AP US History 2, Unit 2- The Gilded Age
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alexandra1331 on April 14, 2012
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Politics and the Gilded Age, 1877-1900
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Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Where does "The Gilded Age" come from? | -By the novel of the same name from Mark Twain -Gilded: Looks gold and glitzy from the outside, but underneath cheap |
| Major Themes of the Gilded Age | -Industrialization -Concentration of wealth -Growth of cities -Party loyalty (strong basis of support) |
| Major Issues of the Gilded Age | -Money supply- paper v. coin -Civil service reform/corruption -Tariffs -Labor and farmers wanted a voice |
| President Grant's Effects on the Gilded Age | -He set up for the Gilded Age because of the many scandals that occurred in his office -Credit Mobilier, Whiskey Ring (bribery in the Treasury) |
| Resumption Act | -1875, under Grant -Redeem greenbacks in gold starting in 1879 -purpose was to stabilize the currency and economy -Affirms that paper money is worth something |
| Tariffs | -Major source of revenue for the government -Made prices on farm equipment and consumer goods increase -Benefits went to the manufacturers -Favored by the GOP |
| Democratic Bases of Support during GIlded Age | -Immigrants -Catholics -White South (civil war tension still exists) -Poor |
| Republican Bases of Support during Gilded Age | -Robber Barons -Wealthy -African Americans -Union Civil war Veterans -Wasps (typical Americans) |
| Spoils System | -Created by Andrew Jackson -Graft and corruption -Civil Service jobs: anyone who works for the government |
| Boss Tweed | -Ran political machine of Tammany Hall -Dispensed jobs for people who voted Democratic |
| Why were immigrants important to the Spoils system? | -They went along with the political bosses word -Got a job in return -Basically that was their goal |
| Stalwarts v. Half-Breeds | -This split in the Republican party occurred during Hayes' administration, 1877-1881 -Stalwarts: Conservative faction; Opposed Civil service reform; Liked protective tariff; Roscoe Conkling a famous Stalwart -Half-Breeds: Moderately liberal faction of the republican party; backed Hayes' "easy" treatment of the South; Supported civil service reform; James G. Blaine was the famous Half-Breed |
| James A. Garfield | -"Dark-horse" candidate of the Republican party -Settled on after 36 ballots in the convention -Supported the forms of reforms that the Half-Breeds advocated -Shot by Stalwart Charles Guiteau who wanted a job in return for his votes -Chester A Arthur (Stalwart) was VP -Garfield died from insanitation |
| Pendelton Act | -Under President Arthur, 1883 -Says one has to be qualified for a job inside the government, in the form of a test -Initially covered only 10% of civilian employees civil service jobs -However, now most are classified under this |
| Election of 1884 | -Parties Involved: Democrats and Republicans -Candidates: Grover Cleveland (D) and James G. Blaine (R) -Cleveland wins -He was supported by Mugwumps (Republicans who voted Democratic) -Blaine was narrowly defeated |
| President Cleveland | -First democratic president since before the Civil War -Leader of the pro-business Bourbon Democrats who opposed high tariffs, Free Silver, inflation, imperialism and subsidies to business, farmers or veterans. -Battles for political reform and fiscal conservatism made him an icon for American conservatives of the era -Supported 'goldbug' |
| Election of 1888 | -A lot of mudslinging -"Dirt" on Cleveland: He had a child out of wedlock -Harrison (R) and Cleveland (D) -Harrison wins -Tariff policy was big in this election -Cleveland wins popular vote, but not the presidency |
| McKinley Tariff | -1890 -Written by Mckinley while in Congress (President in 1896) -The tariff raised the average duty on imports to almost fifty percent, an act designed to protect domestic industries from foreign competition |
| Cleveland, Term 2 | -Only president to have two non-consecutive terms in office -1893-1897 |
| Wilson-Gorman Tariff | -1894 -Slightly reduced rates on the Mckinley tariff |
| Panic of 1893 | -Was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad which set off a series of bank failures -Farmers in wheat and cotton suffered from low prices -Silver's price fell |
| Coxey's Army | -Unemployed men marched to DC to draw attention to their poverty in 1894 -Lobby for the government to create jobs which would involve building roads and other public works improvements, with workers paid in paper currency which would expand the currency in circulation, consistent with populist ideology -Falls apart when leaders are arrested for trespassing |
| Ways to disfranchise blacks | -Literacy tests -Grandfather clauses (relative to 1860) -Poll Taxes -Simple intimidation -There is no longer the Union army in the South to enforce the laws |
| Economic Power | -Farm hands- most are sharecroppers or tenant farmers -Tenant farmer: paying rent so blacks could farm on someone else's land -Sharecropping: Rent land, get supplies; landlord gets 50-60% of the crop |
| Segregation Laws | -Dubbed "Jim Crow" laws -De jure: by law -De facto: by custom or tradition |
| Lynching | -A murder by a group of people in public -People taking law into their own hands -Often done with law enforcement -Influx of lynchings occurred during economic distress |
| Ida Wells | -Black women who wrote out against lynching -"Lynch Law in America" |
| Booker T. Washington | -Born a slave -Educated himself -Founded Tuskegee University (a vocational school) -Washington believed in being subservient and work the way up the ladder slowly -Referred to as "Uncle Tom" |
