1
The Gilded Age

• Machine Politics and
• Populist Reform
• in the late 1800s

2
Mark Twain The Gilded Age

• Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) emerged as the
  countrys premier social satirist and writer in
  the late 1800s he gave the era its name
• no country can be well governed unless its
  citizens as a body keep religiously before their
  minds that they are the guardians of the law and
  that the law officers are only the machinery for
  its execution, nothing more.- The Gilded Age
  (1873)

3
Republican Political Dominance

• Republicans capitalized on their association with
  the Union cause to dominate the political
  landscape
• The GOP (Grand Old Party) held the presidency
  from 1861-1913 with only two exceptions
  Democrat Grover Clevelands two terms in 1885-89
  and 1893-97
• Republicans campaigned on a platform of
  laissez-faire economic policies (keeping hands
  off of private business interests)
• Union veterans (the Grand Army of the Republic)
  and African-Americans were two major bases of
  support
• Republicans also drew strength from the rural and
  small-town Northeast and Midwest, as well as the
  growing urban middle class

4
Democratic Party Revival

• Democrats successfully revived despite being
  linked to the losing cause in the Civil War
• They combined the support of the Solid South
  after Reconstruction with the power of northern
  political bosses in the big cities (ex Boss
  Tweed in NYC)
• Democrats appealed widely to immigrants who, once
  they became citizens, loyally voted Democratic in
  exchange for jobs and other favors doled out by
  the big political machines in cities like New
  York, Boston, and Chicago (in the tradition of
  Jacksonian democracy)
• Democrats fared well in Congressional elections
  and consistently put up a strong challenge to
  Republican presidential candidates

5
Political Party Symbols (1874)
6
The Business of Politics

• Politicians in both parties often followed the
  lead of big business, which helped to finance
  increasingly costly election campaign expenses
• The White House and Congress were relatively weak
  compared to robust business interests, which
  often controlled politicians for their own
  special interests
• These special interests often dominated
  Congress, resulting in a proliferation of
  pork-barrel legislation, designed to provide
  constituents with jobs and federal money

7
One View of Democracy in Action
8
Commonplace Corruption

• President Grants administration (1869-77) was
  riddled with corruption that often contributed to
  major scandals, including Credit Mobilier, the
  whiskey ring, and Black Friday
• Reform-minded Republicans (known as Liberals and
  Half-Breeds) challenged the party leadership in
  the 1870s and 1880s some Republican Mugwumps
  went so far as to support Cleveland in the 1884
  election
• City bosses (such as William Marcy Tweed) ran
  their political machines as personal fiefdoms,
  doling out jobs and political favors in exchange
  for kickbacks and other payoffs

9
Thomas Nast Takes on Tweed

• Thomas Nast, the Father of the American
  Cartoon, took on Tweeds corruption in the pages
  of Harpers Weekly in the 1860s and 1870s,
  helping to contribute to Tweeds downfall

10
Taking on the Tweed Ring
11
Urban Reform Movements

• As Americas cities grew in size, problems such
  as poor housing and rising poverty and crime
  became worse
• Social reformers sought to alleviate these social
  ills through promotion of religious faith and
  education
• The Social Gospel movement aimed to help the
  working poor through organizations such as the
  Salvation Army and YMCA/YWCA
• Jane Addams led the settlement house movement,
  which sought to help immigrants through
  education she established Hull House in Chicago
  (1899) to help meet the needs of a growing
  immigrant community

12
The Rise of Labor Unions

• As industrialization increased the need for
  factory and mine workers, labor unions sought to
  improve worker conditions by campaigning for
  shorter hours, higher wages, and improved safety
  conditions
• The Knights of Labor rose in the 1870s and
  campaigned for an 8-hour workday, the end of
  child labor, and equal pay for women lost
  support after being associated with labor
  radicalism in the 1880s
• The American Federation of Labor (led by Samuel
  Gompers) organized skilled workers and was much
  more successful in achieving its goals because it
  sought negotiation with management rather than
  resorting to strikes and violence

13
Early Government Reform Efforts

• While the federal and state governments preferred
  a laissez-faire approach, some efforts were made
  to promote the social welfare through
  legislation
• Pendleton Act (1883) passed by Congress after
  the assassination of President Garfield in 1881
  sought to replace the spoils system with
  professional civil servants
• Interstate Commerce Act (1887) created the
  first federal regulatory agency sought to limit
  the power of railroads
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) sought to
  regulate the economic activities of trusts and
  monopolies by regulating and breaking up large
  trusts acting in restraint of trade

14
The Populist Reform Movement

• American farmers increased agricultural
  production thanks to the opening of western lands
  and new machinery, but also struggled to stay out
  of debt and make a profit due to rapidly
  declining agricultural prices
• The National Grange organized in 1867 to
  represent farmer interests and campaigned for
  railroad regulation, free coinage of silver, and
  the creation of farmer cooperatives
• By 1890, farmers and laborers united to form the
  Populist (Peoples) Party to challenge the two
  major parties they sought greater government
  intervention to help the common man and
  supported William Jennings Bryans failed
  campaign for the presidency in 1896 influenced
  progressive reform efforts in the next two
  decades

15
The Election of 1896 McKinley vs. Bryan
16
Election AnalysisIdentify and describe at least
three generalizations that can be inferred from
the 1896 election results.