Gilded Age Politics C. 1876—1900

Gilded Age Politics

The Gilded Age by Mark Twain and Charles Warner (1873)

Political equilibrium Civil service reform,

currency, and the tariff

Gilded Age Politics

Strict Constructionists Commander in Chief Enforcer of laws passed by

Congress Head of political party

Gilded Age Politics High Voter Participation—

Why? (1) People believed that the

issues were important (2) People believed that their

votes counted (3) Politics = Entertainment

Gilded Age Politics Involved electorate, but what

determined how it voted? Republicans: Protestants of

English and German descent, Southern Blacks, and Union Civil War Veterans. Ohio River Valley, the West, and New England

Gilded Age Politics

Democrats: Southern Whites, Roman Catholics, Jewish people, immigrants under the influence of party bosses.

Campaigns—Republicans: The Bloody Shirt Veterans’ Pensions

Gilded Age Politics Nativism Campaigns—Democrats: Republicans will take your

booze away Played to Race in the South Maintained that Republicans

were corrupt