Presentation on theme: "Chapter 23 Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age, 1869–1896."— Presentation transcript:
Chapter 23 Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age, 1869–1896
This cartoon by Thomas Nast is a Republican gibe at the forced alliance between these former foes. General W. T. Sherman wrote from Paris to his brother, I feel amazed to see the turn things have taken. Grant who never was a Republican is your candidate; and Greeley who never was a Democrat, but quite the reverse, is the Democratic candidate. Can Greeley and the Democrats Swallow Each Other, 1872 The Granger Collection
Then, as now, the parties printed voting instructions to encourage citizens to vote the straight party line. Paper Broadsides for the 1876 Election Collection of Janice L. and David J. Frent
Nineteen of the twenty disputed votes composed the total electoral count of Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. The twentieth was one of Oregons three votes, cast by an elector who turned out to be ineligible because he was a federal officeholder (a postmaster), contrary to the Constitution (see Art. II, Sec. I, para. 2). Hayes-Tilden Disputed Election of 1876 (with electoral vote by state) Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
Cotton pickers who once toiled under the lash as slaves now worked for wages as sharecroppers, but they were still beholden to the plantation owner. At this weigh up, the Boss Man carefully calculates his profit as each hamper is filled, while the sharecroppers await their meager payment. Weighing Cotton National Archives
The First Blow at the Chinese Question, 1877 Caucasian workers, seething with economic anxiety and ethnic prejudice, savagely mistreated the Chinese in California in the 1870s. Courtesy of University Archives, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
By 1890, more than 100,000 Chinese immigrants lived in the continental United States. Chinese Butcher Shop, San Francisco, alifornia, c Courtesy of University Archives, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Civil-Service Employment The total number of civil-service jobs has remained relatively stable since the 1950s, even as the government has expanded in size and budget. The decline in Classified Civil-Service jobs (those subject to competitive requirements) in the last three decades reflects the changes mandated by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1971, which moved U.S. Postal Service employees from competitive to excepted service. Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
James G. Blaine, depicted as Little Bo Peep, tries to woo the errant Mugwump reformers back into the Republican fold in Little Lost Mugwumps Who Had Gone Astray The Granger Collection
After a contentious and negative campaign, Grover Cleveland, the sitting governor of New York, became the first Democrat elected to the office of the Presidency since James Buchanan, before the start of Civil War. Presidential Election of 1884 (with electoral ote by state) Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
A strong supporter of civil-service reform and tariff reduction, President-elect Cleveland was also the countrys most eligible bachelor. In this cartoon of 1884, he is shown struggling to avoid office seekers on the one side and potential mothers-in-law on the other. Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) Library of Congress
President Harrison Disposes of Surplus, 1892 After four years out of office under Cleveland, the Republican controlled Congress yearned to make up for lost time by spending heavily and rewarding the faithful. Between Republican president Benjamin Harrison and forceful Republican Speaker of the House Thomas Reed, 1890 saw Congress pass the first billion-dollar budget. Public domain
Hard-working farmers like the Krueger family, pictured in Wisconsin around the turn of the century, sought relief from their heavy debt burdens in the 1890s by clamoring for various inflationary schemes, including the monetization of silver. Cornhusking Wisconsin Historical Society
Rifle-bearing Populists seized the Kansas capitol after the election of 1892 to make good their claim that they had won at the polls. Republicans disagreed and eventually prevailed when sergeants at arms, shown here, restored order. The Kansas Legislature, 1893 Kansas State Historical Society