CHAPTER OUTLINE

Nature of Gilded Age politics Paradoxical characteristics Stalemate by high participation "Real" and crucial issues Partisan politics Reasons for loyalty Patronage Entertainment Religious and ethnic bases Republican party Democratic party Religious and social bases National stalemate Even division between parties Deferential president Divided Congress State and local politics Active governments Regulation of corporations Judicial responses Initial support Opposition to state efforts Use of Fourteenth Amendment National politics, corruption, and reform Attitudes toward corruption Tolerance Business-politics connection "Spoils" of office Hayes administration His background and character Republican party split between Stalwarts and Half-Breeds Need for civil service reform Hayes’s political debts Supporters of reform Hayes and merit appointments New York customs house Hayes’s limited government activism Election of 1880 Republican nomination Grant candidacy Garfield as a dark horse Democratic nomination Closest election results of the century The Garfield-Arthur administration Garfield’s background His clash with Boss Platt over appointments His assassination Arthur’s background His strong actions as president Prosecution of Star Route Frauds Veto of Rivers and Harbors Bill Veto of Chinese Exclusion Act Support of Pendleton Civil Service Act, 1883 Support for tariff reduction Effects of treasury surplus Mongrel Tariff of 1883 Scurrilous campaign of 1884 Reasons Arthur was not a candidate Republican nomination of Blaine and Logan Blaine’s background Effect of Mulligan letters Emergence of Mugwumps Democratic nomination of Cleveland Cleveland’s political background His illegitimate child "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion" Election results Cleveland’s presidency Cleveland’s view of the role of government Actions on civil service Stand for conservation Stand against veterans’ pensions Effort to return Confederate battle flags Effort for railroad legislation Stand for tariff reform Election of 1888 Cleveland renominated Republican nomination of Benjamin Harrison Campaign focuses on the tariff Personal attacks Results Republican reform under Harrison Harrison’s bland personality His appointments Republican control of Congress, 1889–1891 Passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 1890 Sherman Silver Purchase Act, 1890 Effect of the McKinley Tariff, 1890 Democratic congressional victories of 1890 Ostensible reaction to heavy spending of Republicans Impact on the election of prohibition and social issues Problems of farmers Multiple farm interests Regions Size of farm Owners or tenants Worsening economic and social conditions Causes for declining agricultural prices Overproduction Worldwide competition Railroads as villains Effects of the tariff on farmers Patrons of Husbandry Isolation of farmers Development of the Grange Effects of Granger political activity Rise of the Greenback party Farmers’ Alliances Membership Appeal of alliances Alliance programs Political activity Colorful leaders Formation of the Populist party Development of the party Platform stands Presidential nominees Victory of Cleveland in 1892 The economy, silver, and politics The currency and money supply Deflation Metallic currency “Crime 1873” Depression of 1893 Wall Street panic Unemployment and strikes Bank failures “Coxey’s Army” Republican victory in 1894 Currency issue Repeal of Sherman Silver Purchase Act Demands for silver coinage Election of 1896 McKinley and gold Bryan and silver Role of Populists Results A new era Dingley Tariff Global concerns