History Chapter 18 Politics In The Gilded Age – Flashcards
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1876 Prez Candidates
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Tilden (D) and Hayes (R)
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What happened with the popular and electoral votes in the 1876 Prez election?
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neither had the necessary electoral votes but Tilden had more popular votes so it goes to House of Rep.; would usually case their vote for the people's choice b/c they're supposed to reflect the wishes of their state
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Why is the 1876 election called the Disputed Election?
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-Southern House members and Democrats who knew Hayes said they would vote for him if ends Reconstruction officially by removing troops and puts a Southerner in the Cabinet -political deal -Hayes wins thanks to the votes from the House even though the popular vote had gone to Tilden
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What position does Hayes appoint a Southerner to?
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-Postmaster General so satisfies their wishes seeing as they never specified which position -Hayes was an honest man but still a shrewd Republican
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railroad strike at B & O
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-Baltimore & Ohio Railroad -there had been pay cutes even though steady profit so they went on a strike and as a result of this walk out other railroads followed suit in sympathy causing a domino effect -1877
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Which labor union was big during the B & O strike?
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Knights of Labor
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three ways the railroad strike affected the U.S.
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-travel inhibited -factory owners have no way to transport goods via railroads so business if effected because this raises the prices of few left in stock (unfair and public angry) -mail couldn't be moved
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How was the B & O strike ended?
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-public unhappy so irrationally pressured government to end strike so Hayes sends the Army to force strikers back to work -poor precedent to set; he buckled under the pressure hoping to gain back public opinion after he came into office in a shady manner
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deflation
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money appears to have more value but then the value of what you're buying is less
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What did the public want to do to counteract deflation?
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coin more money (silver a/o gold) but this is an economically unstable situation so then there's a risk of inflation
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spoils systemp
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-been in place since Jackson -help a candidate get elected so expect a government job (civilian job in the bureaucracy) even thought many of these individuals are unqualified -very corrupt system
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Civil Service Commission
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-Hayes agreed that the spoils system needed to be reformed -under the direction of Hayes they said no government civilian workers may work in political campaigns and may not be required to make political contributions
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Stalwarts
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Republicans who don't want any change or reform to the spoils system so want Grant for the 1880 election seeing as he's easy to manipulate
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Half-Breeds
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-Republicans who believe that they should leave some of the past system alone but the future of the party should support big business and take a hands off policy towards the South -want James Blaine (Maine; powerful in Congress; good at making any cause seem noble) for 1880 candidate
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1880 Republican candidate
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-convention becomes dead locked so choose a Dark Horse candidate (unheard of name beforehand) who is Garfield -Garfield is from Ohio, served in Union Army, lackluster middle of the road candidate who served as a compromise between the Stalwarts and the Half-Breeds
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3rd party in 1880 election
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The Green Back Party nominates James Weaker; support paper money
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Democratic candidate for 1880 election
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Winfield Hancock; military man with absolutely no political experience
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"waving the bloody shirt"
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-political device (not tangible; symbolic) -Garfield uses this to gain votes; reminds them of the Civil War by saying that a Republican ended the war and slavery and blames Democrats for problems -works; wins the 1880 election
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Garfield's VP
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Chester Arthur; deeply embedded in NY spoils system; head of Customs House
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assassination of Garfield
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shot by Charles Guiteau in July of 1881 and dies eleven weeks later from septicemia so Arthur becomes Prez
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What is the effect on public opinion following Garfield's assassination?
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enraged with the spoils system because they blame it for his death and it becomes a hot button issue so Arthur has no choice but to work for reform seeing as he has no room to defend it (he benefited from the system and furthered it)
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Pendleton Act 1882
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-Civil Service Act -reform step to clean up the spoils system -states that anyone in federal government must take a competitive exam and cannot be involved in any political campaigning if you have a civilian government job
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Chester Arthur's impact 1881-1885
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-once a party boss in NY but becomes a pretty good Prez -Pendleton Act in 1882 -1882 Chinese Exclusion Act that cut off Chinese immigration for a decade -angered members of his own party by passing the Pendleton Act -due to ^ he is one of the very few American presidents who don't get the support of their own party to run for a second term
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Garfield in the six months of his presidency
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-works on spoils system but did in fact participate in it (typical politician- talks out the of the side of his mouth) -railroad extended into Texas -Clara Barton establishes Red Cross
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1884 candidates
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R=James Blaine D=Grover Cleveland Green Back= Benjamin Butler Prohibition= John St. John ---Cleveland wins
