Chapter 22-29 Presidential Outline

Post-Bellum/Gilded Age Generalities:

 During the time after the Civil War, corruption ran rampant, and was especially seen in
the political machines of the growing cities and the growth of trusts
 During the Gilded Age, very little separated the parties (Dems and Reps with party
alignment being the same as before the Civil War), as they largely agreed over the hot
topic issues of the time: tariffs, civil service reform, and the currency question.
o Despite this, there was still a large amount of competition between the parties as
they still wanted to give jobs to loyal followers – patronage.

President Grant (1869-1876):

 Congress under Grant passed the Resumption Act of 1875, which pledged the
government to a further withdrawal of greenbacks from circulation and to redeem all
paper currency in gold beginning in 1879. As a result of the “contraction” that followed,
there was a deflation of the currency, which saw large backlash from the Democrats and
the Greenback Labor Party (later Populists).
President Hayes (1877-1880):
 As a result of Hayes election, via the Compromise of 1877, the federal troops were taken
out of the South, thus ending the period of Military Reconstruction.
o This led to a lack of enforcement of Civil Rights laws in the South, and thus an
overall net decrease in rights for the newly freed black Americans; Return to
white supremacy rule and sharecropping.
 During the Hayes Presidency came the first nationwide confrontation between capital and
labor during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, which was swiftly shut down by