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 question is partly one of evidence: the effects can be estimated, but the card does not settle them
   • 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 debate is just about opinions, so no evidence about prices or jobs could settle it at any time

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.

   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?

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

5. 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.

6. 3.

   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?

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

7. 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.

8. 4.

   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 right, because Harrison signed the tariff within two years of his victory
   • 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 won 233 electoral votes to 168 and so held the nation's mandate
   • The classmate is wrong, because Cleveland, who wanted tariff revision, led the popular vote, so voters rejected high tariffs

9. 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."

10. 5.

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

11. 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.

12. 6.

    Which statement about the McKinley Tariff does card E support best, Ren asks?

    • It set average duties near 50 percent yet let the President cut some by trade agreements
    • It lowered average duties to 49.5 percent, which was lower than the rates before it
    • It set duties near 50 percent and gave the President no power to change any of them later
    • It ended the argument over tariffs, since the Senate approved it the day before it was signed
13. 7.

    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 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
    • They differ by 5 percent, so the tariff was both lower and higher than 50 percent
    • The Miller Center is the better source, because a university center checks figures more closely than the Senate

14. 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.

15. 8.

    Compare the first two rows of card C. What changed between the effort of 1871 and the Pendleton Act of 1883, Zee asks?

    • In 1883 Congress put examinations into law; the 1871 commission depended on a President who gave up
    • In 1871 Pendleton led the effort, and in 1883 Jenckes carried the bill to success
    • In 1883 the reformers won most federal jobs for the merit system, where in 1871 they had won nothing
    • In 1871 Congress put examinations into law, but in 1883 a President gave up the whole effort
16. 9.

    Which claim does chart C support best, Ari asks?

    • Both reforms failed completely, since neither reached the goal that reformers had set when they began
    • Both reforms were opposed by President Arthur, who named the commission that asked for tariff cuts
    • Both reforms went beyond what reformers asked, since each became law in 1883 and was stronger than planned
    • Both reforms started small: about a tenth of jobs covered and an average tariff cut of 1.47 percent
17. 10.

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

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