Politics in the Gilded Age: patronage, tariffs and the push for reform

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Jobs, tariffs and votes, 1871 to 1890 (cards A to F and a table). Card A, the tariff debate in brief (Summary in our words, not a quotation, from the Senate and the Miller Center): In the late 1800s Americans argued over how high tariff duties should be. Supporters of high duties, called protectionists, said that duties shelter American factories and their workers from cheaper goods made abroad. Supporters of lower duties said that duties raise the prices of goods people buy, whether imported or made at home, and that duties brought in more money than the government needed. In 1890 opponents of the tariff bill in the Senate also warned that it would help monopolies grow and push prices up. Historians and economists have long debated how large these effects were, and this sheet does not choose.

2. 1.

   Card A says historians and economists have long debated how large the effects of tariffs were. What does that tell Esme?

   • The debate is just about opinions, so no evidence about prices or jobs could settle it at any time
   • The card shows that duties raised prices, which settles the size of the effects on buyers
   • Both sides agreed on the size of the effects and disagreed just about which effects mattered
   • The question is partly one of evidence: the effects can be estimated, but the card does not settle them

3. Use this

   Jobs, tariffs and votes, 1871 to 1890 (cards A to F and a table). Card C, steps toward merit hiring and a lower tariff (a chart, columns Problem | Who pushed for change | What law or result | Date). Row 1: Reformers wanted federal jobs filled by examination | Congressman Thomas Jenckes and President Grant | Congress let Grant set up the first Civil Service Commission; support was weak and Grant gave up the effort | 1871. Row 2: Federal jobs given as rewards for political help | Reformers and Senator George Pendleton of Ohio | The Pendleton Act set up competitive examinations; at first it covered about a tenth of about 132,000 employees | 1883. Row 3: Tariff duties were uneven and the Treasury held a surplus | A tariff commission named by President Arthur | The Tariff Act of 1883 cut duties by an average of 1.47 percent; the commission had asked for cuts of 20 to 25 percent | 1883.

4. 2.

   Row 2 of card C says the Act at first covered about a tenth of about 132,000 employees. A headline says the Act ended patronage. Is the headline fair, Jun asks?

   • No: about 13,200 employees were covered at first, so most federal jobs stayed outside
   • Yes: the Act covered about 118,800 employees, the number whom the spoils system had filled
   • No: just about 1,320 employees were covered, since a tenth of 132,000 is 1,320
   • Yes: about 13,200 employees were covered, enough to end patronage in the largest federal offices
5. 3.

   The commission asked for cuts of 20 to 25 percent; the Tariff Act of 1883 cut duties by an average of 1.47 percent. Did the Act give the commission what it asked, Kira asks?

   • Mostly: duties were cut, and the Act took about one-fifth of the cut the commission requested
   • No: the cut made was about one-fourteenth to one-seventeenth of the cut requested
   • Yes: any cut met the goal of the commission, since the commission wanted just a start
   • No: the Act raised duties, so the cut made was the opposite of what the commission asked

6. Presidential elections, 1876 to 1888

   Year	Winner of the electoral vote	Runner-up in the electoral vote
   1876	Hayes: 185 electoral, 4,036,572 popular	Tilden: 184 electoral, 4,284,020 popular
   1880	Garfield: 214 electoral, 4,453,295 popular	Hancock: 155 electoral, 4,414,082 popular
   1884	Cleveland: 219 electoral, 4,879,507 popular	Blaine: 182 electoral, 4,850,293 popular
   1888	Harrison: 233 electoral, 5,447,129 popular	Cleveland: 168 electoral, 5,537,857 popular

   Only the two leading candidates are shown; votes for small parties are left out. Data: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States (1975 edition), series Y 79-83, p. 1073.

7. 4.

   In which elections did the winner of the electoral vote get fewer popular votes than the runner-up, and what does that show, Luz asks?

   • 1880 and 1884: the two closest popular votes decided the presidency in those years
   • 1888 alone: Cleveland trailed by 168 electoral votes to Harrison's 233, which shows the popular vote did not matter
   • 1876 alone: Hayes won by a single electoral vote, so the electoral vote was decisive just that once
   • 1876 and 1888: the popular margin did not decide the presidency in those years

8. Use this

   Jobs, tariffs and votes, 1871 to 1890 (cards A to F and a table). Card E, the McKinley Tariff (Summary in our words, not a quotation, from the Senate and the Miller Center): William McKinley, a Representative from Ohio, was the main sponsor of the Tariff Act of 1890. The Senate approved it on September 30, 1890, and President Benjamin Harrison signed it the next day, October 1. The Senate's historical office puts the average duty on most imports at almost 50 percent once the Act was in force. The Miller Center gives 49.5 percent as the average duty on manufactured goods. One section let the President make trade agreements that lowered some duties in return for lower foreign duties on American goods. Table "Presidential elections, 1876 to 1888", columns Year | Winner of the electoral vote | Runner-up in the electoral vote. Row 1: 1876 | Hayes: 185 electoral, 4,036,572 popular | Tilden: 184 electoral, 4,284,020 popular. Row 2: 1880 | Garfield: 214 electoral, 4,453,295 popular | Hancock: 155 electoral, 4,414,082 popular. Row 3: 1884 | Cleveland: 219 electoral, 4,879,507 popular | Blaine: 182 electoral, 4,850,293 popular. Row 4: 1888 | Harrison: 233 electoral, 5,447,129 popular | Cleveland: 168 electoral, 5,537,857 popular. Only the two leading candidates are shown; votes for small parties are left out. Data: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States (1975 edition), series Y 79-83, p. 1073.

9. 5.

   Milo's classmate says voters endorsed high tariffs in 1888, since Harrison won and signed the McKinley Tariff. What does the table let Milo reply?

