Political Corruption of the Gilded Age and reactions against Laissez-Faire Politics

Question 1

Define Pork-barrel politics

Answer 1

The way politicians passed laws as a way to give out funds to reward people who had supported their campaign

Question 2

Which political machine did the Tweed Ring have?

Answer 2

Tammany Hall

Question 3

What did the Tammany Hall political machine do to help people?

Answer 3

Helped get immigrants settled in America by finding them a job and somewhere to live

Question 4

What did Tweed do once he had helped enough immigrants?

Answer 4

He encouraged them to vote for him in New York elections then when he got in to political power he would steal money from taxpayers by overpricing projects

Question 5

What were cartels and trusts?

Answer 5

Big businesses which were able to buy up smaller companies so they had no competition and bribe politicians to pass legislation in their favour

Question 6

How did society feel about corruption by the 1890s? What was there a rise of?

Answer 6

People in the USA were much more aware of it and there was a rise in Populism

Question 7

What act was heavily supported for Congress to pass in 1890?

Answer 7

Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890

Question 8

What did the Sherman Antitrust Act do?

Answer 8

Made it so that monopolies could no longer be formed

Question 9

What was the significance of introducing the Sherman Antitrust Act?

Answer 9

The large force causing a lot of the corruption would now no longer be able to exist

Question 10

Which group of workers especially saw Cartels and Trusts as an enemy?

Answer 10

Farmers

Question 11

Name a large Farmer Trade Union which supported Farmers’ Rights

Answer 11

The Granger Movement

Question 12

When was the Granger Movement founded?

Answer 12

1867

Question 13

What was the scale of the Granger Movement by the mid 1880s?

Answer 13

By 1885, it had over 850,000 members.

Question 14

What is the overall subject of workers coming together for the same interests in their work also known as?

Answer 14

Trade Unions

Question 15

What was the main Industrial Trade Union for the 1870s and 1880s?

Answer 15

The Knights of Labor

Question 16

What did all of the Trade Unions want by the time of the Gilded Age?

Answer 16

They wanted legislation to be passed to reduce corruption as it was only benefitting very few people who were making a lot of money anyway.

Question 17

Give an example of a Court ruling against the Trade Unions in the Gilded Age

Answer 17

In 1886 a Supreme Court ruling benefitted monopoly owners over their workers.

Question 18

What was the case with this 1886 Supreme Court Case before a few years before?

Answer 18

In 1877, they did pass the court case ruling in favour of Trade Unions in Illinois

Question 19

What was the case with Trade Unions before the Civil War?

Answer 19

They were relatively unorganised

Question 20

What was the first properly established Trade Union and when was it founded?

Answer 20

National Labour Union, formed in 1866

Question 21

How many people represented how many workers when the National Labour Union was around?

Answer 21

77 delegates represented 60,000 workers

Question 22

What happened to the National Labour Union?

Answer 22

Due to the 1873 Economic Panic, many workers lost their jobs so the Trade Union fell apart

Question 23

When did the National Labour Union membership peak and how many members did they have?

Answer 23

They peaked in 1872 with 300,000 members

Question 24

How many members did the National Labour Union have by 1877?

Answer 24

50,000

Question 25

Who was Terrence Powderly?

Answer 25

The leader of the Knights of Labor

Question 26

What did Powderly campaign for?

Answer 26

8 hour days for workers

Question 27

When were the Knights of Labor founded?

Answer 27

1869

Question 28

How many members did the Knights of Labor have in 1886?

Answer 28

750,000 members

Question 29

What happened in May 1886?

Answer 29

Haymarket Riot

Question 30

What was the Haymarket Riot initially like?

Answer 30

It was a peaceful demonstration

Question 31

What made the Haymarket Riot in to a riot?

Answer 31

Someone threw a stick of dynamite at a police officer

Question 32

How many ended up being killed in the Haymarket Riot?

Answer 32

11 people

Question 33

What was the short term impact of the Haymarket Riot disaster for the Knights of Labor?

Answer 33

They got most of the blame for being the largest trade union present at the riot

Question 34

What was the Long term impact of the Haymarket Riot on the Knights of Labor?

Answer 34

Within a decade there were barely any of them left

Question 35

What caused the 1877 Railroad strike?

Answer 35

Baltimore and Ohio announced a fourth paycut to their workers wages

Question 36

Why were there so many paycuts for workers in 1877?

Answer 36

Companies were trying to recover after the 1877 Financial Crisis

Question 37

Who dealt with the strikes of 1877?

Answer 37

Military intervention

Question 38

How many troops were killed when trying to prevent the 1877 Railroad Strike?

Answer 38

25

Question 39

How did the 1877 Railroad strike end? What had the workers caused?

Answer 39

The troops brought an end to it but the workers in Pittsburgh alone had caused $10 million worth in damage

Question 40

What was the impact on society of the 1877 Railroad Strike?

Answer 40

It made them worry if there was going to be another form of uprising and a war when the Civil War had only ended 12 years ago.