1. Issues of the Gilded Age Section 1: Segregation and Social Tensions

2. Section 1: Segregation & Social Tensions
Objectives
Assess how whites created a segregated society in the South and how African Americans responded.
Analyze efforts to limit immigration.
Compare the situations of Mexican Americans and of women to those of other groups.

3. Terms and People
Jim Crow laws – segregation laws enacted in the South after Reconstruction
poll tax – tax which voters were required to pay to vote
literacy test – reading and writing test formerly used in some southern states to prevent African Americans from voting
grandfather clause – a law which allowed a person to vote only if his ancestors had voted prior to 1866, also used to disenfranchise African American citizens
Booker T. Washington – the most famous black leader during the late 19th century, he encouraged African Americans to build up their economic resources through hard work

4. Terms and People (continued)
W.E.B. Du Bois – a black leader in the late 19th century who disagreed with Washington and argued that blacks should demand full and immediate equality
Ida B. Wells – an African American teacher who bought a newspaper and embarked on a lifelong crusade against the practice of lynching
Las Gorras Blancas – a group of Mexican Americans who protested their loss of land in the Southwest by targeting the property of large ranch owners 4

5. How were the civil and political rights of certain groups in America undermined during the years after Reconstruction?
In the course of the Gilded Age, the equal rights extended to African Americans during Reconstruction were narrowed.
This move away from equality for all had a lasting impact on society in the United States.

6. After Election of 1876 – Rutherford B
After Election of 1876 – Rutherford B. Hayes removed Federal troops from the South.
Southern states reasserted control over the African Americans
Ways in which blacks’ right to vote was restricted in the South:
poll taxes
literacy tests or “understanding” test
grandfather clauses
violence
Segregation via Jim Crow laws became the norm, and African Americans lost voting rights.

7. The many strategies used to keep African American voters away from the polls were very effective.
In Georgia, poll tax could be $1 or $2 to cast your vote.
Because of these strategies, the number of black voters dropped
Louisiana – from 1894 to 1904, # of black voters fell from 130,000 to 1,300

8. In addition to losing their voting rights, African Americans also faced widespread segregation in the South and in the North.
Still, African Americans refused to accept their status as second-class citizens. Several important leaders emerged and called for equality.
The constitutionality of Jim Crow laws was upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson.

9. Booker T. Washington was the most famous black leader of the late 19th century.
Washington believed that black citizens should focus their energies on building up their own economic resources through hard work, instead of using those energies to overturn Jim Crow. 9

10. Some disagreed with Booker T. Washington.
W.E.B. Du Bois argued that blacks should demand full and equal rights immediately.
Du Bois felt the burden of achieving equality should not rest on the shoulders of African Americans alone.
Another black leader was Ida B. Wells, who devoted her life to the crusade against lynching. 10

11. Mexican Americans struggled against discrimination.
In the Southwest, four out of five Mexican Americans lost their land after the Mexican-American War, despite a treaty which guaranteed their property rights.
Las Gorras Blancas, a Mexican American group, fought for their rights by inflicting property damage on landowners and publishing grievances in their own newspaper.

12. Chinese immigrants also faced racial prejudice in the West at this time.
The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the country.
Faced with severe job discrimination, some Chinese Americans managed to start their own businesses.

13. Prior to the Civil War, women played a large role in reform movements, including the call to abolish slavery.
Leaders wanted to further women’s rights and were disappointed when women were not included in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments.
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869.

14. Susan B. Anthony voted in an election in 1872 and was arrested.
Awaiting trial, she toured the nation, delivering a powerful speech on the issue.
Activists did not secure women’s
suffrage during the 19th century. 14

15. Section 2: Gilded Age Economics and Politics

16. Section 2: Gilded Age Economics and Politics
Objectives:
Analyze how corruption affected national politics in the 1870s and 1880s.
Discuss civil service reform during the 1870s and 1880s.
Assess the importance of economic issues in the politics of the Gilded Age.

17. Section 2: Gilded Age Economics and Politics
Terms and People:
spoils system – a system in which politicians awarded government jobs to loyal party workers with little regard for their qualifications
civil service – government departments and their nonelected employees
Pendleton Civil Service Act – law that created a civil service system for the federal government in an attempt to hire employees on a merit system rather than on a spoils system
gold standard – using gold as the basis of the nation’s currency

18. Why did the political structure change during the Gilded Age?
Congress passed few laws between 1877 and It was an era marked by inaction and political corruption.
The Gilded Age raised questions about whether or not democracy could succeed in an era dominated by powerful industrial corporations and men of great wealth.

19. Between 1877 and 1897, party loyalties were evenly divided.
• Neither political party achieved control of both the White House and Congress for more than two years in a row.
• Presidents during the Gilded Age were elected only by slim margins/seemed to lack integrity
• This made it difficult to pass new laws.
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
Between 1877 and 1897, party loyalties were evenly divided.

