Chapter 23

Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company

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contraction

in finance, reducing the available supply of money, thus tending to raise interest rates and lower prices also a period of economic downfall

Andrew Carnegie

industrialist of U.S. Steel Co.

McKinley Tariff

(Benjamin Harrison admin) , 1890 tariff that raised protective tariff levels by nearly 50%, making them the highest tariffs on imports in the United States history, first time farmer products on productive list

Greenback Labor Party

(during James Garfield admin) Political party that farmers sought refuge in at first, combined inflationary appeal of earlier Greenabackers w/ program for improving labor

Credit Mobilier

(during US Grant Admin) , 1872, This was a fraudulent construction company created to take the profits of the Union Pacific Railroad. Using govn't funds for the railroad, the Union Pacific directors gave padded construction contracts to Congress members

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law that barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States

Pendleton Act

1883 law that created a Civil Service Commission and stated that federal employees could not be required to contribute to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons chosen by merit anti-spoils/patronage

United States vs. Wong Kim Ark

Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, prohibited all further immigration from China. Stayed shut until 1943. Some people even tried to stop native-born Chinese Americans of citizenship, but 1898 Court ruled that 14th amendment guaranteed citizenship to everyone born in US. "Birthright citizenship," or "jus soli"- the right of the soil. Protections to immigrant communities.

"Mulligan Letters"

Correspondence that linked James Blaine to a corrupt deal involving federal favors

Horatio Seymour

Democrat who lost to Ulysses S. Grant in the election of 1868

Whiskey Ring

During the Grant administration, a group of officials were importing whiskey and using their offices to avoid paying the taxes on it, cheating the treasury out of millions of dollars.

Compromise of 1877

Ended Reconstruction. Republicans get Hayes as president (vs. Tilden) if promise 1) Remove military from South, 2) Appoint Democrat to cabinet (David Key postmaster general), 3) Federal money for railroad construction and levees on Mississippi river

populism

Farm-based movement of the late 1800s that arose mainly in the area from Texas to the Dakotas and grew into a joint effort between farmer and labor groups against big business and machine-based politics. The movement became a third party in the election of 1892.

William Belknap

Grant's secretary of war who was forced to resign after he was found to have accepted bribes from suppliers to the Indian reservations.

James G. Blaine

Half-breed leader, a U.S. Representative, Speaker of the House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time United States Secretary of State, and champion of the Half-Breeds. He was a dominant Republican leader of the post Civil War period, obtaining the 1884 Republican nomination, but lost to Democrat Grover Cleveland.

Samuel Tilden

Hayes' opponent in the 1876 presidential race, he was the Democratic nominee who had gained fame for putting Boss Tweed behind bars. He collected 184 of the necessary 185 electoral votes.

Jim Fisk

He and Jay Gould were bankers of gold. They corrupted the market and had complete control of gold.

Sherman Silver Purchase Act

In 1890, an act was passed so that the treasury would by 4.5 million ounces of silver monthly and pay those who mined it in notes that were redeemable in either gold or silver. This law doubled the amount of silver that could be purchased under the Bland-Allison Law of 1878.

Horace Greenley

In reaction to Radical Reconstruction and corruption in Preident Ulysses S. Grant's administration, a group of Republicans broke from the party to form the Liberal Republicans. In 1872, the Liberal Republicans chose this man as their presidential candidate who ran on a platform of favoring civil service reform and condeming the Republican's Reconstruction policy. Founder and editor of the New York Tribune

Denis Kearney

Irish-born leader of the anti-Chinese movement in California established workingman's party incited violent abuse of Chinese in California because of resentment of competition of cheap labor

Jim Crow

Laws written to separate blacks and whites in public areas/meant African Americans had unequal opportunities in housing, work, education, and government

"Boss Tweed"

Leader of the Democratic Tammany Hall, New York political machine

Wilson-Gorman Tariff

Meant to be a reduction of the McKinley Tariff, it would have created a graduated income tax, which was ruled unconstitutional.

"Redeemers"

Nickname given to white Democrats who relied on fraud and intimidation

Thomas Nast

Political cartoonist who's work exposed the abuses of the Tweed ring, criticized the South's attempts to impede Reconstruction, and lampooned labor unions. Created the animal symbols of the Democratic and republican parties & Uncle Sam

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Prohibited discrimination against blacks in public place, such as inns, amusement parks, and on public transportation. Declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Republican 19th president of the united states, was famous for being part of the Hayes-Tilden election in which electoral votes were contested in 4 states, most corrupt election in US history

Billion-Dollar Congress

Republican congress of 1890. passed record # of significant laws that helped shape later policies and asserted authority of federal govt., gave pensions to Civil War veterans, increased government silver purchases, and passed McKinley Tariff Act of 1890

Mugwumps

Republican political activists who supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884. They switched parties because they rejected the financial corruption associated with Republican candidate, James Blaine.

