The Second Industrial Revolution: “Gilded Age”

Becoming a Detective:

"What is the chief end of man?--to get rich. In what way?--dishonestly if we can; honestly if we must."-- Mark Twain-1871

During the "Gilded Age," every man was a potential Andrew Carnegie, and Americans who achieved wealth celebrated it as never before. In New York, the opera, the theatre, and lavish parties consumed the ruling class' leisure hours. Sherry's Restaurant hosted formal horseback dinners for the New York Riding Club. Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish once threw a dinner party to honor her dog who arrived sporting a $15,000 diamond collar.

While the rich wore diamonds, many wore rags. In 1890, 11 million of the nation's 12 million families earned less than $1200 per year; of this group, the average annual income was $380, well below the poverty line. Rural Americans and new immigrants crowded into urban areas. Tenements spread across city landscapes, teeming with crime and filth. Americans had sewing machines, phonographs, skyscrapers, and even electric lights, yet most people labored in the shadow of poverty.

To those who worked in Carnegie's mills and in the nation's factories and sweatshops, the lives of the millionaires seemed immodest indeed. An economist in 1879 noted "a widespread feeling of unrest and brooding revolution." Violent strikes and riots wracked the nation through the turn of the century. The middle class whispered fearfully of "carnivals of revenge."

For immediate relief, the urban poor often turned to political machines. During the first years of the Gilded Age, Boss Tweed's Tammany Hall provided more services to the poor than any city government before it, although far more money went into Tweed's own pocket. Corruption extended to the highest levels of government. During Ulysses S. Grant's presidency, the president and his cabinet were implicated in the Credit Mobilier, the Gold Conspiracy, the Whiskey Ring, and the notorious Salary Grab.

Europeans were aghast. America may have had money and factories, they felt, but it lacked sophistication. When French prime minister Georges Clemenceau visited, he said the nation had gone from a stage of barbarism to one of decadence -- without achieving any civilization between the two.

As a historical detective, your job will be to explore the following primary and secondary source documents to determine why Mark Twain referred to this time in history as the Gilded Age.

Cracking the Case:

Based on your analysis of the documents and citing evidence from EACH document to support your answer, please write paper answering the question, “Why did Mark Twain refer to the time after Reconstruction as the Gilded Age?” Within your analysis, please have a paragraph for each of the following topics: political, economic, and social. Also address in your introduction whether you believe this time period was, in fact,

gilded. Please indicate whether you were satisfied with the evidence and list any additional questions that have been left unanswered through your investigation.

Document A: Politics of the Gilded Age

The Gilded Age will be remembered for the accomplishments of thousands of American thinkers, inventors, entrepreneurs, writers, and promoters of social justice. Few politicians had an impact on the tremendous change transforming America. The Presidency was at an all-time low in power and influence, and the Congress was rife with corruption. State and city leaders shared in the graft, and the public was kept largely unaware. Much like in the colonial days, Americans were not taking their orders from the top; rather, they were building a new society from its foundation.

The American Presidents who resided in the White House from the end of the Civil War until the 1890s are sometimes called "the forgettable Presidents." A case-by-case study helps illustrates this point.

Andrew Johnson was so hated he was impeached and would have been removed from office were it not for a single Senate vote.

A Soldier in the White House

Ulysses S. Grant was a war hero but was unprepared for public office. He had not held a single elected office prior to the Presidency and was totally naive to the workings of Washington. He relied heavily on the advice of insiders who were stealing public money. His secretary of war sold Indian land to investors and pocketed public money. His private secretary worked with officials in the Treasury Department to steal money raised from the tax on whiskey.

Many members of his Administration were implicated in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, which defrauded the American public of common land. Grant himself seemed above these scandals, but lacked the political skill to control his staff or replace them with officers of integrity.

Electoral Woes

His successor was Rutherford B. Hayes. Hayes himself had tremendous integrity, but his Presidency was weakened by the means of his election. After the electoral votes were counted, his opponent, Samuel Tilden, already claimed a majority of the popular vote and needed just one electoral vote to win. Hayes needed twenty. Precisely twenty electoral votes were in dispute because the states submitted double returns — one proclaiming Hayes the victor, the other Tilden. A Republican-biased electoral commission awarded all 20 electoral votes to the Republican Hayes, and he won by

just one electoral vote.

While he was able to claim the White House, many considered his election a fraud, and his power to rule was diminished.

Impeachment trial ticket

Rutherford B. Hayes was elected in 1876 by a margin of one electoral vote.

Assassination

James Garfield succeeded Hayes to the Presidency. After only four months, his life was cut short by an assassin's bullet. Charles Guiteau, the killer, was so upset with Garfield for overlooking him for a political job that he shot the President in cold blood on the platform of the Baltimore and Potomac train station.

