121A: The Gilded Age Flashcards
What is the Gilded Age?
The period in American history following reconstruction
What was the Gilded Age a period of?
Excessive corruption in political life
What were the interests of politicians during the Gilded Age?
Furthering selfish, often economic, interests rather than public good
What was the stereotypical view of politicians during this period?
They were small-minded and corrupt, using public office for their own interests and own private gain with little concern for the public good
What was the spoils system?
The practice whereby a political party, after winning, would give government jobs based on party loyalty as opposed to awarding offices on the basis of merit and administrative competence
What is another criticism of the Gilded Age?
There was no real difference between the main two political parties so there was little choice for the electorate
What have revisionist historians argued about the traditional view of the Gilded Age?
That they have emphasised the negative political developments of this period and ignored more positive features of this time
What do revisionist historians say about corrupt politicians?
They accept some took bribes and engaged in corrupt practices, but the percentage of those that took part was probably no higher than in other times in American History
What else do revisionist historians argue about the differences between the political parties?
There were actually significant differences between Republicans and Democrats
According to revisionists what did Republicans emphasise?
Government activism, especially at national level, to encourage economic development. The protective tariff emerged as their centre piece and they were keen to absorb immigrants
According to revisionists what did Democrats emphasise?
They held onto their party’s traditional belief in limited federal and state government intervention and opposed tariff reform and protectionism