Stalwarts

Republicans supported Grant led by Roscoe Conkling support spoils system and patronage

Black Friday

September 24, 1869, when Fisk and Gould bid the price of gold absurdly high, until Grant released gold from the Treasury

Roscoe Conkling

Stalwart leader love spoils system

People's Party (Populists)

Started as Farmer's Alliance, farmers came together and became organized, translated into Populists. Wanted to unite farmers of south/west/poor blacks and whites and industrial/factory workers Third party that demanded free and unlimited coinage of silver graduated income tax gov't ownership of telephone & telegraph

Farmers' Alliance

Tried to unite poor blacks and poor whites for rights against wealthy power merchants, A Farmers' organization founded in late 1870s; worked for lower railroad freight rates, lower interest rates, and a change in the governments tight money policy

Ulysses S. Grant

U.S. Republican president 1873-1877. Military hero of the Civil War, he led a corrupt administration, consisting of friends and relatives. Although Grant was personally a very honest and moral man, his administration was considered the most corrupt the U.S. had had at that time.

"Crime of '73"

When Congress stopped the coinage of the silver dollar against the will of the farmers and westerners who wanted unlimited coinage of silver. With no silver coming into the federal government, no silver money could be produced. The whole event happened in 1873. Westerners from silver-mining states joined with debtors in demanding a return to the " Dollar of Our Daddies." This demand was essentially a call for inflation, which was solved by contraction (reduction of the greenbacks) and the Treasury's accumulation of gold. placed the U.S. on a gold standard

hard/sound money

gold/silver money backed up in reserves high value deflation

Bland-Allison Act

an 1878 law passed over the veto of President Rutherford B. Hayes requiring the U.S. treasury to buy a certain amount of silver and put it into circulation as silver dollars. The goal was to subsidize the silver industry in the Mountain states and inflate prices.

grandfather clause

an exemption based on circumstances existing prior to the adoption of some policy

"Rum, Romanism, Rebellion"

an insult made against NY Irish-Americans by a republican clergyman in the 1884 election. Blaine's failure to repudiate this statement lost him NY and contributed to his defeat by Grover Cleveland., this statement attacked the Democratic party, rebellion referred to civil war, romanism referred to catholicism(anti), rum referred to drinking, anti immigrant party

William Jennings Bryan

democrat candidate 1896 champion of free-silver cause win populist party support

Half-breed

faction of republican party want merit system led by James Blaine want to reform spoils system

James B. Weaver

former Union general nominated for populist and greenback party

Gilded Age

late 1800s, coined by Mark Twain tremendous wealth increase caused by the industrial age and rich lifestyles that hid the many social problems:high poverty rate, a high crime rate, and government corruption

pork-barrel bills

laws passed by the congress that appropriate money for local federal projects

Charles J. Guiteau

office seeker mentally ill, shot Garfield in anger found guilty and hanged

Grover Cleveland

only democrat as president during the guilded age only president to serve 2 non-consecutive terms

Grand Army of the Republic

organization founded by former Union soldiers after the Civil War lobbied Congress for aid and pensions for former Union soldiers powerful lobbying influence within the Republican party

soft/cheap money

paper money high inflation more in circulation

spoils system

practice of rewarding supporters with government jobs

Ohio Idea

redemption of federal war bonds in greenbacks

James A. Garfield

republican assassinated 6th months after

Liberal Republicans

response to corruption in Grant administration nominate Horace Greenly believe reconstruction s complete, gov't should forgive South advocated civil service reform, an end of railroad subsidies, withdrawal of troops from the South, reduced tariffs, and free trade. did not get enough Black votes

the "bloody shirt"

reviving the glory memories of the civil war urge Northerners to vote the way they shot

Tweed Ring

scandal in New York City (1868-1871); William Marcy Tweed headed a corrupt Democrat political machine Tammany Hall that looted $100-200 million from the city

Plessy v. Ferguson

supreme court ruled that segregation public places facilities were legal as long as the facilites were equal

crop-lein system

system allowed shopkeepers to extend credit to small farmers for food and supplies in return for a portion of their harvest

Winfield Scott Hancock

the democratic opponent of Garfield in the election of 1880 as a Civil War hero lost because he did not gain enough electoral votes