Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Chapter 16 Lesson 2: The Reforming Impulse (pp. 477-485)
I. The Mugwumps Seek Reform
B. Under the spoils system, government jobs were held by unqualified people who had supported or given money to their party.
C. The Mugwumps were a group of Republicans who wanted to reform the spoils system and reduce the protective tariff.
II. Attacking the Spoils System
B. Congress passed the Civil Service Act of 1883, which set aside about 15,000 federal jobs to be filled through a competitive test.
B. In 1887, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act, which outlawed many unfair railroad practices and set up the Interstate Commerce Commission.
C. Although the ICC had little power at first and the Supreme Court usually ruled in favor of the railroads, the law did establish the government's right to regulate business.
B. In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to limit the power of the trusts.
C. The Sherman law had little effect at first because businesses found loopholes in it and the Supreme Court interpreted it narrowly.
Lesson at a Glance Outline
A. In the late 1800s, the two major political parties agreed on many issues and each focused more on controlling political jobs and offices than on creating new policies.
A. Mugwumps and other reformers worked to replace the spoils system with a system in which people had to prove their abilities to hold government jobs.
III. Regulating the Railroads
A. Railroads often used unfair business practices against competitors, charged unfairly high rates to farmers, and bribed politicians.
IV. Restraining the Trusts
A. Through monopolies or trusts, one company or group of companies could control an entire industry, and then set prices and quantities of goods to make the greatest possible profitable.
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