The 'Gilded Age' 1877-1890 Flashcards
How did historians portray the Gilded Age
A period of excessive corruption in political life with politicians only interested in furthering selfish, often economic, interests, rather than public good
Politicians during the Gilded Age
Small-minded and corrupt, using public office mostly to serve their own interests, and often for their own private gain, with little real concern for matters of policy or the public good.
Criticism of the spoils system
Federal patronage was dispensed by party bosses.
Officeholders of the spoils system
Officeholders were selected on the basis of party loyalty rather than administrative competence.
Practices in the spoils system
It controlled commerce and collected revenue from ports
The New York Custom House
It afforded unequal opportunities for extortion and was at the very centre of the spoils system.
Example of corruption in the New York Custom House
It underestimate imports, then make an official discovery of the mistake. Half of the total then went to the had of the Customs House.
What was the implication of not having any real difference between the two main political parties
There was little real choice for the electorate.
The Republicans and Democrats during the Gilded Age
The Republicans and Democrats sought broad consensus from the electorate and did not have strong ideological differences
The revised view of the Gilded Age
•The Republicans
The Republicans placed greater stress on government activism, especially at national level, to encourage further economic development.
The revised view of the Gilded Age
• Presidents
Presidents introduced a series of reforms to reduce corruption in the civil service and improve its efficiency.
The revised view of the Gilded Age
• Example for the Republicans policy
The protective tariff emerged as the centerpiece of the Republican’s economic programme. They were more inclined to favour measures to hasten the assimilation of immigrants, such as requiring the use of English in local schools.
The revised view of the Gilded Age
• Democrats
The Democrats tended to cling to their party’s traditional belief in very limited federal and state government intervention and opposed tariff reform and protectionism.
• White segregationists
Voting behaviour during the Gilded Age
• From the South
There was resentment of Republican in the South carried over from the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Voting behaviour during the Gilded Age
• African Americans
Where African American had the vote, there were likely to vote Republican
