Political Paralysis

Political Paralysis

in the Gilded Age

(1869-1896)

Chapter 23

Define the following terms and people:

“waving the bloody shirt” –plutocrat – business and political insiders (leaders)

political machine –.

filibuster –

quorum –

Panic of 1873 (causes)–

1.“The Gilded Age” or the “Era of Good Stealings” – 1870’s : Define the

following schemes of corruption on the municipal, state and national level. These

will lead to pushes to reform the civil service system.

Black Friday

Tweed Ring + Tammany Hall–

Thomas Nast–

Credit Mobilier Affair–

Whiskey Ring-

Belknap Scandal–

2.“Currency Reform” – Define these terms

Ohio Idea–

“hard money” –

greenbacks (soft money)–

contraction of the money supply –

Greenback Labor Party –

“Crime of 1873” –

Resumption Act of 1875 –

Comstock Lode and impact on currency issues –

Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1878) –

3.Currency “Reform” –Analyze the difference in opinion between what debtors

(agrarians) thought should happen to the money supply and what creditors

(bankers) thought should happen to the money supply. Explain their opposing

reasoning. Who was successful in the end?

4.Currency “Reform” What was the currency policy under the Grant and Hayes

administrations in the 1870’s? Which side was favored – agrarians or eastern

bankers?

5.Define the minor divisions within the Republican Party by identifying the

following people or factions and what they tended to support.

Liberal Republicans (Horace Greeley) – 1872

Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) –

Stalwart Faction (Roscoe Conkling)

“Half-Breeds” (James G. Blaine) –

mugwumps –

Mulligan Letters –

6.Define the Compromise of 1877. Why was it significant? (2 reasons)

7.Characterize the economic and political status of African-Americans in the South

following the end of Reconstruction in 1877 by defining these terms

Redeemers –

“crop-lien” system –

Jim Crow laws (ex.) –

Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896)

8.How did the South ensure that African-Americans would be disfranchised from

the political process?

9.Pendleton Civil Service Act (1881) – characterized as the “Magna Carta of Civil

Service Reform” what did it do? Did it achieve its ends? How did elected

officials get around it?

10.Characterize the Republican government policy concerning the issues below in the 1880’s and 1890’s and which constituent groups were favored by them and which were hurt. Also, where did Cleveland stand on these issues?

Tariffs – (McKinley Tariff) –

Surplus –

Veteran pensions –

public works projects to relieve the depression of 1893–

11.The Billion Dollar Congress – What does this phrase tell a student of history

about this time period? What were the actions of Czar Reedand what do they

illustrate about Republican tendencies in the 1890’s? Was there any long-lasting

impacts caused by the Congressional elections of 1890?

12.Populist Party (1892) Define its constituency base and its platform

13.Why did the Depression of 1893 occur? What attempts did Cleveland take to

stem it?

14.Though Cleveland had integrity, explain why he will lose his agrarian and labor

support in his second term in dealing with these issues and whether you think he

was correct in his actions (also, why)

Repeal of the Silver Purchase Act –

Pullman Car Strike (1895)

$100 million Gold Bond deal (“Morgan’s Errand Boy”) –

Wilson-Gorman Tariff (1894) –

15The Forgettable Presidents - Define who they were and why they were called

this.

Left over issues:

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 – No more Chinese will be allowed to immigrate to the US. Those here can remain Resulted from labor strife in West in competition for jobs.

Homestead Strike of 1892 – Pinkerton detectives hired to put down strikers at Homestead Steel plant. Violence erupted, eventually troops called in.