2. HAYES-TILDEN STANDOFF of 1876
In the presidential election of 1876, the candidates were Republican Ruthurford B. Hayes
and Democrat Samuel Tilden. Provide a brief profile of both.
Hayes Tilden

3. The results: Tilden 184 (4,284,020) Hayes 165 (4,036,572)
Tilden won both the electoral and popular vote, but 185 electoral votes were needed to win
and there were 20 disputed votes. Which states created the electoral crisis? How
would the election be decided?

5. THE COMPROMISE of 1877
Congress passed the Electoral Count Act of 1877. An electoral commission consisting of
15 members was established. It consisted of 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats.
The Commission ruled, in a partisan vote, that all 15 disputed votes belonged to Hayes
and he won the election by a vote of 185-184. The Democrats and the South reacted
angrily, claiming fraud.
Describe both the Democrat and Republican concessions of the compromise. Who
was the big “loser” with this compromise? Explain the significance.

7. With the end of Reconstruction, “Redeemer” governments returned to power in the South. The white
South rejoiced at the restoration of “home rule.” In this pro-southern cartoon, what does it depict as
the principle differences between the two regimes?
The left side of
the cartoon
shows the South
suffering under
Grant, who is
riding on a huge
“carpetbag”
guarded by Union
solders. From
what you know of
the
Reconstruction
period in the
South, explain
the meaning of
the huge
carpetbag & the
presence of the
Union soldiers.
What point does the left side of the cartoon make by showing the South in ruins? On the right is a
depiction of Hayes. In what way did he adopt a “let „em alone alone policy” toward the South?

8. THE BIRTH of JIM CROW in the
POST-RECONSTRUCTION SOUTH
The Democratic South speedily solidified and swiftly suppressed the now-friendless blacks.
Shamelessly relying on fraud and intimidation, white Democrats (“Redeemers”) resumed political power
in the South and exercised it ruthlessly. Blacks, as well as poor whites, were forced into sharecropping
and tenant farming. Resisting blacks faced white retaliation.

9. With white southerners back in political control, daily discrimination against blacks
intensified. What had begun as the informal separation of blacks & whites in the
immediate post-war years developed by the 1890‟s into systematic state-level legal
codes of segregation known as Jim Crow laws. Can you provide examples of these
discriminatory and repressive state statutes?
How did the Supreme Court validate the South’s segregational social order in the
case of Plessy v. Ferguson?

11. RUTHERFORD HAYES – “HIS FRAUDULENCY”
Labor violence marred his administration –
Railroad Strike of 1877 – why did the outcome
hurt Hayes politically?

12. Hayes confronted controversy surrounding a flood of Chinese immigrants into California. Many
Californians opposed this flood of Chinese. An anti-Chinese movement was led by Dennis Kearney.

13. Congress responded by passing the Chinese
ExclusionBill in 1879 – Hayes promptly vetoed it, thus
sealing his political fate.
The Chinese Exclusion Act would be passed in 1882.
What was the primary provision of this law? How
long would it remain in effect?
Some exclusionists even tried to strip native-born
Chinese-Americans of their citizenship, but the
Supreme Court upheld the provision of the 14th
Amendment protecting persons born in the U.S.
In four years, Hayes accomplished little and was
embroiled in divisive controversies.

15. JAMES GARFIELD
In the presidential election of 1880, the Stalwarts and Half-
Breeds were deadlocked. James Garfield was the
compromise candidate for the Republicans, nominated on the
35th ballot.
Stalwart Chester Arthur was the party compromise for
Garfield‟s running mate.
Democrats nominated Winfield Hancock, a Civil War veteran.
It was another mud-slinging campaign and Garfield wins in a
close election (a margin of approx. 39,000 votes), but a
comfortable margin in the electoral count.

16. After his victory, Garfield rewarded his
sponsor, James Blaine, with the office of
Secretary of State.
Garfield was besieged by office-seekers.
The attitude being, “to the victor goes the
spoils.”

17. On September 19, 1881 Garfield was
shot by Charles Guiteau, a
disappointed office seeker. Guiteau:
“I am a Stalwart; now Arthur is
president!”
Garfield lingered in agony for 11
weeks before dying.
His death jolted Americans to
realize the need to end patronage.
Charles Guiteau

19. CHESTER ARTHUR
Chester Arthur ascends to the presidency with
Garfield‟s death. Americans had low
expectations for Arthur, a former Conkling
spoilsman.
Observers underestimate Arthur – he refused
to grant political appointments to Conklingites,
and he supported civil service reform.
The public disgust with the circumstances of
Garfield‟s death initiated the reform that
Arthur embraces.
Arthur also takes a cue when Republicans lose
control of the House in 1882.

20. The civil service reform movement culminated
with the Pendleton Act (1883), referred to as
the “Magna Carta” of civil service reform. What
was the primary provision of this legislation?
What would be its future impact?
Arthur paid the ultimate political
price for his support of reform by
being abandoned by his party.
In 1884, the Republicans dumped
Arthur and turned to Blaine.

23. GROVER CLEVELAND
(ONLY SPLIT PRESIDENT)
In 1884, Republicans met in Chicago and nominated James Blaine. Some Republican
reformers bolted the party to become mugwumps, who supported the Democratic
nominee, Grover Cleveland.

