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Gilded Age
The Bloody Shirt Elects Grant
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The population was still growing bigger and bigger, due to immigration
Politics started to become very corrupt at this time
o Railroad promoters cheated gullible customers
o Stock-market investors were a cancer in the public eye
o Many judges and legislators put their power up for hire
There were two notorious millionaires named Jim Fisk and Jay Gould
o 1869 the pair came up with a plan to corner the gold market
Only works if the treasury stopped selling gold
They worked on President Grant directly and through the
brother-in-law
The treasury started to sell gold and plan failed
o Tweed Ring (aka Tammy Hall) of NYC employed bribery, graft, and
fake elections
Cheated the city of 200 million
He was finally caught when New York Times got evidence of his
corruption
He died in jail later
Samuel J. Tilden got fame from leading the prosecution of Tweed
Would used this fame to become the Democratic nominee
in 1876
Thomas Nast was a political cartoonist who drew against
Tammys corruption
A Carnival of Corruption
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The
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1877: the presidents of the nations four largest railroads decided to cut
wages by 10%
o Workers fought back, stopped working
o President Hayes sent troops to stop it and violence erupted
More than 100 people decided within several weeks
o The failure of the railroad strike showed weakness of labor movement
Partly because of the friction between races
Especially between Irish and Chinese
1879: Congress passed a bill restricting the influx of Chinese immigrants
o Hayes vetoed the bill saying it violated an existing treaty with China
o 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act passed after Hayes left office
Barred any Chinese from entering the U.S. (first law limiting
immigration)
James A. Garfield
o 1880 the Republicans nominated James A. Garfield
He was from Ohio and risen to the rank of major general in Civil
War
o The Democrats chose Winfield S. Hancock
Civil War general who appealed to the South from his fair
treatment in reconstruction
Appealed to veterans because he had been wounded at
Gettysburg
o The campaign avoided touchy issues and Garfield squeaked by
Garfield was a good person but didnt like saying no and hurting
feelings
He named James G. Blaine to Secretary of State
On Sept. 19, 1881 Garfield was shot in the head by a crazy,
disappointed office seeker
Charles J. Guiteau
He used an early version of the insanity defense to
avoid conviction
He was hanged anyway
Chester Arthur
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He didnt seem a very good fit for the presidency but surprised people
o Cold shouldered the Stalwarts, his chief supporters
o He called for a reform, something heeded by the Republican party
Pendleton Act of 1883
o The so-called Magna Carta of civil-service reform
o Awarded gov. jobs based on ability, not on relations
o Prohibited financial assessments on jobholders
o Established a merit system of making appointments to office based on
aptitude
o Set up Civil Service Commission
Charged with administering open competitive service
Offices not classified by the president remained the foughtover footballs of politics
Arthur cooperated and by 1884 had classified 10% of all federal
offices
o Partially divided from patronage
Drove them into marriages of convenience with business
leaders
Grover Cleveland was the first Democratic president since James Buchanan
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