APUSH American Pageant 13th edition chapter 23

James A. Garfield

(1831-1881) He was remembered as one of the four "lost presidents" after the civil war. He was elected to the Ohio Senate in 1859 as a Republican. During the secession crisis, he advocated coercing the seceding states back into the Union. As President, he strengthened Federal authority over the New York Customs House. Less than four months of taking office in 1881, he was assassinated. His assassination led to the Pendleton Civil Service Reform of 1883.

Chinese Exclusion Act

(1882) Denied any additional Chinese laborers to enter the country while allowing students and merchants to immigrate. American workers felt threatened by the job competition.

Ulysses S. Grant

1868 and 1872; Republican; although his administration was plagued with scandal (for example the Whiskey Ring), he was largely unresponsible. Other notable events include the terrible Panic of 1873 and his enforcement of African American civil rights

Gilded Age

1870s - 1890s; time period looked good on the outside, despite the corrupt politics and growing gap between the rich & poor

Rutherford B. Hayes

1876; Republican; his presidency is most notable for the end of Reconstruction and enforcement of African American civil rights

Benjamin Harrison

23rd President; Republican, poor leader, introduced the McKinley Tariff and increased federal spending to a billion dollars

Thomas Nast

A famous caricaturist and editorial cartoonist in the 19th century and is considered to be the father of American political cartooning. His artwork was primarily based on political corruption. He helped people realize the corruption of some politicians

Tammany Hall

A political machine, bossed by William Tweed, located in New York that had be known to cheat the city out of over two hundred million dollars during the early 1870s.

Tweed Ring

A symbol of Gilded Age corruption, "Boss" Tweed and his deputies ran the New York City Democratic party in the 1860s and swindled $200 million from the city through bribery, graft, and vote-buying. Boss Tweed was eventually jailed for his crimes and died behind bars. (540)

Jay Gould

American financier and railroad developer who, along with James Fisk, attempted to corner the gold market in 1869

Chester A. Arthur

Became president after Garfield was assassinated, wanted civil service reform, father of the modern US navy.

Resumption Act

Bill passed by hard-money advocates that pledged the government to the withdrawal of greenbacks from circulation and the guarantee of all paper currency in gold starting in 1879.

Speculation

Buying land or anything else in the hope of profiting by an expected rise in price.

Civil Service Reform

Congress took action in the late 19th century to protect ethical politicians and create standards for political service; including, a civil service test for those seeking a job in government.

Roscoe Conkling

Conkling was the leader of a group for Republicans called the Stalwarts. These people loved the spoils system and supported it wherever it was threatened. They were opposed by the Half-Breeds led by James G. Blaine. Conkling, a senator from New York, and Blaine's infighting caused the nomination of the politically neutral Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876.

William Jennings Bryan

Democratic and Populist candidate for President in 1896 who advocated a policy of free silver

Samuel Tilden

Democratic candidate for presidency in 1876 won popular vote but was one vote short in electoral college, as compromise the republican candidate (Hayes) became president if troops were withdrawn from South ending the Reconstruction era

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.

Half-Breed

During the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-81, a moderate Republican party faction led by Senator James G. Blaine that favored some reforms of the civil service system and a restrained policy toward the defeated South.

Panic of 1873

Economic panic caused by overexpansion and overspeculation, causing the nation's largest bank to collapse (and bringing with it many smaller banks, business firms and the stock market)

Compromise of 1877

Ended Reconstruction. Republicans 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; as long as Hayes became the president

Spoils Sytem

Practice of rewarding political supporters with public office

Populist Party

Founded 1891 - James B. Weaver, problem was overproduction, called for free coinage of silver and paper money, national income tax, direct election of senators, regulation of railroads, and other government reforms to help farmers

Civil Rights Act

Gave the government a strong legal tool to prevent job discrimination; paved the way for equal employment opportunity.

Horace Greely

He was the editor of the New York times and was nominated by the Liberal Repbulican Party to become president

Liberal Republicans

In 1872, Republican reformers, alarmed by the corruption and scandals in the Grant administration, organized this branch of the Republican Party and nominated Horace Greeley for president. They were laissez faire liberals who opposed legislation that benefited any particular group.

Great Railroad Strike

July, 1877 - A large number of railroad workers went on strike because of wage cuts. After a month of strikes, President Hayes sent troops to stop the rioting. The worst railroad violence was in Pittsburgh, with over 40 people killed by militia men.

Jim Fisk

Millionaire partner with Jay Gould; "the brass" of the duo; tried to corner the gold market in 1869; they bought out all the gold in the nation until Grant was forced to sell gold from the Treasury to the two

Greenbacks

Name for Union paper money not backed by gold or silver. Value would fluctuate depending on status of the war

Pension Act

Passed by the Fifty-First congress in 1890 under the direction of president Harrison; it awarded stipends to all Civil War veterans who had fought for at least 90 days and were no longer able to do manual labor. Foreshadowed the "welfare state" of the next century

Greenback Labor Party

Political party devoted to improving the lives of laborers and raising inflation, reaching its high point in 1878 when it polled over a million votes and elected fourteen members of Congress.

"Ohio Idea"

Proposal by midwestern Democratic delegates to redeem federal war bonds in greenbacks instead of gold, to keep more money in circulation and interest rates low.

"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.

"waving the Bloody-Shirt"

Republicans boasting about Grant and using his war victories and popularity to get him election

Crop lien System

Similar to sharecropping — merchants loan food and supplies to farmers so they can farm; farmers have to pay them back with some of their crops. When harvests were bad, farmers got deeper and deeper in debt to merchants.

Credit Mobilier Scandal

This scandal occurred in the 1870s when a railroad construction company's stockholders used funds that were supposed to be used to build the Union Pacific Railroad for railroad construction for their own personal use. To avoid being convicted, stockholders even used stock to bribe congressional members and the vice president.

Jay Cook

Wealthy New York financier whose bank collapse in 1873 set off an economic depression.

Hard or sound Money

name for gold and silver

Cheap Money

name for increase of paper money in circulation, meaning money became cheaper because there was more of it.

"Black Friday"

name given to Friday, September 24, 1869, when the stock market crashed as a result of a scheme by Jay Gould and Jim Fisk to manipulate the gold market for their own benefit

Pendleton Act of 1833

prohibited financial assessments on jobholders; created a merit system of making appointments to government jobs on the basis of aptitude rather than who you know, or the spoils system; set up a Civil Service Commission; exam had to be taken before being hired for a governmental position

General Amnesty Act

restored right of ex-Confederates to hold office after the passage of the 14th amendment, An act passed that reenfranchised ex-confederates that previously had been barred from voting after the resolve of the civil war (re-allowed them to vote).

Grover Cleveland

the only U.S. president to serve two non-consecutive terms — the first from 1885 to 1889 and the second from 1893 to 1897. _______ first term was marked by his commitment to fighting corruption and the spoils system in Washington; his second by economic depression and union unrest such as the Pullman Strike. In contrast to leaders who followed him, ______ exhibited restraint regarding American expansion. He was the only Democratic president during the period from the beginning of the Civil War until Woodrow Wilson was elected in 1913.