APUSH Chapter 23
Mugwumps
Republican clean-government advocates who supported Democrat Cleveland in 1884 because of the corruption of Republican nominee Blaine
Half-Breeds
Republican party faction led by Senator James G. Blaine that gave lukewarm support to the civil-service reform
Stalwarts
Republican party faction led by Senator Roscoe Conkling that opposed all attempts at civil-service reform
Liberal Republicans
Short-lived third party of 1872 that attempted to curb Grant administration corruption
civil service
System of choosing federal employees on the basis of merit rather than patronage introduced by the Pendleton Act of 1883
Compromise of 1877
The complex political agreement between Republicans and Democrats that resolved the bitterly disputed election of 1876
the inability of populist leaders to overcome divisions between white and black farmers
led to a failure of the third party revolt in the south and growing racial backlash
Upright Republicans' disgust with Grant administration scandals
led to the formation of the Liberal Republican party in 1872
the Compromise of 1877 that settled the disputed Hayes-Tilden election
led to the withdrawal of troops from the south and the virtual end of federal efforts to protect black rights there
the withdrawal of federal troops from the South in 1877
left African subjected to oppression and segregation
McKinley Tarriff Act of 1890
sky-high Republican tariff that caused widespread anger among farmers in the Midwest and the South
"Rum, Romanticism, Rebellion"
the nasty "RRR" label attached to the Democratic party by a Republican speaker in the election of 1884
Republican attacks on Democrats as the party of "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion"
tipped New York Irish voters away from Blaine and helped elect Cleveland in 1884
Gilded Age
Mark Twain's sarcastic name for the post-Civil War era, which emphasized its atmosphere of greed and corruption
silver
Precious metal that "soft-money" advocates demanded be coined again to compensate for the "Crime of '73"
Greenback Labor
"Soft-money" third party that polled over a million votes and elected fourteen congressmen in 1878 by advocating inflation
Chinese
Asian immigrant group that experienced discrimination on the West Coast
The economic crash of the mid-1870s
Caused unemployment, railroad strikes, and a demand for "cheap money".
Grand Army of the Republic
Civil War veterans' organization that became a potent political bulwark of the Republican party in the late 19th century
Credit mobilier
Corrupt construction company whose bribes and payoffs to congressmen and others created a major Grant administration scandal
Local cultural, moral, and religious differences
Created fierce partisan competition and high voter turnouts, even though the parties agreed on most national issues
The New York Times and cartoonist Thomas Nast
Forced Boss Tweed out of power and into jail.
"waving the bloody shirt"
The symbol of the Republican political tactic of attacking Democrats with reminders of the Civil War
White workers' resentment of Chinese labor competition
caused anti-Chinese violence and restrictions against Chinese immigration
Favor-seeking business-people and corrupt politicians
caused numerous scandals during President Grant's administration
Public shock and Garfield's assassination by Guiteau
helped ensure passage of the Pendleton Act
the 1890s depression and the drain of gold from the federal treasury
induced Grover Cleveland to negotiate a secret loan from JP Morgan's banking syndicate
People's (Populist) Party
insurgent political party that gained widespread support among farmers in the 1890s
"grandfather clause"
notorious clause in southern voting laws that exempted from literacy tests and poll taxes anyone whose ancestors had voted in 1860, thereby excluding blacks