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1) What was the practice of rewarding
political supporters with government jobs
called?
2)Who was Thomas Nast?
3)What was the name of the man who ran the
corrupt political machine named Tammany
Hall in New York?
4) What is a muckraker?
5) The process of putting a thin layer of gold
paint on something to improve its
appearance is called what?
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The period the Civil War
became known as the Gilded
Age. Gilded means covered
with a thin layer of gold paint.
It suggests falseness beneath
surface glitter.
The Spoils system- The practice of
rewarding political supporters with
government jobs
 The spoils system began with the
presidency of Andrew Jackson.
 When President James Garfield was
shot and killed by a disgruntled job
seeker reformers began to call for an
end to the spoils system
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 Chester
A. Arthur succeeded
Garfield and signed into law the
Pendleton Act which created the
Civil Service Commission.
 The Civil Service Commission
regulated most government jobs.
It sought to fill jobs based on
merit rather than graft.
 Wealthy
Industrialists held sway
over politicians. They used their
money to bribe them.
 To counter this the progressives
started to pass laws that they
hoped would curtail big
businesses’ power.
 Interstate
Commerce Act-Forbade
rebates and set up a commission
to oversee railroads
 Sherman Anti-Trust Act- Was
meant to break up the trusts that
big business had built to limit
competition.
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As cities grew so did the need for
infrastructure-sewers, rail lines, garbage
collection, roads, etc.
This led to rampant corruption as city leaders
gave these jobs to friends who in turn kicked
back part of what they were paid to the
politician.
These “bosses” controlled every aspect of city
government. Not a dollar was spent that they
did not control
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The most famous of these men was New
York’s Boss Tweed who ran the cities
Tammany Hall political machine.
By the time he was convicted he had
cheated New York out of more than
$100,000,000 or about 2 billion dollars in
todays money
Because of his “generosity” many of New
York’s poor mourned his death in 1878
Thomas Nast-Famous
political cartoonist who
made a living poking
fun at corrupt politicians including Tweed.
The Progressives, was
the name given to
those civic minded
citizens who fought
against this type of
corruption.
Primary- Voters decided who would
run as candidates in local and state
elections. (party bosses had done this
in the past which led corruption)
 Recall – voters have the right to
remove an elected official from office (
only courts or the legislature could
remove corrupt officials)
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 Initiative-
allows voters to put a
bill before a state legislature (
only members of the state
legislature could introduce bills)
 Referendum-people can vote
directly for a new law (only
legislatures could pass laws)
Two new amendments
The 16th amendment gave congress
the power to pass and income tax
(1913)
The 17th amendment required the
direct election by the voters of each
state of senators (prior to this they were
chosen by state legislatures which led to
bribes and corruption)
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A muckraker was a crusading journalist
◦ Ida Tarbell-her efforts led to the break up
of the Standard Oil trust
◦ Jacob Riis- his shocking photographs
exposed the citizens with images of slum
life
◦ Upton Sinclair-wrote The Jungle which
exposed the unsanitary conditions in the
meatpacking industry