Gilded Age

the term referring to the corrupt political era after Reconstruction. coined by Mark Twain

patronage

(politics) granting favors or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support same thing as spoils system

Compromise of 1877

Unwritten deal that settled the 1876 presidential election contest between Rutherford Hayes (Rep) and Samuel Tilden (Dem.) Hayes was awarded the presidency in exchange for the permanent removal of federal troops from the South. It was the end of Reconstruction.

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Gave blacks the privilege of American citizenship and denied states' the right to restrict blacks of their property, testify in court, and make contracts for their labor. Johnson vetoed this, but Congress voted to override the veto.

sharecropping

system in which landowners leased a few acres of land to farmworkers in return for a portion of their crops

Jim Crow

The system of racial segregation in the South that was created in the late nineteenth century following the end of.Reconstruction

Plessy v. Ferguson

a 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal. established "separate but equal"

Chinese Exclusion Act

(1882) Denied any additional Chinese laborers to enter the country while allowing students and merchants to immigrate.

Pendleton Act

a Civil Service Commission and stated that federal employees had to take Civil Service Exam and could not be forced to contribute to political campaigns

Homestead Strike

1892 steelworker strike near Pittsburgh against the Carnegie Steel Company. Ten workers were killed in a riot when "scab" labor was brought in to force an end to the strike.

grandfather clause

Said that a citizen could vote only if his grandfather had been able to vote.

Horace Greeley

responsible for elephant being used as symbol of Republican party

Rutherford B. Hayes

1877-1881, Republican, against Tilden (played role to crush Tweed Ring), ended Reconstruction through Compromise of 1877.

James Garfield

Less than four months of taking office in 1881, he was assassinated. His assassination led to the Pendleton Civil Service Reform of 1883.

Chester Arthur

He was the Vice President of James A. Garfield. . He was also in favor of civil service reform.passed the Pendleton Act

Grover Cleveland

22nd and 24th president, Democrat, Honest and hardworking, fought corruption, vetoed hundreds of wasteful bills, achieved the Interstate Commerce Commission and civil service reform, violent suppression of strikes.

Tom Watson

elected to the U.S Congress, became known as a champion of Georgia's farmers, and he sponsored and pushed through a law providing for RFD-rural free delivery

WIlliam Jennings Bryan

This Democratic and Populist Party candidate ran for president most famously in 1896 His goal of "free silver" (unlimited coinage of silver) - Cross of Gold Speech

bimetallism

Gold & Silver - cause of panic of 1893

new immigrants

Came from southern and eastern europe largely illiterate & impoverished.

Coxey's Army

Protest march of unemployed workers led by Jacob Coxey. Marched on Washington in 1894.

Free silver 16:1

"heaven born ratio" this meant the silver was worth about 50 cents.

Populist

Out of the Farmers Alliance a new political party emerged in the early 1890s- these frustrated farmers attacked Wall street and the money trust.

Ulysses S. Grant

an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War.

"Let Us Have Peace"

Grant's slogan

"Jubilee Jim" Fisk and Jay Gould

devised a plot to drastically raise the price of the gold market in 1869. On "Black Friday," September 24, 1869, the two bought a large amount of gold, planning to sell it for a profit. In order to lower the high price of gold, the Treasury was forced to sell gold from its reserves.

Jay Gould

United States financier who gained control of the Erie Canal and who caused a financial panic in 1869 when he attempted to corner the gold market (1836-1892)

Boss Tweed

William Tweed, head of Tammany Hall, NYC's powerful democratic political machine in 1868. Between 1868 and 1869 he led the Tweed Reign, a group of corrupt politicians in defrauding the city. Example: Responsible for the construction of the NY court house; actual construction cost $3million. Project cost tax payers $13million.

Thomas Nast

A famous caricaturist and editorial cartoonist in the 19th century and is considered to be the father of American political cartooning. His artwork was primarily based on political corruption. He helped people realize the corruption of some politicians

Samuel Tilden

Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in the disputed election of 1876, the most controversial American election of the 19th century. A political reformer, he was a Bourbon Democrat who worked closely with the New York City business community, led the fight against the corruption of Tammany Hall, and fought to keep taxes low

Whiskey Ring

During the Grant administration, a group of officials were importing whiskey and using their offices to avoid paying the taxes on it, cheating the treasury out of millions of dollars.

Inflation

A general and progressive increase in prices

"folding money"/"hard money"

During the war $450 million had been issued, but had depreciated. By1868 the Treasury had already withdrawn $100 million of the currency from circulation. "Hard money" people looked for its complete disappearance.

cheap money

The devaluation of currency due to an increase in the money supply.

Deflation

A situation in which prices are declining

Sacred White Metal

silver

contraction

a period of economic decline marked by falling real GDP

Grand Army of the Republic

This organization was founded by former Union soldiers after the Civil War. It lobbied Congress for aid and pensions for former Union soldiers. It was also a powerful lobbying influence within the Republican party.

Stalwarts

A faction of the Republican party in the ends of the 1800s Supported the political machine and patronage. Conservatives who hated civil service reform.

Halfbreeds

A political faction of the Republican Party; favored civil-service reform and the merit system. *Leaders:* James G. Blaine

James G. Blaine

a U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time United States Secretary of State, and champion of the Half-Breeds. He was a dominant Republican leader of the post Civil War period, obtaining the 1884 Republican nomination, but lost to Democrat Grover Cleveland

Electoral Count Act of 1877

passed by Congress in 1877, set up an electoral commission consisting of 15 men selected from the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court. It was made to determine which party would win the election. The committee finally determined, without opening the ballots from the 3 disputed states, that the Republicans had been victorious in the disputed ballots from the three states, giving the Republicans the presidency.