Vice-President Chester Arthur became the next leader. Although his political history was largely composed of appointments of friends, the tragedy that befell his predecessor led him to believe that the system had gone bad. He signed into law the Pendleton Civil Service Act, which opened many jobs to competitive exam rather than political connections. The Republican Party rewarded him by refusing his nomination for the Presidency in 1884.

One President impeached, one President drowning in corruption, one President elected by possible fraud, one President assassinated, and one disgraced by his own party for doing what he thought was right. Clearly this was not a good time in Presidential history.

Congressional SupremacyThis was an era of Congressional supremacy. The Republican party dominated the Presidency and the Congress for most of these years. Both houses of Congress were full of representatives owned by big business.

Laws regulating campaigns were minimal and big money bought a government that would not interfere. Similar conditions existed in the states. City governments were dominated by political machines. Members of a small network gained power and used the public treasury to stay in power — and grow fabulously rich in the process.

Not until the dawn of the 20th century would serious attempts be made to correct the abuses of Gilded Age government.

Document B: Black FridayIn June 1869, New York financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk devised a scheme to drive up the price of gold by convincing speculators that the US Treasury was withholding gold from sale. Ulysses S. Grant, although unaware of these intentions, badly compromised himself by meeting with the conspirators, who were partners with his brother-in-law. By manipulating gold from $132 to $163 per ounce within three months, Gould and Fisk aroused the suspicion of Grant, who ordered large sales of US gold on 24 September 1869 (“Black Friday”). The price of gold immediately plummeted, bankrupted many brokers, and caused a minor panic, although Gould had prior warning and saved himself by selling out (without warning his partner Fisk). The episode, along with several other scandals, tainted Grant's administration with the stigma of corruption.

Document C: Tweed Ring and Thomas Nast

William Marcy Tweed, aka "Boss Tweed," began as a New York City volunteer fireman but worked his way up the political ladder. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1853. In 1858, he rose to the head of Tammany Hall, the central organization of the Democratic Party in New York, and was later elected to the New York State Senate in 1867.

Tweed gathered around him a small ring of bigwigs who controlled New York City's finances. Tweed's Ring essentially controlled New York City until 1870, using embezzlement, bribery, and kickbacks to siphon massive chunks of New York's budget into their own pockets — anywhere from $40 million to $200 million (or $1.5 billion to $9 billion in 2009 dollars).

Companies under control of the Tweed Ring would bill the city for work not done or would overbill for work they did, and the kickbacks would filter back to Tweed and his cronies. Those companies, under city contracts, would also do substandard work that would soon require repair, which would then be done by other Tweed Ring-controlled companies. Also, because Boss Tweed had a large stake in New York's transportation system, he delayed the construction of the subway system for years.

Boss Tweed and his cronies were eventually taken down in large part because of investigative journalism by the New York Times and by the political cartoons of Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly. Tweed was tried and convicted of forgery and larceny in 1873 and given a 12-year sentence. He was released after only one year but was soon arrested again and sued by New York City in a $6 million civil suit. In 1875, he fled to Cuba and then to Spain, but authorities were waiting for him there, and he was extradited back to New York. He died in prison in 1878.

Although the Tweed Ring is a dark mark on our history that defined government corruption for an entire century, its destruction is also a testament to the success of the free press. Had it not been for the investigative journalism of New York Times reporters and Thomas Nast's political cartoons (which could be understood even by the illiterate), Tweed's corruption wouldn't have been brought to light, and Tweed might not have been brought to justice.

Document D: Credit MobilierThe Crédit Mobilier scandal of 1872-1873 damaged the careers of several Gilded Age politicians. Major stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad formed a company, the Crédit Mobilier of America, and gave it contracts to build the railroad. They sold or gave shares in this construction to influential congressmen.

It was a lucrative deal for the congressmen, because they helped themselves by approving federal subsidies for the cost of railroad construction without paying much attention to expenses, enabling railroad builders to make huge profits. When the New York Sun broke the story on the eve of the 1872 election, Speaker of the House James G. Blaine, a Maine Republican implicated in the scandal, set up a congressional committee to investigate.

The House censured two of its members who were involved in the scandal: Oakes Ames of Massachusetts and James Brooks of New York. But the affair also tarnished the careers of outgoing vice president Schuyler Colfax, incoming vice president Henry Wilson, and Representative James A. Garfield, all of whom were implicated (although Garfield denied the charges and was subsequently elected president).

The scandal also showed how corruption tainted Gilded Age politics, and the lengths railroads and other economic interests would go to assure and increase profits.