24. The Democrats nominated Grover Cleveland, a former mayor of Buffalo and governor of
New York, who had a record of honest and efficient govt. service. During the mud-
slinging of the campaign, Cleveland was accused of fathering an illegitimate son. He
admitted to this and accepted his responsibility.
How did a Republican clergyman
cost Blaine the election?
Grover Cleveland

25. On election day, Cleveland prevailed in a narrow contest. The election loss for Blaine was
a result of losing the Mugwumps and the loss of New York. For many, voter choice
narrowed down to a choice between public dishonesty and private immorality.
Cleveland: 219 (4,879,507)
Blaine: 182 (4,850,293)

26. Is this a pro-Cleveland cartoonist, or anti-Cleveland cartoonist? What is the cartoonist‟s message?

27. Grover Cleveland was the first Democratic president since Buchanan. He was pro-big
business and a supporter of laissez-faire.
Initially a supporter of reform, he eventually fired 120,000 incumbent office-holders and
replaced them with Democrats.
He targeted the veterans Pension Bureau and vetoed the addition of hundreds of
thousands of veterans to the pension rolls. This cost him dearly politically.

28. Cleveland battled for a lower tariff. High
tariffs in the post-war era protected Big
Business and generated huge surpluses in
the Treasury.
Cleveland saw lower tariffs as lower prices
for consumers and less protection for
monopolies.
In 1887 Cleveland proposed lowering the
tariff – Big Business attacked Cleveland and
vowed that he would not win in ‟88.
Two important legislative acts passed
during Cleveland‟s term:
The Dawes Act
The Interstate Commerce Act
Explain the significance of these two
acts.
Cleveland also reclaimed 81 million acres of
land from private holdings, land to be set
aside for conservation purposes.

30. HARRISON OUSTS CLEVELAND in 1888
For the first time in years, a real issue divided the two parties in 1888 (tariff).
Cleveland was reluctantly re-nominated by the Democrats and the Republicans nominated
Benjamin Harrison. Big business money supported the Republicans and a higher tariff.
On election day, Cleveland won the popular vote, but lost the electoral vote.
Benjamin Harrison

31. Intimidating House Speaker, Thomas
Reed, was pivotal in increasing pension
rolls and the passage of the McKinley
Tariff Act of 1890.
Farmers would be hit particularly hard.

33. THE DRUMBEAT of DISCONTENT
The politics of 1892 was transformed with the formation of the People’s Party, or
“Populists.” The party was rooted in the farmer‟s discontent over the high tariff and
their resulting economic hardships. Identify the the components of the Populist’s
political platform.

34. An epidemic of nationwide strikes in the
summer of 1892 raised the political prospects
of the Populist Party.
The Homestead Strike galvanized grass roots
opposition against Big Business.
Who was the Populist candidate for
president in 1892? How effective were
they on election day?
Why did the Populists fail to become a
political force in the South? What was the
social significance of this?

42. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION of 1892
With Populists divided and the Republicans discredited, Grover Cleveland took office once
again in 1893, the only president ever re-elected after defeat.

43. This is a cartoon of former President Cleveland
having trouble getting up to fight a second bout
with another president.
Harrison‟s boxing glove is labeled
“protectionism.” Cleveland‟s glove is labeled
“free trade.” This shows how the two men
differed over a very big issue in the election of
1892.
Describe that issue and explain how these two
men differed over it.

45. Hardly had Cleveland taken office when the devastating depression of 1893 occurred.
Lasting about 4 years, it was the worst economic downturn of the 19th century. What
were the primary contributing causes?
Cleveland, who had earlier been bothered by a surplus, was now burdened with a
deepening deficit. The country‟s gold reserve was being dangerously depleted.
To halt the bleeding of gold, Cleveland engineered a repeal of the Sherman Silver
Purchase Act of 1890. Repeal of this act only partially stopped the hemorrhaging of gold
from the Treasury. The depletion continued.
Early in 1895 Cleveland turned in
desperation to J.P. Morgan, “the
banker‟s banker,” and the head of a
Wall Street syndicate.
After tense negotiations, the bankers
agreed to lend the govt. $65 million in
gold.
The govt. would pay steep interest, but
the deal temporarily helped restore
confidence in the nation‟s finances.

46. CLEVELAND BREEDS a BACKLASH
The bond deal stirred up a storm. To many it symbolized all that was wicked and grasping
in American politics. To the end, Cleveland defended his Wall St. deal.
Cleveland suffered further embarrassment with the passage of the Wilson-Gorman
Tariff in 1894. What were the key provisions of the legislation? Why were Populists
and other disaffected groups disillusioned with the Supreme Court’s role?
Thus, the same tariff issue that drove out the Republicans in 1890 would play a role in
driving out the Democrats in 1896. The depression also was a primary factor in the
Democrat‟s demise.
The first “hit” for the Democrats would occur with their poor showing in the
congressional elections of 1894. The Republicans were eagerly awaiting the presidential
contest of 1896.

47. GUILDED AGE QUIZZES
http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/USQuizzes/GildedAge1.htm
http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/USQuizzes/GildedAge2.htm
http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/Quizzes5-6/GildedAge5.htm