reconstruction and the gilded age Flashcards
Why did reconstruction end?
- military removed from the south
- southern compromise
- corruption and scandals
- Grant damaged by economic depression
- the republicans were divided (grant)
- problems with the Indians (black hills 1876)
- 1872 amnesty act
how many slaves were freed in 1860?
4 million
how many people were killed in the civil war?
700,000
Which case stated separate but equal was ok?
Plessy vs Ferguson
Where did blacks have the voting majority?
South Carolina and Missippi
How many black people were in the state government?
2 senates and 20 state representatives
What were examples of corruption with grant?
- whiskey ring
- Belknap scandal 1867
- Gold scandal 1869
- 1873 salary grab
What was the 1877 Southern compromise?
- withdraws military from the south
- reduces republican power in the south
- stopped conflict between north and south
What was the amnesty act of 1872?
grant allowed some ex confederates to return to politics after being disqualified by previous laws
What was the tweed ring?
Tweed and his people looted at lead 45 million dollars from New York (poisoned local politics)
What was the number of immigrants in 1890?
10 million
Why was there an increase in population?
transport links and industrialisation
Where did blacks have the voting majority?
South Carolina and Mississippi
How many people did the silroad employ by 1900?
1 million
How much money was in the New York stock exchange?
6 billion
What was Carnegie’s fortune in 1890?
$480 million
Who was the worlds first billionaire?
Rockefeller
Where did black farmers move for better opportunities?
Kansas
What was the spoils system?
where people got political jobs based on their party loyalty (not on merit)
What did Hayes do?
- began reforming spoils system
- appointed best known advocates for reform
- congress fought his decisions
- he forbade corruption, and sack people such as the stats who fought him
What did Arthur do?
- continued civil service reform
- ended spoils system
- signed first federal immigration law
- signed Chinese exclusion act
- lowered tariff rates (signed 1883 tariff act)
What did Cleveland do?
muddy election, opponent was hated
- supported the mugwumps
- continued civil service reform
- still the spoils system but he made it better
What was the 1883 Pendleton civil service act?
- said federal jobs are awarded on merit (competitive exams)
- Federal jobs became more specialised and skilful
What was the 1877 railroad strike?
- fought wage cuts
- got violent as Hayes sent troops to end the strike
What was the 1882 Chinese exclusion act?
banned Chinese people from America and citizenship for 20 years
How many people did the railroad employ by 1900?
1 million
what was the 1867 Granger movement?
united farmers against the hostilities of the railroad companies
what was the population in 1860 and 1880?
31.5 and 50 million
Who was Carnegie?
-started as a poor immigrant
- got into railroads and used steel instead of iron
- monopolised steel prodycton
-
Who was Rockefeller?
- appealed by oil industry
- bought oil refineries
- expanded into iron, copper, coal
- worlds first billionaire
Who was Vanderbilt?
- invested in railroad boom
- richest man in America
- expert with steam engines
- brutal handling of strikes
- conflict with rail barons
How much rail track was laid by 1900?
over 200,000
What caused the economic depression?
- economic reversal in Europe
- poor US banking systems
Who was Carnegie?
- started as a poor immigrant
- got into railroads and used steel instead of iron
- monopolised steel production
What are philanthropists?
wanted to help the less fortunate (universities, hospitals and libraries)
What was steel used for in the west?
- barbed wire
- steel ploughs (sod busters)
- steel rails
- steel barrels on repeating rifles
What was bad about agriculture in the west?
- climate was harsh and prone to natural disasters
- unproductive land
- agriculture rices fell
- farmers increasingly relied on loans
- small farms were inefficient and the level of investment was low
Why did agriculture develop?
- immigration
- railroads
- steel
- government
- population growth
- technology
- natural resources
- growing cities = bigger market
when was Harrison president?
1889 - 1893
what did Harrison do?
- first time republicans controlled senate and congress in decades - pushed through republican agenda
- Mckinley tariff act raised tariffs
- Sherman anti trust and sliver purchase acts (unrepublican, trying to regain support after pork barrel politics)
how was Harrison and his government seen as corrupt?
- billion dollar congress where people got gov positions based on their donations
- $1 billion spent on pork barrel politics like harbours and transport (huge profit)
- lost house and senate and Cleveland returned in 1892
what were the stalwarts?
faction of the republicans that believed in favour of traditional republicanism
like political machines and the spoils system
(originally led by grant)
what were the half breeds?
more liberal republicans that were in favour of things like civil service reforms
(led by lames Blaine)
how were the republicans divided?
- traditional stalwarts (led by grant) vs liberal half breeds (led by Blaine)
- divided over issues like civil service reforms
- mugwumps who supported honest democrat Cleveland
who were the half breeds?
more liberal republicans (originally led by Blaine against Grant)
- in favour of things like civil service reforms
- gilded age presidents like Hayes, Arthur and Garfield
