Ethan Richards

Challenges in the Late 1800s

Lesson 3 Corruption Plagues the Nation

Key Terms

Spoils System: practice of the political party in power giving jobs and appointments to
its supporters, rather than to people based on their qualifications

Civil Service: government departments and their non-elected employees

Pendleton Civil Service Act: 1883 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: policy of designating monetary units in terms of their value in gold

Academic Vocabulary

corruption: dishonest or illegal behavior

integrity: the quality of being honest and having high moral principles

manipulate: to exert influence or practice deception to obtain some advantage

Lesson Objectives

1. Analyze the issues of weak leadership and corruption in national politics in the
1870s through 1890s.

It opened the door for corrupted people to gain power and have their way in America
during that time period.

2. Discuss civil service reform in the late 1800s.

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A federal law established in 1833 that stipulated that government jobs should be
awarded on the basis of merit.

3. Assess the importance of economic issues in the late 1800s.

The economy of America was booming because of the industrialization and other factors
but after a certain point, there started to become issues as a lot of people didn’t have
jobs anymore because of the technologies that were available and there wasn’t a need
for those people to have those positions any longer.

Political Power Proves Difficult to Keep: Text

1. Identify Cause and Effect During the Gilded Age, no political party gained power
for any length of time. How did this balance affect Congress’s productivity? Why did it
affect Congress in this way?

This made party evenly divided that no faction or group gained control for 2 years. This
made it very difficult to pass new laws. It also made it the elections very close and even
if you lost you still get back there power.

2. Identify Supporting Details Why did the public begin to lose faith in the
government during the Gilded Age? Support your ideas with evidence from the text.

The public started to lose faith in the government during the Gilded Age because political
issues during this time was inaction and corrupted. This also raised questions whether or
not if the government can dominate the time with large and powerful industrials.
According to the text it states “Instead, inaction and corruption were serious political
issues during the Gilded Age. This raised questions of whether or not democracy could
succeed in a time dominated by large and powerful industrial corporations and men of
great wealth”.

Growth of Political Machines and Corruption: Text

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3. Use Visual Information Analyze the political cartoon “The Bosses of the
Senate.” What point does the cartoon make about the relationship between
American business and the U.S. Senate? Explain your reasoning.

This political cartoon “The Bosses of the Senate”, this helps us make a
relationship between American business and U.S. Sentate because by
comparing them to a cluster of businessmen, which shows various trusts.

4. Categorize What were the benefits and drawbacks of the spoils system?
Complete the graphic organizer below as you read “Growth of Political Machines
and Corruption.”

5. Vocabulary: Use Context Clues Reread “Political Supporters Are Given

Jobs.” What do you think the word partisanship means in the second paragraph?
What context clues helped you figure out this definition?

Partisanship in the second paragraph means committed of someone or

something. The context clues I use to figure this out is “era”, “Fierce”, “Vote did
vote”.

6. Analyze Interactions Why did public support for civil service reform grow
after the assassination of President James Garfield?

Civil service is a system that includes federal jobs in the executive branch. This
means after an election whoever party wins only that party will work for the
government. So they support the Civil Service reform because anyone can work
for the government you just have to take an exam.

Economic Policy Challenges Continue: Text

7. Explain an Argument Why did Republicans support a high tariff? Why

did Democrats oppose a high tariff? Explain each party’s argument.

Republican supported high tariffs because they supported the American

industries to grow and promote jobs in manufacturing. Democrat oppose a
high tariff because it will increase the costs of goods to consumers and
made it harder for the farmer to sell their goods.

8. Draw Inferences During the Gilded Age, farmers supported the minting
of silver because it would increase the money supply and cause inflation. What

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does farmers’ desire for inflation suggest about the prices they were being paid
for their crops? Explain your reasoning.

The farmers began to think about how to increase the amount of money in
circulation. One idea was to use silver as well as gold for the money
supply. ... The farmers wanted some inflation. They thought that this was
the only way they could get enough money to pay their debts to the banks.

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