Reform in the Gilded Age

1. Reform in the Gilded Age _________________: period in U.S. lasting from the 1870s-1890s marked by political ______________& extravagant spending There sure seems to be a lot of wealthy spending mixed with a large population of poor who are suffering… • - 2/5 Americans were _______________________ • “Gilded Age” comes from ___________________ • Gilded: coated in a thin layer of gold paint, implying • falseness beneath the surface (cheap jewelry) • Politics • No true power behind parties • More _________________than anything else • Politics driven by ____________ including: • Fear that bankers, industrialists & wealthy were controlling politics at the expense of the public • __________& voter fraud would cause corruption • _______________________– practice of rewarding political • supporters with government jobs • ___________ : ability and worth versus politics • - Might have been effective…but Garfield was shot • - VP Chester Arthur takes over • & tries to work on reform • Civil Service Commission: 1883-conduct exams for federal jobs in order to fill them out based on merit • Civil Service: includes all federal jobs except elected offices & the military (about 40% jobs) • Regulating Big Business: • - ________________ controlled the government due to illegitimate politics • - Under Constitution the federal government had the power to regulate • - __________________________ : business that crossed state lines. • - Interstate Commerce Act: signed by President Grover Cleveland in 1887 – ____________________________________________________________ • - The ____ (interstate commerce commission) oversaw these rules. • - Sherman Antitrust Act: prohibited business from trying to limit or destroy competition