Gilded Age Politics Flashcards
What were some specific examples of corruption during the Grant Administration?
- Credit Mobilier Affair: VP & members of Congress involved in a RR stock scandal
2 Whiskey Ring: Private secretary of Grant helped steal 3 million from the federal government in a tax corruption scheme.
What’s an example of a political machine?
Tammany Hall with Boss Tweed
What were political machines?
Local politicians who not only controlled the politics of the city but also the politicians. They gained support from immigrants by offering basic welfare
What was the Panic of 1873?
Severe economic collapse due to overproduction in industries such as railroads and over speculation by bankers
What was a debate that arose between debtors and loaners during the Panic of 1873?
“Hard Currency” vs “Greeenbacks”
What was the Compromise of 1877?
The South agreed to recognize Hayes as President while the North agreed to pull federal troops out of the remaining southern states therefore ending Reconstruction.
What was the Civil Rights Act of 1875?
It protected rights by making it a crime for any individual to deny full and equal use of public places
What were some ways the Court undermined Reconstruction?
- Civil Rights Case of 1883
- Plessy V. Fergusen
What was the Civil Rights Case of 1883?
The Supreme Court said that the 14th Amendment only protected against government violations of Civil Rights. It led to Jim Crow Laws
What was Plessy V Fergusen?
Justified Jim Crow Laws by saying that racial segregation was constitutional if equal facilities were made available to each race
How did you see the slow and systematic disenfranchisement of Southern blacks through the 15th Ammendment?
- Literacy Tests
- Poll Taxes
- Property Requirements
- Grandfather Clauses
What was the first national policy of discrimination?
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
What did the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 state?
It prohibited further immigration of Chinese laborers.
What is patronage?
Civil Service jobs given to supporters
What were the two sides of the debate regarding Civil Service Reform?
Half-Breeds: Advocated for Civil Service Reform
Stalwarts: Supporters of patronage
Who is an example of a Half-Breed?
James Blaine
Who is an example of Stalwart?
Roscoe Conkling
What was the Pendleton Act?
Civil Servants had to take federal exams to prove they were capable of doing a job
What did the People’s Party advocate for?
- Unlimited coinage of silver
- Graduated income tax
- Government ownership of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones
- Direct Election of US Senators
- 1-term limit for presidency
- Adoption of initiative and referendum procedures
- Shorter workdays
- Immigration Restriction
How did the government facilitate western railroad expansion?
By giving land and loan subsidies to railroad companies
What are examples of a new business practices introduced by railroad companies?
The Modern Stockholder Corporation, business management strategies, financing, and regulation of competition
How does consolidation led to the standardization of the industry?
- Steel Rails
- Standard Gauges
What led to the standardization of the railroad companies?
Consolidation
What was Munn V. Illinois?
States could not regulate interstate commerce
What did the Interstate Commerce Act do?
- Set up the Interstate Commerce Commission
- Federal Government would oversee
- Banned pooling, rebates, and rate-fixing
What were “pools”?
Secret agreement between companies to fix rates and share profits
What were “rebates”?
Discounts oftentimes given to favored shippers. Small farmers were oftentimes charged higher rates
What are some examples of the rise of heavy industry?
- John D. Rockefeller - Standard Oil
- Andrew Carnegie - Steel Industry
Who believed in the Gospel of Wealth?
Andrew Carnegie in his Article “Wealth”
What was the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890?
Outlawed trusts & other monopolies hat fixed prices. Ended up being used to attack labor unions
What were some examples of challenges for labor unions?
Scabs - Replacement workers
Court Injunctions
Blacklist
What were some examples of labor unrest?
- Great Railroad Strike of 1877
- Haymarket Bombing
- Homestead Strike
- Pullman Strike
What were some examples of labor unions?
Knights of Labor, American Federation of Labor, and the National Labor Union
What’s a specific example of a tenement?
Dumbbell Tenement where cholera spread
What are some examples of neighborhoods separated by race or ethnicity?
- Little Italy (NYC)
- Lower Eastside Jewish Community
- Polish Neighborhood of Pilsen
- Southside of Chicago
What was the racial response to changing immigration?
New immigrants were seen as racially inferior (not Anglo-Saxon)
What was the American Protective Association?
Anti-Catholic group made up of American Protestants who wanted to keep Protestants out. Told horrible stories about nuns
What was the Social Gospel Movement?
Christians had a responsibility to deal with urban poverty
What’s an example of a Settlement House?
Hull House created by Jane Addams
Who was Booker T. Washington?
Former slave who argued that African-Americans should acquire vocational skills to gain self-respect and economic security
Who was W.E.B. Dubois?
An African-American who demanded immediate political and social equality for black people
Who is an example of critic during the pro-business climate of the Gilded Age?
Edward Ballamy writer of Looking Backward talked about a utopian society that fixed their economic and social injustices
What were some difficulties with the Homestead Act?
- Quality of the land
- High Cost of supplies
- Mother Nature
- Fraud
- Fluctuating crop prices
What was the Pacific Railroad Act?
Authorized the building of a transcontinental railroad along a northern route facilitating western expansion
What are some examples of the mining industry that facilitated western expansion?
- Pike’s Peak in Colorado
How was the west more democratic?
Allowed women’s suffrage. Wyoming was the first state to grant women the right to vote
What are examples of conflicts between Europeans and Native Americans?
- Sand Creek Massacre
- Battle of Little Big Horn
- Wounded Knee & the Ghost Dance Movement
What was the Century of Dishonor?
Document of mistreatment by the federal government amongst Natives
What was the Dawes-Severalty Act?
Ended tribal ownership of land by splitting the revelations into 160 acre private farms
Who was Frederick Jackson Turner?
Writer of the Significance of the Frontier in American History who emphasized the importance of the frontier on American identity
What Coxey’s Army?
(1894) Unemployed march to DC demanding the federal government hire jobless for public work jobs. Shows growing frustration of capitalism.
What was the Pullman Strike?
President Cleveland uses the army and court injunction to stop the Strike
What is pragmatism?
Evidence-based politics over strict ideologies
