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Essay Plan - ‘Gilded Age Presidents have been unjustly remembered as dull and ineffective’.
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An essay plan for Gilded Age politics. Provides 4 points and counterpoints.
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‘Gilded Age Presidents have been unjustly remembered as dull and ineffective’. Towhat extent do you agree with this view?
Hayes
FOR:
➢ Couldn’t convince Congress to outlaw the spoils system.
➢ He set the ball rolling for further civil service reform, especially after sacking Arthur for
refusing to obey his orders.
➢ The undoing of reconstruction under Hayes due to the 1887 Compromise.
AGAINST:
➢ Issued an executive order that forbade federal officers from being required to make campaign
contributions or taking part in any party politics.
➢ Hayes appointed Carl Shurz as Secretary of Interior (one of the best-known advocates for
reform) and William M. Evarts as Secretary of State to lead a special cabinet committee to
draw up new federal appointment rules.
➢ He was determined to reform the spoils system (officeholders selected on the basis of party
loyalty rather than administrative competence).
Garfield
FOR:
➢ Supported the reform of the civil service, believed the spoils system was damaging the
presidency.
➢ Strengthened federal authority over the New York Customs House.
➢ Continued the work of his predecessor Hayes in the reform of the Post Office. Garfield forced
the resignation of Thomas J. Brady (one of the ringleaders of the Post Office corruption
scandal) in 1883.
➢ His death greatly increased the demand for and support for further civil service reform.
AGAINST:
➢ Failed to outlaw the spoils system.
Arthur
FOR:
➢ Continued the civil service reform of his predecessors.
➢ Passed the Pendleton Act of 1883 which intended to begin the professional handling of the
civil service. It also called for a merit system for promotion within services.
➢ Created the first Civil Service Commission - was the beginning of the end of the spoils
system.
➢ Tariff Act of 1883 - reduced tariffs by an average of 1.47% (after Congress tried to raise
them).
➢ Arthur signed a revised bill of the Chinese Exclusion Act that was not as harsh.
AGAINST:
➢ Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was passed by Congress despite Arthur’s veto.
Cleveland
FOR:
➢ Continued to reform the civil service.
➢ Cleveland announced that he would not fire any Republican that was doing his job well and
would not appoint anyone solely on the basis of party service.
➢ Used his appointment powers to reduce the number of federal employees.
AGAINST:
➢ Believed in a very limited role for the government.
➢ Vetoed hundreds of pension bills for American Civil War veterans.
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