Ulysses S. Grant's Presidency During The Gilded Age

The Gilded age spanned from the 1870s to about 1900. Six presidents were elected during that time period. Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison. Ulysses S. Grant was the first of the presidents elected during the Gilded Age, he was elected in 1869 and his presidency spanned to 1877. On September 24, 1869 the “Black Friday” panic happens in New York City when two gold entrepreneurs and Grant’s brother-in-law try to take control of the gold market. Grant finally orders a large sale of god ruining their plans to take over the market, but it effected the market greatly, stocks crashed, brokerages went bankrupt, and prices for agricultural good dropped severely. He received a lot of criticism for that and many people were strongly affected by this.

On January 2, 1870 under President Grant, the Brooklyn Bridge started construction and was the longest suspension bridge ever built when it was completed thirteen years later.

During his presidency three states, Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, were readmitted to the Union after they completed their reconstruction. With Grant’s help the Fifteenth Amendment is adopted and states that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." The Panic of 1873, after the Civil War was over the in railroad construction an economic panic spread across nation. After the crash of that banking firm many other firms also crashed, sending eighty nine of the countries three-hundred and sixty four railroads into bankruptcy. Grant tried to find a solution that would fix this problem but by the time he left office the problem was still there. In 1877 he left office and in 1885 he died do to throat cancer shortly after finishing his

memoir.
Rutherford B. Hayes was the nineteenth president of the United States by a heavy majority. He was elected in 1877 and his presidency spanned to 1881. During his presidential term he oversaw the end of reconstruction by removing troops from southern states, such as Louisiana and South Carolina. He also, during his time as president, sent troops to patrol the Texas-Mexico border, but in retaliation the Mexican president sent troops also. He pledged the protection of the rights of the African-Americans in the south and he was well liked by the Republican Party. He hopes that his actions during his presidency would result in a “New Republican Party”, one in which the southern white businessmen and conservatives could work together. Hayes worked very hard to win over the south with his ideas but never could get through. Before he left office he told people that he would only serve one term so in 1881 he retired to his home in Fremont, Ohio and died in 1893.
James A. Garfield was elected president of the United States March 4, 1881 and was shot in the back on July 2, 1881 by a man named Charles Guiteau, only 4 months after being sworn in. Doctors were unable to find the bullet in his back so for three months he laid in bed dying and on September 19, 1881 Garfield died of infection and internal hemorrhage. While he was president he spent most of his time trying to assemble his cabinet while at the same time trying to please both sides of the, then, split republican party.
Chester A. Arthur was sworn in to office on September 20, 1881 after the horrible death of president Garfield. Arthur’s presidency lasted from 1881 to 1885. During his presidency he surprised Americans by moving past partisanship. In January of 1883 he signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act, this was a legislation that mandated that certain federal government jobs be distributed based on merit and not on political connections.