Name: Period #: Date:

Challenges in the Late 1800s

Lesson 3 Corruption Plagues the Nation

Key Terms
spoils system
civil service
Pendleton Civil Service Act
gold standard

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.
2. Discuss civil service reform in the late 1800s.
3. Assess the importance of economic issues in the late 1800s.

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?

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.
Growth of Political Machines and Corruption: Text

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.

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

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.

8. Draw Inferences During the Gilded Age, farmers supported the minting of
silver because it would increase the money supply and cause inflation.
What does farmers’ desire for inflation suggest about the prices they were
being paid for their crops? Explain your reasoning.