Study Guide

Gilded Age Politics 1876-1900

NOTE: If you can answer these questions satisfactorily, you should do well on this section of the first exam. The material below consists of important material from the lecture. Questions on the test will be largely taken from this material.

Terms (definition and significance):

Rutherford B. Hayes

James Garfield

Chester A. Arthur

Pendleton Act of 1883

spoils system

patronage

Charles Guiteau

Grover Cleveland

Civil Service Commission

Grange Movement

Granger Laws

Farmers’ Alliances

People’s or Populist Party

initiative

referendum

secret ballot

graduated income tax

silver standard of coinage

gold standard

Interstate Commerce Act of 1887

Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890

US v. E. C. Knight (1895)

Wilson Gorman Tariff 1894

Pollock vs. the Farmers’ Loan and Trust Company (1895)

William Jennings Bryan

William McKinley

Questions to Think About:

What was involved in the disputed election of 1876 and what was its significance?

What was the nature of party politics in the Gilded Age. What were the parties, what did they stand for, who belonged to which party, and what motivated people politically?

What were the problems of the spoils system and political patronage?

What was the issue of the tariff?

Why did farmers need to get organized in the second half of the nineteenth century?

What was the nature and program of the Populist movement?

What was behind the battle over the gold standard vs. the silver standard?