The Gilded Age - Politcal (and Legislative) Flashcards
What is the gilded age?
The title of a novel by Mark Twain, published in 1874. The name stuck and has been used widely ever since as a label for the growth of America in the later 19th century. Twain was highly critical of the lavish wealth and political influence of the new breed of super-rich industrialists, but Twain was also a great believer in ‘Progress’
American presidents from 1876-92:
The era of weak presidents:
Between 1860 and 1876, the American presidency had experienced massive strains and tensions:
- Abraham Lincoln led the nation through four years of Civil War and was assassinated soon afterwards
- Andrew Johnson lost a political war with Congress and was impeached in 1868
- Ulysses Grant’s presidency was dominated by the battles over Reconstruction, and then ended in disgrace because of his association with scandals and corruption
- Rutherford Hayes, was only able to take office after the most disputed presidential election in American history, and by promising that he would not seek re-election
The years after these upheavals, from 1877 to 1896, have become known as the ‘era of weak presidents’
The disputed election of 1876:
Ulysses Grant had hoped to run for a third term as president in 1876, but the Republican Party was anxious to find a new candidate. Grant’s reputation had been damaged by the recurrent scandals, and he was also undermined by the ongoing economic depression after the stock market collapse of 1873
Leading Republicans were also fearful of the Democratic Party’s renewed strength and optimism following the success of the fight back against Reconstruction. The Republican candidate chosen to fight for the presidency in 1876 was Rutherford B. Hayes, the Governor of Ohio
Hayes was a moderate, both in policies and personality, and was acceptable to most of the various factions within the Republican Party. Hayes spoke the language of compromise and reconciliation, but his promises to give ‘home rule’ to the South as well as to protect the civil and political rights of all citizens did not mean much, as it was impossible to do both
The Democrat candidate, Samuel Tilden, Governor of New York, was another moderate reformer who had enhanced his reputation by attacking the corruption of the Tweed Ring. Moderate or not, Tilden’s campaign could only succeed with the support of the Democrats in the South, who were determined to kill off Reconstruction
Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-93)
Rutherford B. Hayes was a lawyer from Cincinnati in Ohio. In 1861 he volunteered to serve as an officer in the Union Army and was wounded five times during the Civil War. He was elected to Congress in 1865 and served three terms as Governor of Ohio. Hayes was the Republican candidate for the presidency in the disputed election of 1876, after which he agreed to the Compromise of 1877. He kept his promise to be a one-term president and had some success in restoring the prestige of the office
Samuel Tilden (1814-86):
Samuel Tilden was active in state politics and became a successful corporate lawyer. He was elected Governor of New York in 1874. His attempts to curb financial corruption enhanced his reputation and he gained the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1876, but was narrowly and controversially defeated. After his death, part of Tilden’s large private fortune was used to found the New York Public Library
Electoral College votes:
Presidential elections in the United States are not decided by the total popular vote, but by the number of Electoral College votes won in each state (the number of votes differs according to the population of the state) In 1876, Tilden or Hayes needed 185 votes in the Electoral College to win
The turnout of the vote in 1876:
In their personal styles and their political goals, Hayes and Tilden were not so far apart. What made the 1876 election so contentious was the context of the political deadlock over Reconstruction and the closeness of the vote
Tilden narrowly won the overall popular vote, but presidential elections are decided on the vote in the Electoral College, and the outcome of that was hopelessly confused. The Democrats claimed that Tilden had won South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana - enough to make him president. The Republicans, who still held political power in those three states, were able to disqualify enough Democrat votes as invalid to change the election results and to declare Hayes the winner. Amid the rival claims, it was obvious there had been massive electoral fraud, on both sides. The 1876 election had produced a potentially disastrous political stalemate
The Compromise of 1877
In all the confusion and controversy over who had won the 1876 election, it seemed possible that the entire post-Civil War settlement might unravel. Congress convened a special electoral commission to find a way out of the crisis. The commission consisted of 15 members: seven Republicans, seven Democrats and one Independent, This was always likely to result in deadlock but the Independent resigned from the commission and was replaced by a Republican. Predictably, the commission then awarded the presidency to Rutherford Hayes, by eight votes to seven
Hayes was more than willing to make major compromises with his opponents in order to be confirmed as president, to rebuild national unity, and to win acceptance in the South. After lengthy negotiations, Hayes offered to remove all federal troops from the Southern states, to provide federal aid, and to back railroads and public works in the South. It was accepted that this would mean the completion of the redemption of the South. For the Democrats, giving up the fight to make Tilden president was a relatively small price to pay for these major concessions. It was also easy for them to promise to treat all freedmen fairly, because there was no chance of that actually happening
The Compromise of 1877 marked the end of Reconstruction. Its main purpose was to resolve the fraught political issues arising from the election and to allow the presidential govemment to function. This was achieved: the Democrats recognised Rutherford Hayes as the legitimate president and, in his one term in office, Hayes did a lot to restore political respectability. But the price of Democrat acceptance was the removal of all federal troops from the Southern states. This took all force out of the Enforcement Acts and other legislation intended to implement the principles of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
The Republican presidency: 1877-1884
