Activity 1 Unit 4
Gilded Age
The Gilded Age
It was named by Mark Twain which was believed to be an era of social problems disguised by gold. The gilded age attracted many immigrants and was a major growing period for the the north and the west. Although there was a lot of poverty and the average income for most families was $380, this was annually. While railroads were still important the mining, manufacturing labor union increased in importance. Although the Panic of 1873 and 1893 halted the growth a bit.
Compromise of 1877
Was an unwritten deal that settled the 1876 Election. It ended the reconstruction era and pulled federal troops out of state politics in the south. Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was crowned president over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. The only reason Hayes won was because Hayes promised that he would take out troops from whose support was essential for the survival of Republican state government in Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana. The decision was made by the democrats who controlled the House of Representatives allowing the decision of the Electoral Commision. Grant moved the troops out of Florida before leaving office and Hayes took out the remaining from South Carolina and Louisiana.
Election of Grant
Grant was hero to republican and the "bloody shirt" remained a strong symbol for the north. Most of election consisted in the two sides attacking each other. Tilden who was very rich was accused of making railroad deals. The republicans criticized the democrats on the fact that Tilden did participate in the civil war while Hayes had thus waving the "bloody shirt".
More about the gilded age
During the gilded age there was a lot corruption in America, mostly seen during grants presidency. He was responsible for the Whiskey scandal, credit mobilier dilemma and the Gould and Fisk Black Friday. His largest scandal was the Tammy hall political machine and Boss tweed. Tweed and his followers stole about 200 million from New York through kickbacks and bribes. Another he did was hiring architects to build building but double the price needed to make it. He did not get arrested because of his decision of giving welfare to the city. Although in 1871 they found evidence of Tweeds misuse of the money. Thomas Nast ( political cartoonist) is credited for his capture. His cartoon that arrested tweed help immigrants see what he did. He fled to Spain but was sent back and then recognized and prosecuted by Tilden and finally died in prison. One scheme that the directors of Union Pacific Railroad and Credit Mobilier utilized was to build a dummy company, and transfer money from one company to the other bankrupting one