Chapter 23 - Political Paralysis in the gilded Age, 1869-1896 Flashcards
Ulysses S. Grant
18th President, former Union General, was closely responsible for victory over the Confederates in the Civil War.
Ohio Idea
The Ohio idea was an idea by poor Midwesterners during the US presidential election of 1868 to redeem federal war bonds in United States dollars, also known as greenbacks, rather than gold.
Horatio Seymour
He was the Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States in the presidential election of 1868, but lost the election to Republican and former Union General of the Army Ulysses S. Grant
Bloody Shirt
In the American election campaigns in the 19th century, “waving the bloody shirt” was a phrase used to ridicule opposing politicians who made emotional calls to avenge the blood of political martyrs.
Jim Fisk
known variously as “Big Jim”, “Diamond Jim”, and “Jubilee Jim” – was an American stockbroker and corporate executive who has been referred to as one of the “robber barons” of the Gilded Age.
Jay Gould
was a leading American railroad developer and speculator. He has been referred to as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age, whose success at business made him one of the richest men of his era.
Black Friday
Sept 24, 1869 the result of the Fisk and Gould scandal, the collapse of the market.
Boss Tweed
employed bribery, graft, and fraudulent elections to milk New York of as much as $200 million. He then went to prison.
Graft
The corrupt acquisition of funds, through outright theft or embezzling or through questionably legal methods like kickback or insider trading
Thomas Nast
He was the scourge of Democratic Representative “Boss” Tweed and the Tammany Hall Democratic party political machine.
Samuel J. Tilden
the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Presidency in the disputed election of 1876, winning a popular vote majority, but ultimately being denied victory by the electoral college.
Credit Mobilier
Major stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad formed a company, and gave it contracts to build the railroad.
Whiskey Ring
a scandal, exposed in 1875, involving diversion of tax revenues in a conspiracy among government agents, politicians, whiskey distillers, and distributors
William Belknap
accused of indirectly selling weapons to France while the United States was ostensibly neutral during the Franco-Prussian War, and accepting illegal payments, known as kickbacks, in exchange for making a tradership appointment.
Liberal Republicans
Republicans that wanted to put an end to corruption.
Horace Greeley
Liberal Republican presidential nominee in 1872.
Panic of 1873
Economic depression that happened in 1873 caused by an overexpansion of enterprises that were unable to pay off loans.
Greenbacks
People that wanted to increase the amount of printed money in the united states in order to escape the financial crisis.
Hard-money
People who thought that having coins was the best way to escape the recession because they kept their worth.
Crime of ‘73
Congress drove production of silver up and the prices down causing western silver miners to coin the phrase.
Contraction
A decrease of money being produced during the recession that worsened the economic depression but increased the government’s credit.
Soft-money
An unregulated way of giving money to political parties.
Bland-Allison Act
Act that was made by congress to put a certain amount of silver into circulation.
Gilded Age
Sarcastic name given to the era after the civil war
Grand Army of the Republic
a politically potent fraternal organization that was comprised of union veterans.
Stalwarts
Groups that swapped civil service jobs for votes
Roscoe Conkling
Leader of the stalwarts faction
Half-Breeds
Faction that fought with the stalwarts and dabbled in civil service reform.
James G. Blaine
Leader of the Half-Breeds faction
Rutherford B. Hayes
Dubbed “The Great Unknown,” he was a compromise presidential candidate from Ohio in order to take the swing votes from the electorally powerful state. He was chosen as the winner of the Hayes-Tilden Dispute in 1878 where the Senate counted the Republican votes from Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida.
Samuel J. Tilden
The Democratic nominee involved in the Hayes-Tilden Dispute in 1878. He lost the election despite the fervent outcry that arose after his defeat.
Compromise of 1877
Accepted the Republican ballot from Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida in return for various concessions that Democrats in Congress wanted, including a bill subsidizing the Texas and Pacific Railroad’s construction of a Southern transcontinental line.
Electoral Count Act
Set up a member commission to decide on the validity of conflicting election results from three states.
Civil Rights Cases (1883)
A group of five US Supreme Court cases consolidated into one issue. Against the famous dissent of Justice Harlan, a majority held the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional, because Congress lacked authority to regulate private affairs under the Fourteenth Amendment, and that the Thirteenth Amendment “merely abolishes slavery.”
Redeemers
Former slave owners who were the bitterest opponents of the Republican program in the South. Staged a major counterrevolution to “redeem” the south by taking back southern state governments. Their foundation rested on the idea of racism and white supremacy.
Sharecropping
A tenant farmer gives a part of each harvest as payment for rent on an owner’s field. Many African American farmers were caught in a system of sharecropping.
Tenant Farming
Renting out land from landlord to farm on it.
Jim Crow Laws
Laws written to separate blacks and whites in public areas/meant African Americans had unequal opportunities in housing, work, education, and government.
Plessy v. Ferguson
A Supreme Court case that ruled that segregation in public places facilities were legal as long as the facilities were equal
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
A strike that took place by railroad workers in response to the third wage cutback that year. Trains were overturned off of ripped up tracks.
Chinese Exclusion Act
Passed in 1882; banned Chinese immigration in US for a total of 40 years because the United States thought of them as a threat. Caused chinese population in America to decrease.
James A. Garfield
20th president of the United States. He died six months after his inauguration, two months after being shot.
Charles J. Guiteau
The assassin that killed James A. Garfield. He allegedly committed this crime so that Arthur, a stalwart, would become President. Guiteau’s attorneys used a plea of insanity, but failed and Guiteau was hanged for murder. After this event, politics began to get cleaned up with things like the Pendleton Act.
Chester A. Arthur
Appointed customs collector for the port of New York - corrupt and implemented a heavy spoils system. He was chosen as Garfield’s running mate. Garfield won but was shot, so Arthur became the 21st president.
Pendleton Act of 1883
established that positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political affiliation.
Chinatowns
small, distinct area or Chinese group enclosed or isolated within a larger Non-Chinese group
Chinese Exclusion Act
signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers
Mugwumps
political activists that changed from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party and supported Grover Cleveland instead of James G. Blaine because of financial corruption
Grover Cleveland
22nd and 24th president, Democrat. He vetoed hundreds of wasteful bills, achieved the Interstate Commerce Commission, and civil service reform.
Civil War Pensions
Old-age pensions paid to Civil War veterans that fought. Some reformers tried to make it permanent and universal, but failed. The system was dropped after all Civil War veterans died.
McKinley Tariff Act of 1890
raised the average duty on imports to almost fifty percent, an act designed to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.
Populists
Started as Farmer’s Alliance, farmers came together and became organized. Wanted to unite farmers of south/west/poor blacks and whites and industrial/factory workers.
Depression of 1893
the gold reserve in the Treasury dropped below 100 million and President Cleveland wanted to stop the bleeding by repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Cleveland turned to J.P. Morgan to help bail out the Treasury
William Jennings Bryan
A leading American politician from the 1890s until his death. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States (1896, 1900 and 1908).
Wilson Gorman Tariff
slightly reduced US tariff rates set by McKinley
