Essay Topic 2 Politics in the Gilded Age Daniel Thompson 739 Words Discuss Politics in the Gilded Age. Include major political events and issues, and the roles of the “bloody shirt,” corruption, patronage, and reform movements. The term Gilded Age was named for a Mark Twain book. It meant covered with gold, and was applied to this period as a whole. This was a period of corruption in sordid politics. The Republicans and Democrats didn’t really …showed first 75 words of 777 total…

…showed last 75 words of 777 total…Act reduced tariff slightly, and had a provision that the Populist favored. It was a 2% income tax on incomes over $4000 a year. In all Cleveland was unable to deal with the economic crises in his second term. There was too much corruption during this period. Honest politicians and businessmen might have prevented the depression. The big businesses were really in charge. The quality of Presidents played a major role in the ruin of this period.