Document E: Panic of 1873 – American Pageant p. 508

Document F: Announcement of Wage Cuts on the B&O Railroad

Document G: Chinese Immigration and Exclusion1848 Gold discovered at Sutter's Mill, California; many Chinese arrive to mine for gold.1850 Foreign Miners’ tax mainly targets Chinese and Mexican miners. 1852 Approximately 25,000 Chinese in America.1854 Court rules that Chinese cannot give testimony in court.1862 Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association forms.1865 Central Pacific Railroad recruits Chinese workers; ultimately employs about

15,000 Chinese workers.1869 First transcontinental railroad completed.1870 California passes a law against the importation of Chinese and Japanese women

for prostitution.1871 Los Angeles: anti-Chinese violence; 18 Chinese killed.1873 Panic of 1873; start of major economic downturn that last through the decade;

blamed on corrupt RR companies.1877 Chico, CA: anti-Chinese violence.1878 Court rules Chinese ineligible for naturalized citizenship.1880 Approximately 106,000 Chinese in America; California passes anti

miscegenation law (no interracial marriage).1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: prohibits Chinese immigration (in one year, Chinese

immigration drops from 40,000 to 23).1885 Rock Springs Wyoming Anti-Chinese Violence1892 Geary Act—extends Chinese Exclusion Act.

Document H: Anti-Chinese Play, 1879

Source: The page above comes from a play called “The Chinese Must Go:” AFarce in Four Acts by Henry Grimm, published in San Francisco, 1879. In just the first page, you will be able to see many of the common stereotypes of Chinese immigrants in the 19th century.

Document I: Political Cartoon, 1871

Source: The cartoon was drawn by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly, a Northern magazine. In this cartoon, we see Columbia, the feminine symbol of the United States, protecting a Chinese man against a gang of Irish and German thugs. At the bottom it says "Hands off-Gentlemen! America means fair play for all men."

Document J: Workingmen of San Francisco

We have met here in San Francisco tonight to raise our voice to you in warning of a great danger that seems to us imminent, and threatens our almost utter destruction as a prosperous community.

The danger is, that while we have been sleeping in fancied security, believing that the tide of Chinese immigration to our State had been checked and was in a fair way to be entirely stopped, our opponents, the pro-China wealthy men of the land, have been wide-awake and have succeeded in reviving the importation of this Chinese slave-labor. So that now, hundreds and thousands of Chinese are every week flocking into our State.

Today, every avenue to labor, of every sort, is crowded with Chinese slave labor worse than it was eight years ago. The boot, shoe and cigar industries are almost entirely in their hands. In the manufacture of men’s overalls and women’s and children’s underwear they run over three thousand sewing machines night and day. They monopolize nearly all the farming done to supply the market with all sorts of vegetables. This state of things brings about a terrible competition between our own people, who must live as civilized Americans, and the Chinese, who live like degraded slaves. We should all understand that this state of things cannot be much longer endured.Vocabulary

Source: The document above is a speech to the workingmen of San Francisco on August 16, 1888.

Document K: Autobiography of a Chinese Immigrant

The treatment of the Chinese in this country is all wrong and mean. . . There is no reason for the prejudice against the Chinese. The cheap labor cry was always a falsehood. Their labor was never cheap, and is not cheap now. It has always commanded the highest market price. But the trouble is that the Chinese are such excellent and faithful workers that bosses will have no others when they can get them. If you look at men working on the street you will find a supervisor for every four or five of them. That watching is not necessary for Chinese. They work as well when left to themselves as they do when someone is looking at them.

It was the jealousy of laboring men of other nationalities — especially the Irish—that raised the outcry against the Chinese. No one would hire an Irishman, German, Englishman or Italian when he could get a Chinese, because our countrymen are so much more honest, industrious, steady, sober and painstaking. Chinese were persecuted, not for their vices [sins], but for their virtues [good qualities].

There are few Chinamen in jails and none in the poor houses. There are no Chinese tramps or drunkards. Many Chinese here have become sincere Christians, in spite of the persecution which they have to endure from their heathen countrymen. More than half the Chinese in this country would become citizens if allowed to do so, and would be patriotic Americans. But how can they make this country their home as matters now are! They are not allowed to bring wives here from China, and if they marry American women there is a great outcry.

Under the circumstances, how can I call this my home, and how can anyone blame me if I take my money and go back to my village in China?Source: The passage above is from Lee Chew, “The Biography of a Chinaman,” Independent, 15 (19 February 1903), 417–423.

