Political Corruption During the the Gilded Age

RAM Block: Create a political poster that is satirical in nature. This poster should highlight 1 president during

the Gilded Age, and highlight his actions which represent the “Gilded Age”

Warm Up

• Write the following definition:

• Gilded Age: An era of where the US was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath

“Bloody Shirt Election”

• Grant won (barely)– "wave the bloody shirt" – constantly remind voters

of military record• Close victory meant:– (a) tightly run and hard-

fighting political parties – (b) narrow election

margins of victory

The Era of Good Stealings

• New York City: Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall

• Used: bribes, graft, and rigged elections to mooch money

Corruption in the White House

• Crédit Mobilier scandal– constructing the

trans-continental railroad and effectively sub-hired itself to get paid double.

– Gave stock to politicians

Panic of 1873

• Over-spending with borrowed money• Too-easy credit given by the banks. – Soft Money vs. Hard Money• Wanted soft money (included silver)• Would eventually make it more difficult to borrow

money

Review of the Election of 1876

• Hayes-Tilden Election– Ended Reconstruction

Reconstruction No Longer Needed?

• Segregation became institutionalized– Jim Crow laws that legalized the segregation.– Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) stated that "separate but

equal" facilities for the races were legal.

Political Corruption Addressed

• The Pendleton Act – required merit to get jobs– Civil Service Commission awarded jobs based on

performance – Pendleton Act first affected only 10% of federal

jobs:• stopped the worst offenses of spoils system• it set the tone for civil service reform

BUT…Massive Economic Corruption

• Massive amounts of money being made…by either Captains of Industry OR Robber Barons.– Using the Green AP Review book, complete the

handout.