Henkel Articles: Politics of the 1890's-1920

The article presents an overview of the Gilded Age, an era from the end of Civil War to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, and the Supreme Court in the U.S. It cites that era began with the appointment of Chief Justice Salmon Portland Chase in late 1864 and ended with the death of Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller in 1910. According to the article, the Gilded age was the era of rapid industrialization and the arrival of streams of immigrants. Moreover, the political climate, the court, the justices as well as issues and cases in the era are discussed.

Focuses on the Gilded Age considered as the golden age of political partisanship. State of partisanship in the Republican factions; Views on parties in the Gilded Age; Differences of the Republican factions.

Discusses corruption during the late 18th century in the U.S. History of corruption; Components of Gilded Age financial corruption; Background on railroad politics..

Examines the nineteenth-century sources of the metaphor of the survival of the fittest. Influence of writings of T.R. Malthus on the works of scientists Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace; Impact of the idea on social and political doctrines; Implication for the development of the theory of natural selection, tacit causality and Social Darwinism.