Politics and Culture During Gilded Age

What is the Gilded Age? “Gilded Age” comes from the title of one of Mark Twain’s novels  Describes time period from 1870s- 1890s  Mocks greed and self indulgence Cities expansion leads to corruption in politics  Cities grew faster than government  Led to a new type of politics

Rise of Political Machines Political machines begin to take over city politics Political machine- organized group that controlled the activities of a political party  Offered services to voters in exchange for support  Set up like a pyramid  Political boss on top  Middle were ward bosses  Base formed by precinct workers and captains

How did a political machine work? Simple goal: get machine’s candidate elected Precinct workers- tried to get voter’s support on a city block or in a neighborhood Ward bosses- worked to secure votes by offering favors  Helping immigrants get work, giving out food, other favors Bosses- ran machine, lots of pull in politics, helped with bigger services  Built parks, sewer systems, hospitals, orphanages  Made lots of money  Building and providing services helped secure votes

Corruption of Politics Even though political machines offered services, bosses were motivated by greed and corruption more than service providing  Graft- illegal use of political influence for personal gain Helped make politicians rich of taxpayers money Shady deals with businesses and “sketch” relationships with police departments

Scandals Exposed Tweed Ring Scandal- corrupt politicians defraud the city  Boss Tweed  head of Tammy Hall (NYC’s powerful Democratic political machine)  One scandal- construction of NYC’s courthouse  Cost $3 million to build, but cost taxpayers $13 million Where’d the other $10 mill go? Thomas Nast- political cartoonist who helped expose corruption

Corruption begins to leak into National Politics Since beginning of 19 th century, politicians (presidents) used spoils system to appoint positions  Patronage- giving of government jobs to people who helped a candidate get elected Reformers wanted civil service (qualification) rather than patronage (political ties)  Made gradual progress at first  Many still supported spoils system

Civil Service Replaces Patronage President Garfield gave positions based on civil service rather than patronage  Some people PO-ed  Charles Guiteau shot Garfield because he was turned down a hob Led to the Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)  Good- no more patronage  Bad- less support ($)

Recreation and Leisure Less work hours + more money = more time  Led to recreation and leisure opportunities  Amusement Parks  Bicycling  Tennis  Spectator Sports Boxing Baseball

Spread of Mass Culture Newspapers spread news, comics, sports and more  Used big headlines to attract people’s attention Growth of libraries and art galleries  American literature  Mark Twain

Rise of a Consumer Society Prices begin to fall… why? People have more money, what do they do?  Shop till ya drop! Department stores, chain stores and urban shopping shoots up in cities Advertising!  “Latest and Greatest!”  “You have to have!” Catalogs and RFD (Rural Free Delivery) allows for people to shop from home  Sears Roebuck Catalogs- had everything from guns to washing machines, clothes to diapers