Filibuster

A procedural practice in the Senate whereby a senator refuses to relinquish the floor and thereby delays proceedings and prevents a vote on a controversial issue.

Civil Rights Cases (1883)

Name attached to five cases brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1875. In 1883, the Supreme Court decided that discrimination in a variety of public accommodations, including theaters, hotels, and railroads, could not be prohibited by the act because such discrimination was private discrimination and not state discrimination.

Crop Lien System

System that allowed farmers to get more credit. They used harvested crops to pay back their loans.

Great Railroad Strike of 1877

A large number of railroad workers went on strike because of wage cuts. After a month of strikes, President Hayes sent troops to stop the strike (example of how government always sided with employers over workers in the Gilded Age). The worst railroad violence was in Pittsburgh, with over 40 people killed by militia men

"not a Chinaman's chance"

racial slur for something not being possible. Possibly related to Gold Rush, railroad building with glycerine, or anti-Chinese laws in 1883

US v. Wong Kim (1898)

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 does not apply to Chinese born in the US who leave the US and later return. They are citizens of the US because they were born on US soil.

Birthright Citizenship

a legal right to citizenship for all children born in a country's territory, regardless of parentage.

Jus soil (law of soil)

you are a citizen of a local if you aer born within its borders

Winfield Scott Hancock

The democratic candidate for president in 1880 and civil war hero. He nearly took the national election, as Garfield failed to get a majority, but lost overwhelmingly in the Electoral College

Charles J. Guiteau

assassinated President James A. Garfield to make civil service reform a reality. He shot Garfield because he believed that the Republican Party had not fulfilled its promise to give him a government job

Spoils System

A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.

Civil Service Commission

created by Pendleton Act to oversee examinations for potential government employees

Pendleton Act (Civil Service Reform Act)

An act that established the principle of employment on the basis of merit and created the Civil Service Commission to administer the personnel service.

Mulligan Letters

the 1884 Republican presidential nominee, James Blaine, was accused of writing these letters that linked him to a corrupt deal involving federal favors to a southern railroad

Mugwumps

A group of renegade Republicans who supported 1884 Democratic presidential nominee Grover Cleveland instead of their party's nominee, James G. Blaine.

Laissez-faire

Idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs.

GAR

Grand Army of the Republic

pension grabbers

reference to people securing government pensions based upon Civil War service.

Tariff Issue

conflict between conservative NE businessmen (usually Republicans) who favored increasing these in order to protect sales of American-owned firms vs. more populistic consumers in big cities and west (usually Democrats) who opposed these because they led to higher prices

pork-barrel bills

When congress votes for an unnecessary building project so that a member can get more district popularity

Benjamin Harrison

23rd President; Republican, poor leader, introduced the McKinley Tariff and increased federal spending to a billion dollars

Billion Dollar Congress (1889-91)

Republican-controlled Congress known for its lavish spending. *Key Legislation:* *McKinley Tariff of 1890* - Increased duties on foreign goods to about 50 percent. *Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890* - Allowed the government to buy more silver to produce currency. *Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890* - Prohibited certain business activities that reduce competition in the marketplace.

McKinley Tariff Act of 1890

This was established by the Republican-led house in 1890 by Thomas B. Reed, and raised tariff rates to the highest peacetime rate ever, 48.4% on all dutiable goods. raised tariffs to the highest level they had ever been. Big business favored these tariffs because they protected U.S. businesses from foreign competition.

Farmers' Alliance

A Farmers' organization founded in late 1870s; worked for lower railroad freight rates, lower interest rates, and a change in the governments tight money policy

General James B. Weaver

Nominee of the populists in the election of 1892, after Leonidas Polk died shortly before convention. . At their conventions, the Republicans re-nominated Benjamin Harrison and the Democrats nominated former president Grover Cleveland. The Populists won over 1 million popular votes and twenty-two electoral votes. They cut into Republican strength in the Midwest and thus enabled Cleveland to carry the election.

a nationwide strike of railway workers in 1894

Pullman Strike

Pullman Strike (1894)

A staged walkout strike by railroad workers upset by drastic wage cuts. The strike was led by socialist Eugene Debs but not supported by the American Federation of Labor. Eventually President Grover Cleveland intervened because it was interfering with mail delivery and federal troops forced an end to the strike. The strike highlighted both divisions within labor and the government's continuing willingness to use armed force to combat work stoppages.

Depression of 1893

Profits dwindled, businesses went bankrupt and slid into debt. Caused loss of business confidence. 20% of the workforce unemployed. Let to the Pullman strike.

"endless-chain" operation

This happened when, with the inflation of currency with silver, people redeemed their certificates for gold, thus depleting the Treasury's supply. The gold reserve dropped below the safe $100 million per $350 million paper money, necessitating the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. In 1894 the gold reserve sank below $41 million, requiring Cleveland to seek nongovernmental help.

J. P. Morgan

Banker who buys out Carnegie Steel and renames it to U.S. Steel. Was a philanthropist in a way; he gave all the money needed for WWI and was payed back. Was one of the "Robber barons"

Wilson-Gorman Tariff

Meant to be a reduction of the McKinley Tariff, it would have created a graduated income tax, which was ruled unconstitutional.

Eugene V. Debs

Leader of the American Railway Union, he voted to aid workers in the Pullman strike. He was jailed for six months for disobeying a court order after the strike was over.