what event helped to pass the pendleton civil service act?

Civil Service Reform

The Stalwarts, a faction of the Republican Party in the late nineteenth century, opposed ceremonious service reform and favored car politics.

Learning Objectives

Summarize efforts made to reform the ceremonious service system

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• During the Republican National Convention of 1880, the Half-Breeds advocated the candidacy of James Blaine of Maine for president. A stalemate occurred betwixt the One-half-Breeds and the Stalwarts, and a compromise was struck to nominate a decent, less abrasive man: James Garfield.
• Instead of giving federal jobs to political supporters, Rutherford B. Hayes wished to award them by merit co-ordinate to an examination that all applicants would have. Immediately, Hayes's telephone call for reform brought him into conflict with the Stalwart, or pro-spoils, branch of the Republican party.
• Hayes made strides toward eliminating political patronage in authorities jobs during his administration.

Key Terms

• reform: Amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved.
• Chester A. Arthur: (Oct v, 1829–November 18, 1886) The 21st president of the United States (1881–1885), who took part afterwards the bump-off of President James A. Garfield. Arthur overcame suspicions about his beginnings as a political leader by embracing the cause of civil service reform. His advocacy for, and enforcement of, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was the centerpiece of his assistants.
• stalwart: A fellow member of a faction of the Republican Party toward the stop of the nineteenth century. Stalwarts were the "traditional" Republicans who opposed Rutherford B. Hayes's ceremonious service reform. They were pitted against the Half-Breeds (moderates) for control of the Republican Political party. The merely real result between Stalwarts and Half-Breeds was patronage. The Half-Breeds worked to get ceremonious service reform, and finally created the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Deed. Stalwarts favored traditional car politics.
• spoils system: A practice in which a political party, after winning an ballot, gives government jobs to its voters as a reward for their back up and as an incentive to proceed working for the party.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Ceremonious service reform in the United States was a major national outcome in the tardily 1800s and a major state issue in the early 1900s. President Rutherford B. Hayes took office determined to reform the system of civil service appointments, which had been based on the spoils system since Andrew Jackson was president. Instead of giving federal jobs to political supporters, Hayes wished to award them by merit according to an examination that all applicants would take. Immediately, Hayes'south call for reform brought him into conflict with the Stalwarts, a pro-spoils branch of the Republican party. Senators of both parties were accustomed to being consulted near political appointments and turned confronting Hayes. Foremost among his enemies was New York Senator Roscoe Conkling, who fought Hayes's reform efforts at every turn.

To show his commitment to reform, Hayes appointed one of the all-time-known advocates of reform, Carl Schurz, to be secretarial assistant of the Interior and asked Schurz and William Thousand. Evarts, his secretarial assistant of state, to pb a special cabinet committee charged with drawing upwards new rules for federal appointments. John Sherman, the Treasury secretary, ordered John Jay to investigate the New York Custom House, which was stacked with Conkling's spoilsmen. Jay's report suggested that the New York Custom House was so overstaffed with political appointees that 20 percentage of the employees were expendable.

Although he could not convince Congress to outlaw the spoils system, Hayes issued an executive order that forbade federal function holders from being required to brand campaign contributions or otherwise taking part in party politics. Chester A. Arthur, the collector of the Port of New York, and his subordinates Alonzo B. Cornell and George H. Sharpe, all Conkling supporters, refused to obey the president'southward order. In September 1877, Hayes demanded the three men's resignations, which they refused to requite.

Hayes was forced to expect until July 1878 when, during a Congressional recess, he fired Arthur and Cornell and replaced them through the recess appointments of Merritt and Silas W. Burt, respectively. Conkling opposed the appointees' confirmation when the Senate reconvened in Feb 1879, simply Merritt was approved by a vote of 31 to 25, every bit was Burt by 31 to 19, giving Hayes his most meaning civil service reform victory. For the residue of his term, Hayes pressed Congress to enact permanent reform legislation, even using his last almanac message to Congress on Dec 6, 1880, to appeal for reform. While reform legislation did non pass during Hayes's presidency, his advocacy provided, "a pregnant precedent every bit well as the political impetus for the Pendleton Act of 1883," which was signed into law past President Chester Arthur.

Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act

The Pendleton Ceremonious Service Reform Act (ch. 27, 22 Stat. 403) of the United States is a federal law established in 1883 that stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit. The act provided for the selection of government employees based on competitive exams, rather than on ties to politicians or political amalgamation. It besides made it illegal to fire or demote government employees for political reasons. To enforce the merit system and the judicial organization, the law also created the United States Civil Service Commission.

The Pendleton Act served every bit a response to the massive public support of civil service reform that grew post-obit President Garfield'southward assassination. Despite his previous support of the patronage system, Arthur, still, became an ardent supporter of ceremonious service reform as president. Nevertheless, the police force as well would bear witness to exist a major political liability for Arthur. The law offended automobile politicians within the Republican Party and did not evidence to be enough for the political party's reformers; hence, Arthur lost popularity within the Republican Party and was unable to win the party'southward Presidential nomination at the 1884 Republican National Convention.

Postal Service Reform

"From the Toe-Path to the White Business firm": Hayes kicking Chester A. Arthur out of the New York Custom Business firm.

President Hayes too dealt with abuse in the postal service. In 1880, Schurz and Senator John A. Logan asked Hayes to shut down the " star road " rings, a system of decadent contract profiteering in the Postal Service, and to fire Second Banana Postmaster General Thomas J. Brady, the declared ring leader. Hayes stopped granting new star road contracts, but let existing contracts continue to be enforced. Democrats accused Hayes of delaying proper investigation so as not to hurt Republican chances in the 1880 elections but did not printing the issue in their entrada literature, every bit members of both parties were implicated in the abuse. Although Hayes and Congress both looked into the contracts and constitute no compelling evidence of wrongdoing, Brady and others were indicted for conspiracy in 1882. Later 2 trials, the defendants were found non guilty in 1883.

When Arthur succeeded Garfield, reformers feared that Arthur, as a product of the spoils organisation, would not devote his administration'southward energy to continuing the investigation into the Mail scandal. Still, when a new trial of Brady was granted due to questions of bribery, Arthur removed five federal officeholders who were sympathetic with the defense force, including a sometime senator. The second trial began in Dec 1882, and lasted until July 1883, but again, did not result in a guilty verdict. Failure to obtain a conviction tarnished the administration's image, but Arthur did succeed in putting a stop to the fraud.

The Scurrilous Campaign

The issue of personal character figured prominently in the 1884 presidential campaign.

Learning Objectives

Examine the signature achievements of the Cleveland assistants

Primal Takeaways

Central Points

• The presidential campaign of 1884 was marked by an emphasis on personality and scandal.
• James Thousand. Blaine, the Republican nominee, was implicated in a scandal that involved his burning of several important letters that revealed he took money from corporations in commutation for political influence.
• Grover Cleveland, the Democratic nominee, was discovered to have fathered a child out of wedlock.
• Though the pop vote was close, Cleveland won in the Balloter College.
• Early in his presidency, Cleveland focused on political reform of the spoils system.
• Cleveland fought against Republicans to lower import tariffs.

Key Terms

• mugwump: A Republican political activist who bolted from the U.Southward. Republican Party by supporting Autonomous candidate Grover Cleveland in the presidential election of 1884.
• James G. Blaine: An American Republican politician who served every bit a U.S. representative, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a U.S. senator from Maine, and twice every bit secretary of state. He was nominated for president in 1884, just was narrowly defeated by Democrat Grover Cleveland.
• Grover Cleveland: The 22nd and 24th president of the United States, the only president to serve ii nonconsecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897), and therefore, the simply private to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents.
• Tariff Act of 1890: A police framed past Representative William McKinley that raised the average duty on imports to nearly 50 percent, an deed designed to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.

