The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act

President Chester Arthur issued these rules [1881]: "First: No person in civil service shall use his office, his official authority or influence, either to coerce the political action of any person or body to interfere with any election. Second: No person in the public service shall for that reason be under any obligation to contribute to any political fund or render any political service, and he will not be removed or otherwise prejudiced for refusing to do so."

President Jackson further strengthened the executive branch by utilizing the spoils system, a system in which a president rewards political supporters with public office. Instead of selecting individuals who were truly qualified for the job, Jackson elected his loyal, democratic followers, claiming the reason for the new appointments was to end entrenchment and transfer the power to the people. In reality, by selecting supporters, Jackson would have the ability to easily control the government. His appointment of Roger B. Taney to be Secretary of Treasury was done with the sole purpose to kill the second Bank of the United States. The bank favored the elite, and by killing it, Jackson hoped he would win over the country’s common man.

He believed that the spoil system, or rotating office holders often was important. He fired everyone currently working at the white house, and he replaced them with people that were actively campaigning for the democratic

When Jackson was elected president he introduced the spoils system, which took away the jobs of highly trained federal men. These men were the most educated to hold office, but with the new system they were replaced with political supporters as a payment for supporting Jackson. He had a belief that if the same people stayed in the position, they would have more power. Removing the people from their position was not the best option, and showed that Jackson simply wanted to make the people happy, but was not doing what was best for the country. The majority of the men were uneducated common people. In the political cartoon, Office Hunters For The Year 1834, it shows that Jackson had complete control of the members of the kitchen,since they were his friends and would often obey him. Having all the control in the White House and control over the members of

Andrew Jackson ran for president during the 1824 election. Due to the Corrupt Bargain, Jackson lost to Quincy Adams. However, the next election, Jackson won. When he took office, the Spoils System would take place. Government officials when George Washington was president had been fired because they did not have the same views as Andrew Jackson. In addition, he set up a Kitchen Cabinet of informal advisors to assist him. In 1833, Jackson vetoed the Bank Bill because he felt like the bank only benefitted the wealthy residents. This veto and all of his other vetoes, he would veto more bills than all the presidents before him would. During his presidency, he would use a lot of power while changing the view of a president.

The spoils system, known also as the patronage system is the rotation of officers in government. Document I describes a case where Andrew Jackson decides to appoint Samuel Swartwout as the collector of the port of New York. Swartwout was known to have criminal tendencies, however, Jackson refused to listen to the warnings and appointed him anyways. “He liked Swartwout because he had been an early supporter, unlike Van Buren, and so he went ahead with the appointment. In time, Swartwout absconded with $1,222,705.09...Jackson was mortified.” According to the definition of democracy, the power is vested in the people and the common people are considered as the primary source of political power. Here, Andrew Jackson is abusing his presidential powers by choosing his supporters and undercutting the smooth running of the government. The rotation in office has been just a political device Jackson use to get his supporters a role in government. Andrew Jackson did not give Americans the chance to participate in

Such as the Pendleton Civil Service Act that passed on January 16, 1883. “This act was passed in response to the discovery that Post Office officials and stagecoach operators had come up with a plan to steal millions of dollars from the United States government” This act also helped establish the Civil Service Commission. As a result, the merit system was created. Government jobs were now given based on the person’s ability to do the tasks, instead of given as a reward for political loyalty. (Sheppard Software

Any contract for transporting freight or personnel by vessel, aircraft, bus, truck, express, railroad, or oil or gas pipeline where published tariff rates are in effect;

After the Assassination of President Garfield, Congress passed several laws that tried to curb the corruption in governmental hiring, tried to help middle class workers find government jobs and worked to have a more professionalized government. Laws were also passed to help the civil liberties of black voting rights in the south, but were abandoned by republicans after voters turned

Furthermore, Jackson’s presidency was characterized by use of the spoils system and the systematic rotation of officeholders. These stipulated that federal jobs were strictly given to loyal Democrats and that federal offices could be held for only one term. While these practices were meant to emphasize equal political opportunities and build party loyalty, they inherently promoted government corruption. In fact, the power that Jackson wielded by trading federal positions for party loyalty both overextended his executive power and practiced the same corrupt bargaining of office that the Democrats accused John Quincy Adams of in the election of 1824. Thus, the Jacksonian democrats dealt clear detriments and hypocrisies to the system of popular democracy that they so strongly advocated, despite their encouragement of universal white male suffrage and participation in office.

The selection of officials of Jackson was in many cases the return of a financial grant during campaigning. The consideration of the ability to govern, have intelligence and responsibility etc. were ignored in the wake of compensation. Although opposites alike were granted power they were not always for the continuance of democracy.

The Spoils System had always existed to some degree but Jackson abused it. This became a downfall of his administration. A letter Jackson wrote to Congress demonstrates how he was oblivious to the effects of abusing the Spoils System. According to the “Life of Andrew Jackson”, when he refused the listen to his Secretary of State, the government was robbed of over $1,000 as a result of Jackson’s appointment of a theft. This is all a result of the wrong application of the Spoils System, which severely hurt the government. These actions made Jackson undemocratic because he figured that government jobs were simple so did the appointing himself. He didn’t listen to other’s opinions. Although Jackson seems entirely undemocratic, the Indian Removal Act opposed his

After Lincoln was assassinated, vise president Andrew Johnson stepped into office with a goal to change some of the things he believed in. In the article Andrew Johnson it states, “Next they passed measures dealing with the former slaves. Johnson vetoed the legislation. The Radicals mustered enough votes in Congress to pass legislation over his veto--the first time that

Political machines helped the needs of the poor

The main issue is one that affected most of Society in the early 20th century.The main issue stemmed from outcry at The Great Reform Act 1832 which was introduced to amend the representation of the people in England and Wales. Before the 1832 Reform Act most men and all women did not have the vote. This act created a wider franchise but used the term ‘male person’, specifically excluding women. Alternative acts helped to enfranchise new sections of society and gave most men the vote, leaving sex the principal ground for disqualification. As a result, debates about ‘fitness’ for citizenship and the vote, which had previously centred around wealth, property ownership and education, now revolved around questions of gender. It was that women, did not have the right to vote for the men that were in power creating laws and such which they had to follow. The laws and aspects of society which they were made to follow without any say in the creation of them were things such as taxes. Women were denied the vote for many reasons, most being justified by men. Most men and some women at the time, against women gaining the vote believed in Conservatism, they thought that the way the laws were, had been the same for many years, and they saw no need to change something that ‘worked’ for ‘the benefit’ of ‘all’ those in society at the time. it was also a widespread belief that women should remain in the home and take care of their ‘natural duties’, such as cleaning, cooking, etc. Women at