James A. Garfield

Served as president from 1881-1881
Era: Gilded Age
American identity and Culture
During President Garfield’s presidency, many books were published such as A Century of Dishonor by Helen Hunt Jackson. In A Century of Dishonor, Jackson wrote this novel in response to attending a convention in Boston in which she witnessed Standing Bear, an Indian tribe leader, tell his story abouthis tribe being coerced off theirnative land because of the Indian Appropriations Act passed in 1871.Jackson felt angered at the fact that the Indians were being treated so cruelly and thus wrote the book depicting the harsh treatment that seven different Indian tribes received by the government. Jackson sent a copy of her story to Congress to try to change government laws and policies toward the Native Americans. As a result of Jackson’s book, the American public felt sympathy for the Native Americans and realized their greed for wealth, power, and land.
Economic Transformations and Globalization
During this period, the United States was constantly industrializing causing the traditional American farmers to industrialize as well. With the developments in agricultural technology, such as the iron plow or the mechanical reaper, farmers had to save money from their low paying jobs to afford these new tools to keep up with the market competition. With increased market competition, farmers were forced to take out loans or borrow money to afford these expensive agricultural tools. In addition, during this period there was more construction of railroads which linked cities to cities. As a result, farmers had to send their crops out via railroads which charged expensive shipping prices causing farmers to fall into more debt.
Environment
As the United States continued to industrialize, farm lands were replaced with large factories and as a result large amounts of pollution and waste were created. Trees in forests were being chopped down tobe used to manufacture products which showed how America was in need for more natural resources. Since the United States were in need of more natural resources, it encouraged Americans to expand to the West. Also, with railroads being the main transportation vehicle during the time, railroads were built all over the United States to make travelling more accessible. However with the construction of more railroads, more land was needed to build railroad tracks on.
Politics and Citizenship
At the time, the practice of the spoils system was very common. Many citizens were given a position in government if they just vowed their vote to a specific person. President Garfield was strongly against this practice and believed that the spoils system, also known as patronage, was corrupting the government. President Garfield believed that there were many important reforms to be made and thought that in trying to rid the practice of the spoils system was a waste of time.As a result of the spoils system, many employees were fired by President Garfield for lacking the required traits in working for the government. In replacement with these people, President Garfield replaced them with his old friends who he knew would be able to help get rid of corruption in the government.
Slavery and its legacies in North America
Unlike many of President Garfield’s predecessors, President Garfield was very concerned of the civil rights for African Americans. With the end of the Reconstruction era, freed African Americans had gained citizenship and the right to vote, as well as the right to take part in federal offices. President Garfield was afraid that the freedmen would become the permanent lower class of the United States due to the 70 percent rate of illiteracy among African Americans. Due to the high illiteracy rate of African Americans, President Garfield pressed for universal education in which would be financed by the federal government. However, northern whites and congress were against universal education because they did not care for the civil rights of African Americans and thus money for universal education was vetoed by Congress.
War and Diplomacy
President Garfield appointed many new foreign ministers and ambassadors to handle foreign problems. Secretary of State James Blaine was in charge of decreasing the amount of Chinese immigrants into the United States, gaining U.S acknowledgement by Korea, and maintaining the disputes with Britain.Secretary of State Blaine was also in charge of handling the War of the Pacific, which began in 1879 between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. In 1881, Chile captured Lima, the Peruvian capital, causing Blaine to help Francisco Calderon, the Peruvian leader. Afraid that Britain will involve their militaryinto the war, Blaine believed that the problem should be solved by the government of Peru giving Chile compensation instead of giving up their land.