The issue of personal grapheme was paramount in the 1884 presidential campaign. Quondam Speaker of the Firm James Chiliad. Blaine had been prevented from getting the Republican presidential nomination during the previous two elections because of the stigma of the "Mulligan messages." In 1876, a Boston bookkeeper named James Mulligan had located some letters showing that Blaine had sold his influence in Congress to various businesses. 1 such letter concluded with the phrase, "burn this letter," from which a popular dirge of the Democrats arose: "Burn, burn, burn this letter!" In just one deal, Blaine had received $110,150 ( more than $i.5 one thousand thousand in 2010 dollars) from the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad for securing a federal land grant, among other things. Democrats and anti-Blaine Republicans made unrestrained attacks on his integrity equally a result.

New York Governor Grover Cleveland, on the other manus, was known as "Grover the Good" for his personal integrity. In the space of the 3 previous years, he successively had become the mayor of Buffalo and and then the governor of the state of New York, cleaning upward big amounts of Tammany Hall 's corrupt political mechanism.

It came every bit a tremendous shock when, on July 21, the Buffalo Evening Telegraph reported that Cleveland had fathered a child out of wedlock, that the child had gone to an orphanage, and that the female parent had been driven into an aviary. Cleveland'southward campaign decided that candor was the all-time approach to this scandal: They admitted that Cleveland had formed an "illicit connexion" with the mother and that a child had been born and given the Cleveland surname. They too noted that in that location was no proof that Cleveland was the father, and claimed that, by assuming responsibleness and finding a dwelling house for the kid, he was merely doing his duty. Finally, they showed that the female parent had not been forced into an asylum. Her whereabouts were unknown.

Cleveland Gains Back up

The Democrats held their convention in Chicago the following month and nominated Governor Grover Cleveland of New York. Cleveland's fourth dimension on the national scene was brief, but Democrats hoped that his reputation equally a reformer and an opponent of corruption would attract Republicans dissatisfied with Blaine and his reputation for scandal. They were right, as reform-minded Mugwump Republicans denounced Blaine equally decadent and flocked to Cleveland. The Mugwumps, including such men equally Carl Schurz and Henry Ward Beecher, were more concerned with morality than with political party politics, and felt Cleveland was a kindred soul who would promote ceremonious service reform and fight for efficiency in government. Nonetheless, even as the Democrats gained support from the Mugwumps, they lost some blue-collar workers to the Greenback-Labor political party, led by Benjamin F. Butler, Blaine's antagonist from their early days in the House.

Later the election, the term "Mugwump" survived for more a decade as an epithet for a party bolter in American politics. Many Mugwumps became Democrats or remained Independents; well-nigh continued to support reform well into the twentieth century.

Bernard Gilliam'south "Phryne earlier the Chicago Tribunal": This 1884 cartoon in Puck mag ridicules Blaine as the tattooed man, with many enduring scandals. The cartoon image is a parody of Phryne before the Areopagus, an 1861 painting past French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme.

The Election

Both candidates believed that u.s. of New York, New Jersey, Indiana, and Connecticut would decide the election. In New York, Blaine received less support than he anticipated when Arthur and Conkling, still powerful in the New York Republican party, failed to actively entrada for him. Blaine hoped that he would have more support from Irish Americans than Republicans typically did. While the Irish were mainly a Democratic constituency in the nineteenth century, Blaine's mother was Irish Cosmic, and he believed his career-long opposition to the British government would resonate with the Irish gaelic. Blaine'south hope for Irish defections to the Republican standard were dashed tardily in the campaign when i of his supporters, Samuel D. Burchard, gave a speech denouncing the Democrats as the party of "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion." The Democrats spread the give-and-take of this insult in the days before the election, and Cleveland narrowly won all 4 of the swing states, including New York past slightly more than than one,000 votes. While the popular vote total was close, with Cleveland winning past just ane-quarter of a percent, the electoral votes gave Cleveland a bulk of 219 to 182.

Cleveland'due south Presidency

Soon later on taking office, President Grover Cleveland was faced with filling all of the regime jobs for which the president had the power of appointment. These jobs were typically filled nether the spoils system, but Cleveland announced that he would not fire whatever Republican who was doing his job well. Nor would he appoint anyone solely on the ground of party service. Cleveland also used his appointment powers to reduce the number of federal employees, equally many departments had become swollen with political timeservers.