   • The classmate is wrong, because Cleveland, who wanted tariff revision, led the popular vote, so voters rejected high tariffs
   • The classmate is right, because Harrison won 233 electoral votes to 168 and so held the nation's mandate
   • Harrison won the electoral vote but trailed Cleveland by 90,728 popular votes, so the result is no clear endorsement
   • The classmate is right, because Harrison signed the tariff within two years of his victory

10. Use this

    Jobs, tariffs and votes, 1871 to 1890 (cards A to F and a table). Card B, the Mugwumps in brief (Summary in our words, not a quotation, from the Miller Center and Digital History): In 1884 some Republican reformers refused to back their party's nominee, James G. Blaine of Maine, because they distrusted his record in public life. They supported the Democratic nominee, Grover Cleveland, whom they saw as honest and willing to stand up to corrupt political groups. These bolters were called Mugwumps. Many were business owners and professionals who cared more about clean government than about party loyalty. Table "Presidential elections, 1876 to 1888", columns Year | Winner of the electoral vote | Runner-up in the electoral vote. Row 1: 1876 | Hayes: 185 electoral, 4,036,572 popular | Tilden: 184 electoral, 4,284,020 popular. Row 2: 1880 | Garfield: 214 electoral, 4,453,295 popular | Hancock: 155 electoral, 4,414,082 popular. Row 3: 1884 | Cleveland: 219 electoral, 4,879,507 popular | Blaine: 182 electoral, 4,850,293 popular. Row 4: 1888 | Harrison: 233 electoral, 5,447,129 popular | Cleveland: 168 electoral, 5,537,857 popular. Only the two leading candidates are shown; votes for small parties are left out. Data: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States (1975 edition), series Y 79-83, p. 1073.

11. 6.

    Cleveland beat Blaine in 1884 by 29,214 popular votes (table). Card B says Mugwumps backed Cleveland. What can Noah conclude?

    • Mugwumps won the election for Cleveland, since they backed him in a close contest
    • Cleveland's margin was 292,140, so the Mugwumps were not needed to win the election
    • The Mugwumps did not matter, because reformers were too few to affect a national vote
    • Mugwump support may have helped, but the cards give no count of Mugwump voters

12. Use this

    Jobs, tariffs and votes, 1871 to 1890 (cards A to F and a table). Card F, the Pendleton Act, section 2, first rule (a federal law, January 16, 1883): "First, for open, competitive examinations for testing the fitness of applicants for the public service now classified [sorted into grades] or to be classified hereunder."

13. 7.

    A clerk in a classified federal job is hired because the clerk's uncle is a senator. Under the first rule in card F, is that hiring lawful, Pia asks?

    • No, because the first rule requires open, competitive examinations for classified jobs
    • Yes, because the rule covers just the applicants who ask to take the examination, and the clerk did not
    • Yes, because 'fitness of applicants' means the judgment of a senator about the applicant's character
    • No, because the rule bans hiring any relative of a senator in any federal job

14. Use this

    Jobs, tariffs and votes, 1871 to 1890 (cards A to F and a table). Card E, the McKinley Tariff (Summary in our words, not a quotation, from the Senate and the Miller Center): William McKinley, a Representative from Ohio, was the main sponsor of the Tariff Act of 1890. The Senate approved it on September 30, 1890, and President Benjamin Harrison signed it the next day, October 1. The Senate's historical office puts the average duty on most imports at almost 50 percent once the Act was in force. The Miller Center gives 49.5 percent as the average duty on manufactured goods. One section let the President make trade agreements that lowered some duties in return for lower foreign duties on American goods.

15. 8.

    The Senate's office says almost 50 percent and the Miller Center says 49.5 percent. How do the two fit together, Tala asks?

    • They differ by 5 percent, so the tariff was both lower and higher than 50 percent
    • They agree closely: one is for most imports and the other is for manufactured goods
    • Both describe the Tariff Act of 1883, which cut duties by an average of 1.47 percent
    • The Miller Center is the better source, because a university center checks figures more closely than the Senate

16. Use this

    Jobs, tariffs and votes, 1871 to 1890 (cards A to F and a table). Card C, steps toward merit hiring and a lower tariff (a chart, columns Problem | Who pushed for change | What law or result | Date). Row 1: Reformers wanted federal jobs filled by examination | Congressman Thomas Jenckes and President Grant | Congress let Grant set up the first Civil Service Commission; support was weak and Grant gave up the effort | 1871. Row 2: Federal jobs given as rewards for political help | Reformers and Senator George Pendleton of Ohio | The Pendleton Act set up competitive examinations; at first it covered about a tenth of about 132,000 employees | 1883. Row 3: Tariff duties were uneven and the Treasury held a surplus | A tariff commission named by President Arthur | The Tariff Act of 1883 cut duties by an average of 1.47 percent; the commission had asked for cuts of 20 to 25 percent | 1883.

17. 9.

    Which claim does chart C support best, Ari asks?

    • Both reforms went beyond what reformers asked, since each became law in 1883 and was stronger than planned
    • Both reforms were opposed by President Arthur, who named the commission that asked for tariff cuts
    • Both reforms failed completely, since neither reached the goal that reformers had set when they began
    • Both reforms started small: about a tenth of jobs covered and an average tariff cut of 1.47 percent
18. 10.

    A note says 'The Pendleton Act ended the spoils system.' Which edit does chart C support best, Bo asks?

    • It began merit hiring for about a tenth of federal jobs, so most jobs stayed outside
    • It covered most federal jobs from 1883, though it left out the most senior positions
    • It ended the spoils system in 1871, when Grant created the first Civil Service Commission
    • It ended the spoils system for federal jobs, since it set up competitive examinations for hiring