 Election of 1868  Grant was a Civil War hero (in the north ;)  Elected because fellow Republicans “waved the bloody shirt”- meaning they revived country's violent memories of Civil War deaths.  Unexperienced in politics- his presidency is considered a failure due to scandals among his staff/friends and his inability to fire them.

 Scandals of the Grant administration  Jim Fisk and Jay Gould tried to corner the gold market. Grant’s brother-in-law was bribed 25k.  Boss Tweed controlled the Democratic political machine in New York City until his bribes, intimidation, and fraudulent elections were uncovered.  Thomas Nast’s political cartoons helped dismantle Tweed’s empire and put him in jail, where he later died. Boss Tweed: Can the law reach him?

 More scandals of the Grant administration!  1872 Union Pacific Railroad formed a construction company named Credit Mobilier and paid themselves a ton of extra cash. ▪ 348% dividends!  Whiskey Ring avoiding federal taxes involved Grant’s secretary.  Secretary of War accepted bribes and resigned. Grant accepted his apology “with great regret.”

Hard Money Backed in gold Rich/industrial leaders Preferred by creditors because they wanted to be paid back with the currency worth the most money. Soft Money Greenbacks/Silver Backed Poor Westerners, farmers Preferred by debtors because it would make it easier to pay back debts

 Hard money policies were supported by Grant and the Republican party.  Backlash: Democrats won the House in 1874, and the Greenback Labor party was formed.

Well-Defined Voting Blocs Democratic Bloc Republican Bloc  White southerners (preservation of white supremacy)  Catholics  Recent immigrants (esp. Jews)  Urban working poor (pro-labor)  Most farmers  Northern whites (pro-business)  African Americans  Northern Protestants  Old WASPs (support for anti-immigrant laws)  Most of the middle class

 From  Govt. did very little domestically.  Main duties of the federal govt:  Deliver the mail.  Maintain a national military.  Collect taxes & tariffs.  Conduct a foreign policy.  Exception  administer the annual Civil War veterans’ pension.

 Party bosses ruled.  Presidents should avoid offending any factions within their own party.  The President just doled out federal jobs.  1865  53,000 people worked for the federal govt.  1890  166,000 “ “ “ “ “ “ Remember these forgettable Presidents? Yeah, me neither. 1.Rutherford Hayes 2.James Garfield 3.Chester Arthur 4.Grover Cleveland 5.Benjamin Harrison 6.Grover Cleveland

 Presidential Election of 1876 Hayes vs. Tilden was too close to call.  Compromise allowed Republican Hayes to win the presidency in exchange for removing federal troops from the South.  Resulted in loss of African American civil liberties in the South.

 Without federal troops, southern Democrats were able to infringe upon the rights of African Americans.  Jim Crow Laws promoted discrimination against blacks and segregation in public places.  Lynchings were acceptable.  Blacks forced to sharecrop.  Literacy tests, poll taxes were designed to keep African Americans from voting.  Grandfather clauses kept whites exempt from these requirements.

 Segregation was considered constitutional by the Supreme Court as long as facilities were “equal” to those of whites.  Catch phrase of the case:  “Separate but equal”

 Chinese immigrated to work in gold mines, construct railroads, and complete least desired work.  9% of California’s population  Faced major discrimination especially by Irish and poor laborers who accused them of stealing jobs.  Result: Congress passed Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which prohibited any Chinese immigration. (Ended in 1943)

Presidential Election: Half BreedsStalwarts James A. Garfield (Rep) vs. Winfield Scott Hancock (Dem) compromise Pretended to want reform Openly favored a spoils system

Charles Guiteau: ”I Am a Stalwart, and Arthur is now President of the United States!”

11. Pendleton Act (1883)  Civil Service Reform Act  The “Magna Carta” of civil service reform.  1883  14,000 out of 117,000 federal govt. jobs became civil service exam positions.  1900  100,000 out of 200,000 civil service federal govt. jobs.

 First Democrat elected since Buchanan 28 years prior.  Supported lowering the tariff rate, which divided the two parties and got him kicked out in  Replaced by Benjamin Harrison… but he’ll be back.

 For the first time Congress appropriated one billion dollars in spending mostly on:  Civil War Pensions  Purchased Silver

 1892, the Populist Party (aka People’s Party) formed.  Most support came from frustrated farmers in the West and South.  Party Platform:  Demanded inflation through silver coinage  Graduated income tax  Government ownership of railroads, telegraph, telephone  Direct election of Senators  One term limit for President  Shorter workday  Restrictions on immigration Populist ideas appealed to blacks, so the Southern Democrats tightened discrimination further.

 Populists too weak, Republicans discredited, so Grover Cleveland wins his second term in  Depression hits in  Looking for help, Cleveland accepts a loan of $65 million in gold from banking guru J.P. Morgan.  It helps the country’s economy, but the loan from Wall Street was condemned by many in the public.