Later in his term, Cleveland replaced more of the partisan Republican officeholders with Democrats. While some of his decisions were influenced by party concerns, more than of Cleveland'due south appointments were decided by merit alone. Cleveland likewise reformed other parts of the government. In 1887, he signed an act creating the Interstate Commerce Commission. He besides modernized the navy and canceled construction contracts that had resulted in inferior ships. Cleveland angered railroad investors past ordering an investigation of western lands they held by government grant.

Cleveland and Tariff Reform

The Tariff Human action of 1890, usually chosen the " McKinley Tariff," was an act of the U.S. Congress framed by Representative William McKinley that became law on October 1, 1890. The tariff raised the average duty on imports to well-nigh fifty percent, an act designed to protect domestic industries from foreign competition. Protectionism, a tactic supported past Republicans, was fiercely debated by politicians and condemned by Democrats.

The tariff was not well received by Americans, who suffered a steep increment in the cost of products. In the 1890 ballot, Republicans House seats went from 166 to only 88. McKinley, the act's framer and defender, was so assassinated. In the 1892 presidential ballot, Harrison was soundly defeated by Grover Cleveland, and the Senate, Firm, and presidency were all under Democratic control. Lawmakers immediately started drafting new tariff legislation.

Cleveland'south opinion on the tariff was that of most Democrats: The tariff ought to be reduced. American tariffs had been high since the Civil War, and by the 1880s, the tariff brought in and then much revenue that the regime was running a surplus. After reversing the Harrison administration'south silver policy, Cleveland sought next to reverse the effects of the McKinley tariff. What would go the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act was introduced by West Virginian Representative William L. Wilson in December 1893. Later on lengthy debate, the bill passed the Firm by a considerable margin. The bill proposed moderate downward revisions in the tariff, particularly on raw materials. The shortfall in revenue was to be made up by an income tax of two pct on income in a higher place $iv,000, ($103,000 U.S. dollars in present terms).

The bill was side by side considered in the Senate, where opposition was stronger. Cleveland faced opposition from central Democrats, led by Arthur Pue Gorman of Maryland, who insisted on more than protection for their states' industries than the Wilson nib allowed. Some voted partly out of a personal enmity toward Cleveland. By the time the nib passed the Senate, information technology had more than 600 amendments attached that nullified about of the reforms. The Saccharide Trust in particular lobbied for changes that favored alter at the expense of the consumer. Cleveland was outraged with the last bill, and denounced it as a disgraceful product of the control of the Senate by trusts and business concern interests. Even and then, he believed it was an improvement over the McKinley tariff and allowed it to become police without his signature.

Republican Reform Under Harrison

Civil service reform, alimony reform, and the "Billion Dollar Congress" characterized the Harrison administration'south Republican reforms.

Learning Objectives

Outline the legislative achievements of the Benjamin Harrison administration

Primal Takeaways

Key Points

• In the election of 1888, Republican Benjamin Harrison narrowly defeated incumbent Grover Cleveland.
• Civil service reform was a prominent consequence post-obit Harrison'due south election. However, he did little to advance civil service reform during his time in office, fearing Congressional conflict.
• Harrison enacted the Dependent and Disability Pension Human activity in 1890, granting pensions to all disabled Civil War veterans regardless of the cause of their disability.
• The 51st Congress was nicknamed the "Billion Dollar Congress" for its massive spending. This Congress was also responsible for a number of pieces of landmark legislation, many of which expanded the authorization of the federal government.
• Two significant pieces of legislation that would accept removed some of the voting barriers faced by African Americans failed to gain Congress's approval.

Key Terms

• Billion Dollar Congress: The 51st U.Due south. Congress, criticized for its lavish spending, that met from 1889 to 1891, during the first ii years of the assistants of President Benjamin Harrison.
• Dependent and Disability Alimony Act: A federal act that provided pensions for all Union Army veterans who had served 90 days and who were unable to perform transmission labor, whether or non the cause of their disability was related to their service in the American Ceremonious State of war. The act besides provided pensions for minors, dependent parents, and widows of veterans.
• Pendleton Act: A federal police force established in 1883 that stipulated that regime jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit.