In the 1870s, the two main political parties were still evolving and subject to divisions. Both were coalitions of different regional and sectional factions, without any consistent nationwide political programme
Broadly, the Democrats stood for states’ rights, white supremacy in the South, a limited role for the federal government, and low tariffs in the interest of the little man. Politicians winning the presidential nomination for president often had their power base in the East, especially New York
The Republicans were the party of the Union, tending to favour big business, high protective tariffs, and the values of native-born Americans from outside the South. A high proportion of Republican presidential hopefuls came from New England, from Illinois and, like Rutherford Hayes, from Ohio
President Hayes was in many ways a ‘weak president’. His narrow, disputed election victory, together with his promise not to seek re-election in 1880, made him almost a ‘lame-duck’ president from the beginning (he had no mandate), and his political opponents had been greatly strengthened by the terms of the 1877 Compromise. Democrats moved quickly to gain control of the remaining ‘unredeemed’ state legislatures - Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina. The Southern states became the ‘Solid South’ - a region of one-party governments, where the Democratic candidate was certain to win all elections: the only question was which Democrat would be selected at the party caucus in advance of the actual election. This Democratic stranglehold on the South enabled the ‘Redeemers’ to dismantle, in practice if not constitutionally, much of the reformist legislation pushed through by Reconstruction. Black voting rights were undermined, and discriminatory changes to the law damaged the economic position of black agricultural labourers by tying them more closely to the landowners (sharecropping). Reconstruction became a stunted revolution
How selecting the presidential candidate works:
Since the early nineteenth century, candidates to run in elections have been selected by a party caucus: internal discussions within their own party. In the twentieth century, these informal party caucuses have been replaced by primary elections: when party members vote to choose between rival candidates (though some states still have caucuses). Candidates in presidential elections are chosen at their party’s National Nominating Convention
Hayes’ Presidency:
After the Compromise, Rutherford Hayes did much to restore political respectability. He kept his promise to be a one-term president (though this actually weakened his power over his party and Congress) and he tried hard to reform the civil service to root out patronage (the practice of rewarding loyal supporters with public posts in order for them to enrich themselves - known as the spoils system.) This was a necessary reform because most civil service posts were given out to reward loyal supporters with the opportunity to make money, not to provide honest public service. But Hayes was opposed by a powerful block of Republicans, calling themselves the Stalwarts, led by the ambitious Republican Party boss from New York, Roscoe Conkling. Civil service reform split the party and Hayes sacked Chester Arthur, one of Conkling’s key supporters
James Garfield and his rise to power:
By the time of the 1880 National Nominating Convention (where presidential candidates are nominated and manifestos are draw up), the Republican Party was badly divided over finding a successor to Rutherford Hayes. There were two powerful factions within the party: the Stalwarts grouped around Roscoe Conkling; and the ‘Half-Breeds’, a reformist group led by Senator James Blaine
The Stalwarts supported the ambitions of Ulysses Grant to make a political comeback and Grant seemed likely to win the nomination, but the convention became deadlocked between Grant and Blaine
Out of this party infighting, James Garfield, Governor of Ohio, emerged as a successful dark horse candidate. As a way of reuniting the party, Garfield accepted a Stalwart supporter, Chester Arthur, as his running mate
Garfield won the 1880 presidential election - the fourth consecutive Republican victory since 1868 - but the outward appearance of Republican dominance was misleading. As in 1876, the margin of victory in 1880 was extraordinarily close; Garfield won the popular vote by merely 10,000. As president, James Garfield made a strong early impression. Like Abraham Lincoln before him, Garfield was a self-educated man who had been born in a log cabin; like Lincoln, he was respected for his honesty and for the quality of the men he appointed to high positions. But Garfield was also destined to resemble Lincoln in a more tragic way: as the victim of assassination in 1881
Chester Arthur:
Garfield was succeeded by his vice-president, Chester Arthur, a man of limited talent and poor integrity, tainted by his links to Conkling and the ‘spoils system’, and only chosen to run as vice-president in 1880 as a concession to party unity. Arthur proved to be a mediocre president rather than a disastrous one, but the Democrats made big gains in the mid-term elections of 1882 and won the presidential election of 1884
The Democratic revival of 1884:
In 1884 Grover Cleveland became the first Democratic president since 1868. He was then defeated in 1888 but won a second term of office in 1892. Cleveland was to remain the only Democrat to occupy the White House in the 44 years between the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in 1868 and the election of Woodrow Wilson in 1912
One reason why Cleveland won in 1884 was due to support from immigrants and southerners, because he promised to keep tariffs low (supporting international trade.) Another reason was his promise to tackle corruption and to end the ‘spoils system’. Cleveland’s attempts to deliver on these promises infuriated pro-business Republicans
In the 1888 elections the Republican candidate, Benjamin Harrison, focused almost his entire campaign on the need for a high protective tariff (making imports more expensive, and so supporting business within America.) Harrison won narrowly
A key factor in Benjamin Harrison’s election victory in 1888 was support from the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), an organisation founded to represent veterans of the Northern armies in the Civil War. Grover Cleveland had refused to go along with the demands of the GAR, denouncing them as unjustified and corrupt. Harrison’s presidency was marked by his determination to reward his supporters, both in the GAR and in big business. The Civil War veterans received pensions and special hospitals, while big business received the McKinley Tariff, passed by Congress in 1890, putting tariff levels up higher than ever before
