1 / 11

Gilded Age Politics

Gilded Age Politics. Parties, Patronage and Public Interest. Why was party identity so strong in the Gilded Age?. Republicans & Democrats not far apart on many issues, but.. Regional loyalty South staunchly Democrat (anti-Republican) Ethnicity/Religion

nedra
Download Presentation

Gilded Age Politics

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Gilded Age Politics Parties, Patronage and Public Interest

  2. Why was party identity so strong in the Gilded Age? • Republicans & Democrats not far apart on many issues, but.. • Regional loyalty • South staunchly Democrat (anti-Republican) • Ethnicity/Religion • Democrats appeal to immigrants and Catholics

  3. Presidential Politics • Republicans dominate presidency in post-Civil War period • “Compromise of 1877” • Rutherford B. Hayes (R) awarded presidency • Reconstruction ends

  4. How did the Republican Party evolve during the Gilded Age? • “Stalwarts” • Favored machine patronage • “Half Breeds” • Favored some reform (but not really)

  5. How did the Republican Party evolve during the Gilded Age? • James Garfield assassinated 1881 • Paul Guiteau, disgruntled office seeker • Civil service reform (Pendleton Act)

  6. Election of 1884 • “Mugwumps” • Republicans who voted Democrat because they were fed up with patronage • Grover Cleveland (D) reform NY Governor becomes President • Tarriff issue • Lost to Benjamin Harrison 1888

  7. Emerging Reform • Interstate Commerce Act (1888) • Federal oversight of railroad industry • Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) • Outlawed “combinations” in restraint of trade • In first decade targeted labor unions

  8. Election of 1892 • McKinley Tariff (1890) • Increased import duties to highest levels • Angers farmers and consumers • People’s Party runs national campaign • Cleveland defeats Harrison • Only president to serve two non-consecutive terms

More Related