Unit 6: Topic 13 - Politics in the Gilded Age Flashcards
What was the People’s (Populist) Party during the Gilded Age?
The Populist Party consisted primarily of farmers/agrarian activists that were unhappy with the Democratic and Republican Parties. The Populists believed that the federal government needed to play a more active role in the American economy by regulating various businesses.
What reforms did the Populist Party call for?
The Omaha Platform was created after delegates from the Populist Party met in Omaha, Nebraska in 1892. The delegates drafted political and economic reforms such as:
- the direct popular election of US senators
- the use of initiatives and referendums, procedures that allowed citizens to vote directly on proposed law
- unlimited coinage of silver to increase the money supply
- graduated income tax
- Public ownership of railroads by the US government
- telegraph and telephone systems owned and operated by the government
- loans and federal warehouses for farmers (to enable them to stabilize prices for their crops)
What were the issues between the Democrats and Republicans during the Gilded Age?
Democrats and Republicans during the Gilded Age fought over the civil service, unlimited coinage of silver, and tariffs.
Democrats during the Gilded Age:
- Mainly Southerners, championed states rights and racial segregation, and counted on votes from big city political machines and growing population of immigrants
- Supported business and industry with a protective tariff and hard money policies
Republicans during the Gilded Age:
- Mostly Northerners, more industrial party, and counted on votes from black people, middle class, businessmen, and Protestants
- Opposed the tariff and adopted the free silver platform
How did the protective tariff during the Gilded Age affect business owners/industrialists, farmers, and consumers?
The protective tariff brought high taxes on foreign goods and low taxes on American goods. It was enacted with the goal of making domestic products cheaper and more desirable, thereby helping American business owners earn more revenue. For farmers, this was a financial burden as other nations enacted more tariffs on American goods, which meant lower international sales on their crops. Consumers were dissatisfied by the tariffs because they couldn’t afford the higher prices of the imported goods they needed.
Much of the federal government’s budget was funded by tariff revenue and after the Civil War, the government kept the protective tariff in force to generate more money for the government.
What is patronage and who were the Stalwarts, Halfbreeds, and Mugwumps during the Gilded Age?
Patronage: The act of an individual holding office and providing government jobs to faithful party supporters. Since neither the Democrats nor the Republicans had an active legislative agenda, politics involved a loop of winning elections, holding office, and granting jobs.
Stalwarts: A name given to New York Republican Senator Roscoe Conkling and his supporters. Conkling became a powerful leader of his party by dictating who in the Republican ranks would be appointed to lucrative jobs in the New York Customs House.
Halfbreeds: The rivals for patronage of the Stalwarts led by James G. Blaine
Mugawumps: A name given to Republicans who did not play the patronage game to ridicule them for sitting on the fence – their “mugs” on one side of the fence and “wumps” on the other.
Who was James Garfield and what was the Pendleton Civil Service Act?
U.S. President James Garfield was constantly cornered by office seekers wanting government jobs through patronage. Garfield was shot while walking toward the train by Charles J. Guiteau, a disappointed office seeker.
Pendleton Civil Service Act: Following Garfield’s death, the Act was passed to reform the civil service and to create the Civil Service Commission to administer competitive examinations and appoint officeholders on the basis of merit.
What are political machines?
In urban areas, poor immigrants often turned to political machines for aid and services in exchange for votes since the federal government did little for these groups. Political machines would find jobs and apartments for recently arrived immigrants and bring poor families baskets of food during hard times. They ran picnics for slum children, contributed to hospitals, orphanages, and neighborhood causes.
Who was Boss Tweed and what was the Tammany Hall Ring?
The Tammany Hall Ring was a political machine was run by Boss Tweed.
The machine organized the needs of businesses, immigrants, and the poor so that everyone in the community flourished. Their actions effectively put the communities they helped in debt to them and owed the machine their votes. This was a corrupt, but mutually beneficial relationship between the machines and those that received aid.