20. Keppler’s “Bosses of the Senate”
Nast cartoon of “Boss” Tweed
Corruption plagued national politics as many officials accepted bribes.
Cartoonists such as Thomas Nast and Joseph Keppler worked to expose corruption.

21. The spoils system was the glue of the political parties.
This system made the political parties extremely powerful.
Candidates for President did not participate in this because it “lowered the reputation of the presidency.”
The spoils system, in which politicians awarded government jobs regardless of their qualifications, shifted power to a few. 21

22. A movement arose to promote civil service reform.
Change finally happened because President James Garfield was assassinated by a man who believed the Republican Party owed him a job.
Civil service is a system that includes federal jobs in the executive branch.
Jobs would be given due to expertise in the field.
Ending the spoils system was difficult. 22

23. In 1883, he signed into law the Pendleton Civil Service Act,
Chester A. Arthur became President after Garfield’s assassination and supported civil service reform.
In 1883, he signed into law the Pendleton Civil Service Act,
The act provided selection of government employees by competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation. 

24. The tariff and monetary policy were critical economic issues during the Gilded Age.
Republicans favored tariffs on imported goods. Tariffs supported American industry, but Democrats claimed that they increased consumer prices and made it harder for farmers to sell their products abroad.
Monetary policy disputes centered on whether or not to maintain the gold standard, where the government used gold as the basis of the nation’s currency.

25. Some wanted to use both gold and silver.
The Coinage Act of 1873 reversed the policy of having the government issue both gold and silver coins. It embraced the gold standard, and demonetized silver. Western mining interests and others who wanted silver in circulation years later labeled this measure the "Crime of '73"
Some wanted to use both gold and silver.
Some people wanted to use only gold as money.
Bankers were worried silver would impact trade and undermine the economy. Farmers hoped it would create inflation and raise their income. 25

26. Section 3: Farmers & Populism

27. Objectives
Analyze the problems farmers faced and the groups they formed to address them.
Assess the goals of the Populists, and explain why the Populist Party did not last.

28. Terms and People
Grange – an organization of farmers who joined to learn about new farming techniques, to call for the regulation of railroad and grain elevator rates, and to prompt the establishment of the ICC
Oliver H. Kelley – a Minnesota farmer and businessman who organized the Grange
Populist Party – a political party formed in on a platform of silver coinage, government ownership of the railroads, and fighting the corrupt and unresponsive elite

29. Terms and People (continued)
William Jennings Bryan – the Democratic nominee for president in 1896, who supported many Populist principles including silver coinage, and who toured the country to speak directly to voters
William McKinley – the Republican candidate for president in 1896, who followed a traditional strategy of letting party workers campaign for him 29

30. What led to the rise of the Populist movement, and what effect did it have?
Millions of Americans moved west after the Civil War to pursue the American dream.
A variety of factors made their lives extremely difficult, which led to the social and political revolt known as Populism—and created one of the largest third-party movements in American history.

31. People moving to the West and South in the late 1800s knew that their lives would not be easy.
Problems facing the farmers of the West and South
low prices for crops
high transportation, equipment, and loan costs
drought
reduced influence in politics
They did not anticipate the many problems that made survival nearly impossible.
Farmers began to organize.

32. Farmers created groups to address their problems.
These groups formed a network called the Grange movement. The Grange was formally organized by Oliver H. Kelley in 1867 and gained a million members.
The Grange declined after the 1870s, but Farmers’ Alliances became important reform organizations that continued the Grange’s goals.

33. government ownership of railroads
The spread of the Farmers’ Alliances led to the formation of the Populist Party in 1892.
The Populist platform warned about the dangers of political corruption, an inadequate money supply, and an unresponsive government. They called for:
coinage of silver
an income tax
government ownership of railroads
bank regulations 33

34. The debate over monetary policy was an important issue of the day.
Those who wanted to use silver and gold—including the Populist Party—were on the other.
Those who wanted only a gold standard were on one side.

35. The Populists did well in 1892, electing three governors, five senators, and ten congressmen.
The Populist candidate for president received one million votes in that election. 35

36. An economic depression began in 1893, and labor unrest and violence broke out. The Populist Party grew.
In 1896, a young lawyer named William Jennings Bryan spoke at the national Democratic convention.
The speech, with its Populist message of “free silver,” moved Democrats to nominate Bryan. The Populist Party chose to give him their support.

37. He toured the country, talking directly to voters.
William Jennings Bryan campaigned against Republican candidate William McKinley in a way that had never been seen before.
He toured the country, talking directly to voters.

38. McKinley won against Bryan in 1896 and in 1900.
Bryan’s emphasis on money reform wasn’t popular with urban workers.

39. The Populist Party was weakened by supporting William Jennings Bryan on the Democratic ticket.
It survived another decade, but its viability as an alternative to the two major parties was over.
Many of the reforms sought by the Populists eventually became reality. The new campaigning style used by Bryan became the norm. 39