APUSH Chapter 19: Part 1 – Flashcards

In the early 20 century, the federal government created this system of annual pensions for Union Civil War veterans and their widows. At its peak, the system paid for most black and white men and women in the north. However, this system was very corrupt; many aimed to destroy it in order to end party rule. For this reason, a universal pension system for all of the elderly was never made a reality and the system died out with the Civil War veterans.

This president (1877-1881) was unable to satisfy both factions of the Republican party, the Halfbreeds and the Stalwarts, during his presidency. Since party bosses held most of the power, his one power was the ability to appoint allies. He was unpopular because his wife, Lucy, tried to ban alcohol in the White House and because he got the presidency through a corrupt deal with the Democrats. His one initiative was creating a civil service system, but he had no supporters and was never able to realize his dream. He was succeeded by Garfield.

This is the is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. Party bosses and their party members operated on this type of system.

In this election, the Republicans ran a Halfbreed presidential candidate, James A. Garfield, alongside Stalwart vice presidential candidate Chester A. Arthur. The Democrats nominated General Winfield Scott Hancock. Garfield won the election, thanks to the end of the recession in 1879, receiving a slim majority of the popular vote, and the Republicans also won in both houses of Congress.

This was a faction of the Republican party led by Roscoe Conkling of New York. They supported the use of traditional political machines.

This was a faction of the Republican party led by James G. Blaine of Maine. They wanted to reform political machines.

This Halfbreed Republican president came into office in 1881. He began his presidency by defying the Stalwarts with his appointments and supporting civil service reform; he had many public quarrels with Conkling and other Stalwarts. He was shot on July 2, 1881, and died three months later due to poor medical treatment.

This Stalwart president succeeded Garfield. He took a course independent of the Stalwarts as he supported reform programs and kept Garfield's appointees in office. He also passed the Pendleton Act. He was not nominated for the presidency at the end of his first term.

This was the first national civil service measure, and it was passed during Arthur's presidency. It required some federal jobs to be filled by written exam, rather than through appointments, in an effort to lessen government corruption. At first this act applied to few jobs, but its influence gradually grew.

This was an unsavory election. The Republicans nominated Senator James G. Blaine of Maine, the leader of the Halfbreeds, who was known as the "plumed knight" to some but seen as a symbol of corruption to others. A group of liberal Republicans known as "mugwumps" announced that they would leave the Republican party to support an honest Democrat. The Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland, the reform governor of New York who had a reputation as an enemy of corruption. A last minute religious controversy decided the election, and Cleveland won with 219 electoral votes to Blaine's 182.

This president was known as the "veto governor" when he served in New York and stood against corruption and Tammany Hall. He disliked the protective tariff and, in 1887, he asked Congress to reduce the rates. The Democrats in the House approved, but the Republicans in the Senate actually passed their own bill to raise tariff rates. This deadlock made the tariff an important factor in the election of 1888.

The public wanted national legislation that would curb the power of trusts. Congress passed this act in 1890 with little dissent; it was seen as symbolic, an attempt by Congress to deflect criticism. It had little effect on trusts during its first ten years.

*There is honestly nothing about this party in Chapter 19* This party had an anti-monopoly ideology. It was active between 1874 and 1889. Its name referred to paper money that had been issued during the American Civil War and afterward. The party opposed the shift from paper money back to a bullion coin-based monetary system because it believed that privately owned banks and corporations would then reacquire the power to define the value of products and labor. It also condemned the use of militias and private police against union strikes.

The Republicans believed that Harrison's election illustrated the public's desire for high tariffs. Republican William McKinley and Senator Nelson W. Aldrich drafted this tariff, the highest protective measure ever proposed to Congress. It became law in 1890, but was not well received by the public. The Republicans, as a result, suffered in the next election.

Congress passed this act in 1887 in order to ban discriminatory rates between short and long hauls, require railroads to publish and file their rate schedules with the federal government, and to declare that rates must be just. It was led by a five person agency, the ICC, but the agency relied on the courts to enforce its rulings. As a result, the act had little impact for 20 years.

These alliances began to form as a early as 1875, mostly in Texas. By 1880, the Southern Alliance had over 4 million members and a Northwestern Alliance was taking root in the plains of the midwest. These alliances were concerned with local problems; they formed cooperatives and established their own banks and stores to help farmers escape debt. Women, including fiery Mary E. Lease, had a prominent role, and many emphasized temperance. The alliances were more widespread than the Grange, but they suffered from similar problems of inadequacy.