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Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
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Grant is elected as president
General Grant is elected president primarily because of his "Bloody Shirt" campaign which showed that he was against what happened in the Civil War and was for equality for the blacks. -
The Gold Market takes a turn for the worst
"Jubilee Jim" Fisk and Jay Gould cornerd the gold market. They had people get on Grant and his brother-in-law (paying him $25,000) to get the Treasury to stop issuing gold. Fisk and Gould brought a large amount since it was so low on "Black Friday" and the treasury released the gold giving Fisk and Gould a huge amount of money. -
"Boss" Tweed Scandal
William Tweed used bribery, fake elections, and corrupting politicans in order to receive more than $200 million. The New York Times was offered $5 millon not to report about the scandal but did anyway and Tweed lived behind bars. -
Credit Mobilier
Union Pacific Railroad members created the Credit Moblier Company, hired themselves at high incomes to build railroads and gained a large amount of money. Officilas were given moeny to stay quiet about it and got in trouble when the information was found. -
Liberal Republican Revolt
Grant won the 1872 presidential election and the Liberal Republicans forced the Republican Congress to pass and amnesty act, reducing high Civil War tariffs and removed political disabilities from former Confederate leaders. -
Need for silver
Silver miners began to stop seellign their silver to federal mints because htey could receive more money from other places and the coinage of silver dollars was forced to stop. -
Panic of 1873
Many people took out loans and could not pay them back due to lack of profits from thier businesses and inflation reduced the value of the greenback money. -
Resumption Act
Act passed to insure that greenback money would be out of circulation and redem value of paper money for gold in 1879. -
Civil Rights Act of 1875
It guarenteed racial equality in all settings but the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitiutional, saying that the 14th amendment would not allow government to violate civil rights but not indviduals. -
Hayes-Tilden Standoff
Rutherford Hayes faced Samuel Tilden for the presidency and Tilden was one vote away from winning the Electoral College. Three states would get two votes each (FL, SC, and LA). They each sent one in for the Republican and one fore the Democrat so there was no winner. Again there was no clear way to tell a winner because the Speaker of the House was a Democrat and the pesident of the Senate was a Republican. -
Compromise of 1877
Delegated 15 men in total from the Senate, House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court to determine who would win the race. The Republicans won and the Democrats were upset and said Hayes could have the presidency if he withdrew federal troops from Louisiana and South Carolina. They agreed and the Republicans gave up their support of blakc equality. -
Redemption Day
It was the day people were going to recieve gold for the face value of their greenback money. Many people did not show up and, as a result of the Resumption Act of 1875, greenback money gained value from being out of circulation. -
Jim Crow Laws
Segregation laws in the South that sometimes required literacy tests, voting requirements, and outrageous "laws" that blacks had to follow in order to get what was their civil rights. -
Garfield becomes president
James A. Garfield defeates Winfield Scott Hancock by only 39,213 votes. He was shot near a railroad station and lived for eleven weeks and passed. His vice president, Chester Arthur, shortly took over as president. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The act prohibited the immigration of any more Chinese into the United States and stayed that way until 1943. -
Pendleton Act of 1883
Made contirubtions to campaigns from federal employees illegal and also the Civil Service Commision. -
Civil Service Commission
Federal jobs were given through competitive examination to stop political corruption and jobs given to those who an authority liked or had ties with. -
Election of 1884
Grover Cleveland ran against James Blaine for the presidency and Cleveland won. -
Harrison is elected
Cleveland runs against Banjamin Harrison for his second term. The factor that decided the win was tariffs as Cleveland introduced a tariff during his presidency that greatly hurt Americans. Harrison won the election. -
McKinley Tariff Act of 1890
Farmers were fored to buy high priced American made products while selling their crops in a higly competitive market.This caused the Republican Party to lose support and their majority in Congress.
