Did not get nominated for own term as president as a result

Died of Bright's Disease shortly after term

Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883)Pendleton Act (1883) One good thing that

comes out of Garfield’s assassination

Civil Service Act.

The “Magna Carta” of civil service reform.

1883 14,000 out of117,000 federal govt.jobs required civilservice exams

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

Civil Service employees could not make political campaign donations

Politicians would depend on the rich and party workers to get elected

Republican Republican “Mugwumps”“Mugwumps”

Republican Republican “Mugwumps”“Mugwumps” Reformers who wouldn’t re-nominate

Chester A. Arthur.

Reform to them create a disinterested, impartial govt. run by an educated elite like themselves.

Social Darwinists (the reason that some succeed and others fail is due to their character)

Laissez faire government to them:

Favoritism & the spoils system seen as govt. intervention in society.

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