1. Politics and Culture During Gilded Age

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

8. 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

9. 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 ($)

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

11. 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

12. 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