The 1888 election for president of the United States saw Grover Cleveland of New York, the incumbent president and a Democrat, try to secure a second term against the Republican nominee, Benjamin Harrison, a one-time U.S. Senator from Indiana. Tariff policy was the principal issue in the election. Harrison took the side of industrialists and factory workers who wanted to continue tariffs loftier, while Cleveland strenuously denounced high tariffs as unfair to consumers. His opposition to Civil War pensions and inflated currency likewise made enemies among veterans and farmers. On the other paw, he held a potent hand in the South and edge states, and appealed to former Republican Mugwumps. The economy was prosperous and the nation was at peace, but Cleveland lost reelection in the Electoral College, fifty-fifty though he won a plurality of the popular vote by a narrow margin. Harrison was sworn into office on March iv, 1889.

Civil Service Reform

Civil service reform was a prominent issue following Harrison'southward election. Harrison had campaigned as a supporter of the merit system, equally opposed to the spoils organisation. Although some U.South. civil service jobs had been classified under the Pendleton Human action by previous administrations, Harrison spent much of his commencement months in office deciding on political appointments.

Congress was widely divided on the outcome, and Harrison was reluctant to address the issue because he feared alienating either side. The consequence became a political football game of the time and was immortalized in a cartoon captioned, "What can I do when both parties insist on boot?" Harrison appointed Theodore Roosevelt and Hugh Smith Thompson, both reformers, to the Civil Service Committee, but otherwise did lilliputian to further the reform cause.

Pension Reform

The "Billion Dollar Congress": In this drawing from Puck, Benjamin Harrison and the "Billion Dollar Congress" are portrayed as wasting the surplus.

Harrison quickly saw the enactment of the Dependent and Disability Pension Deed in 1890, a crusade he had championed while in Congress. In addition to providing pensions to disabled Civil War veterans, regardless of the crusade of their inability, the act depleted some of the troublesome federal budget surplus. Alimony expenditures reached $135 one thousand thousand under Harrison, the largest expenditure of its kind at that point in American history, a trouble exacerbated past Alimony Bureau commissioner James R. Tanner's expansive interpretation of the pension laws.

The 51st Congress

The 51st U.S. Congress, referred to by some critics every bit the "Billion Dollar Congress," was a coming together of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government that met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1889, to March iv, 1891, during the starting time two years of the administration of President Benjamin Harrison.

Legislative Achievements

The 51st Congress was responsible for a number of pieces of landmark legislation, many of which expanded the dominance of the federal government. Emboldened by their success in the elections of 1888, the Republicans enacted virtually their unabridged platform during their first 303-solar day session, including a measure that provided American Civil War veterans with generous pensions and expanded the list of eligible recipients to include noncombatants and the children of veterans. Grover Cleveland had vetoed a similar neb in 1887. The 51st Congress was criticized equally the "Billion Dollar Congress'" for its lavish spending, and for this reason, it incited desperate reversals in public support that led to Cleveland'south reelection in 1892.

Economic and Trade Legislation

Other important legislation passed into law by the Congress included the McKinley tariff, authored by representative, and futurity president, William McKinley. The Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibited business organisation combinations that restricted trade, and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which required the U.Southward. regime to mint silver were both authored by Senator John Sherman.

National Forests

The 51st Congress also was responsible for passing the Country Revision Act of 1891, which created the national forests. Harrison authorized America'south commencement forest reserve in Yellowstone, Wyoming, the same year.

Meaning Legislation That Failed

Other bills were discussed but failed to pass, including two significant pieces of legislation focused on ensuring African Americans the correct to vote. Henry Cabot Social club sponsored a and so-called Social club Pecker that would have established federal supervision of congressional elections so as to prevent the disfranchisement of southern blacks. Henry W. Blair sponsored the Blair Education Neb, which advocated the use of federal assistance for education in social club to frustrate Southern whites employing literacy tests to foreclose blacks from registering to vote.

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