| W.E.B DuBois | -Born free, and into a fairly wealth family -Got a PhD from Harvard -Believed in asserting blacks rights -Felt Washington was living a fantasy -One of the founders of the NAACP |
| Why were farm prices on the downward trend in the late 1800s? | -There was better technology, overproduction, more supply than demand, and labor saving devices -Developed into the Populism movement to speak out about the plight of farmers |
| What did farmers do to combat the decrease in prices? | -The Grange Movement (Patrons of Husbandry) -Not as political as the later Alliance -A fraternal organization for American farmers that encourages farm families to band together for their common economic and political well-being |
| Munn v. Illinois | -Win for the Grange, as it upheld legislation proposed by them -Allowed states to regulate certain businesses within their borders, including railroads, and is commonly regarded as a milestone in the growth of federal government regulation -1877 |
| Wabash v. Illinois | -Defeat for the Grange, 1886 -decision that severely limited the rights of states to control interstate commerce -It led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission -Stated that individual states could control trade in their states, but could not regulate railroads coming through them. Congress had exclusive jurisdiction over interstate commerce. |
| Farmers Alliance | -After Grange, more political -Liked cooperatives, graduated income tax, irrigation research, low tariff, nationalizing of the RR (socialist idea) -This alliance is what leads to the official Populist party, as candidates start running on alliance tickets |
| People's Party | -Alliance leaders that form this -First candidate is James Weaver in 1892, and the platform is the same ideals that the Alliance wanted -They lose, but get over 1,000,000 votes- shows the support from the west and the strength of the party |
| Currency Issues? | -At this tome, all the money was mostly backed by gold -People wanted to see it backed by both gold and silver |
| Sherman Silver Purchase Act | -1890 -Said that the Treasury will buy a certain amount of silver each month -Passed due to the miners interests and the continued complaints of farmers -Repealed by Cleveland in his second term |
| Why back the paper money? | -Farmers especially wanted it because the inflation from the coin inflates the dollar and brings prices up... Easier for farmers to repay their debts |
| Election of 1896 | -Populist run William Jennings Bryan, but combine with the Democrats on the DEMOCRATIC TICKET -McKinley (R) is a goldbug and supported by Mark Hanna -Basically the election is elite men of business v. everyman -in the end, Bryan fails to get the votes of the urban poor -Populism declines after 1896 |
| Populist Platform | -Unlimited coinage of silver -No gold standard -Direct election of senators -income tax -low tariff -limit foreign labor |
| McKinley Platform | -Hanna employed fear that Bryan was a radical -"Full Dinner Pail"- everyone wealthy -Supported by factory owners and businessmen |
| Social Gospel | -Idea that Christian had a duty to help the poor, urban people with the ways of Christ |
| Frances Willard | -Founded Women's Christian Temperance Movement -1879 -Her vision progressed to include federal aid to education, free school lunches, unions for workers, the eight-hour work day, work relief for the poor, municipal sanitation and boards of health, national transportation, strong anti-rape laws, and protections against child abuse |
| "Genteel Culture" | -Cultural movement in the British North American colonies where the wealthy publicly displayed their material wealth. -Very victorian -Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser were realists who opposed this |
| Jane Addams | -Ran the famous settlement house, Hull House -Settlement House: An institution in an inner-city area providing educational, recreational, and other social services to the community |
| Jacob Riis | -Photographer who exposed the continuing poverty in NYC -"Muckracker" -Famous works include "How the Other Half Lives" |
| Moral Purity Campaign | -Movement that arose in the late nineteenth century pushing for reform against sin and immorality, such as liquor and prostitution |
| Grand Army of the Republic | -This organization was founded by former Union soldiers after the Civil War -It lobbied Congress for aid and pensions for former Union soldiers -A powerful lobbying influence within the Republican party. |
| William Dean Howells | -Wrote The Rise of Silas Lapham, and other works, in which he described what he considered the shallowness and corruption in ordinary American lifestyles. |
| Frank Lloyd Wright | -Influential United States architect (1869-1959) |
| Ragtime | -A type of music featuring melodies with shifting accents over a steady, marching-band beat; originated among black musicians in the south and midwest in the 1880s |
| Ashcan School | -The early-twentieth-century school of artists supported progressive political and social reform. They turned to city streets, the slums, and the working class for subject matter |
| Bland-Allison Act | -1878 - Authorized coinage of a limited number of silver dollars and "silver certificate" paper money. First of several government subsidies to silver producers in depression periods. -Required government to buy between $2 and $4 million worth of silver. Created a partial dual coinage system referred to as "limping bimetallism." Repealed in 1900. |
| Dingley Tariff | -Passed in 1897, the highest protective tariff in U.S. history with an average duty of 57%. It replaced the Wilson - Gorman Tariff, and was replaced by the Payne - Aldrich Tariff in 1909. -It was pushed through by big Northern industries and businesses. |
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