Document L: Pendleton Act (1883)Following the assassination of President James A. Garfield by a disgruntled job seeker, Congress passed the Pendleton Act in January of 1883. The act was steered through Congress by long-time reformer Senator George Hunt Pendleton of Ohio. The act was signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur, who had become an ardent reformer after Garfield’s assassination. The Pendleton Act provided that Federal Government jobs be awarded on the basis of merit and that Government employees be selected through competitive exams. The act also made it unlawful to fire or demote for political reasons employees who were covered by the law. The law further forbids requiring employees to give political service or contributions. The Civil Service Commission was established to enforce this act.

Although President George Washington made most of his Federal appointments based on merit, subsequent Presidents began to deviate from this policy. By the time Andrew Jackson was elected President in 1828, the "spoils system," in which political friends and supporters were rewarded with Government positions, was in full force. The term "spoils system" was derived from the phrase “to the victor go the spoils.” In the years after Jackson’s Presidency, the flaws and abuses in this system were serious. Political appointees

were required to spend more and more time and money on political activities. As the Federal bureaucracy grew, Presidents were increasingly hounded by job seekers. In Jackson’s time there were approximately 20,000 Federal employees. By 1884 there were over 130,000. Additionally, with the industrialization of America, Federal jobs became more specialized and required special and specific skills.

The Pendleton Act transformed the nature of public service. Today many well-educated and well-trained professionals have found a rewarding career in Federal service. When the Pendleton Act went into effect, only 10 percent of the Government’s 132,000 employees were covered. Today, more than 90 percent of the 2.7 million Federal employees are covered.

Document M: Cleveland Wants Lower Tariffs

A pro-high-tariff cartoon depicting U.S. Pres. Grover Cleveland introducing lower tariffs in support of the British to John Bull, a conventional personification of England or English character.

Credit: MPI/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Document N: Cleveland Elected, Lost, Elected Again

The first Democrat elected after the Civil War in 1885, our 22nd President Grover Cleveland was the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later (1885–1889 and 1893–1897).

Document O: Harrison and the Billion-Dollar Congress

The main issue faced in the Election of 1888 was the tariff. The Democrats wanted a lower tariff while the Republican wanted a higher tariff. In the end the Republicans won with their nominee, Benjamin Harrison. The 51st United States Congress was one of the most active in history. It was the first Congress to pass a billion dollar budget. President Harrison was also very active during his term. He presided over all of the acts passed and admitted North and South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming into the Union. 

The Presidential Election of 1888 was held on November 6, 1888. "Grover Cleveland of New York, the incumbent President and a Democrat, was running for a second term. Benjamin Harrison, a former U.S. Senator from Indiana, was the Republican nominee." (1888 Election) The main election issue was the tariff. Harrison was for a higher tariff while Cleveland was for a tariff reduction. Cleveland and the Democrats did not wage a strong campaign, Cleveland's attitude toward the spoils system had antagonized party politicians, and his policies on Civil War pensions, the currency, and tariff reform had made enemies among veterans, farmers, and industrialists. Even with these

enemies, however, Cleveland earned more popular votes than Harrison. However, Harrison received a larger electoral vote and won the election.

During his presidency, the biggest problem Harrison faced was the tariff issue. The high tariff rates had created a surplus of money in the Treasury. Low-tariff advocates argued this was damaging business. Representative William McKinley and Senator Nelson W. Aldrich framed a still higher tariff bill; some rates were intentionally prohibitive.

Also, during Harrison's term, the Republican party dominated the presidency and both houses of congress. The new congress was very active, passing the very first billion dollar budget in United States history.

One of the major acts, the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890, was sponsored by William McKinley. He was a Republican Senator from Ohio. It increased the tariffs on manufactured goods up to 49 percent. It had a great impact on American people, farmers, trade, Hawaii, and the Republican Party.

Another act was the Dependent and Disability Pensions Act was a law that granted cash income for life to any Civil War veteran who was too disabled to work, even if the disability came after the war. It also granted pensions to orphans or widows of veterans.

Document P: Farmer’s Alliance Populist Party (Omaha Platform)

Using your textbook on page 523 list the planks on the Omaha Platform.

Document Q: Jim Crow1. Which of the following is a right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights?_____Public Education_____Employment_____Trial by Jury_____Voting

2. The federal census of population is taken every five years._____True _____False

3. If a person is indicted for a crime, name two rights which he has. ____________________ _____________________

4. A U.S. senator elected at the general election in November takes office the following year on what date? __________

5. A President elected at the general election in November takes office the following year on what date? ______________________________________________________________________

6. Which definition applies to the word "amendment?"_____Proposed change, as in a Constitution _____Make of peace between nationals at war _____A part of the government

7. A person appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court is appointed for a term of __________.

8. When the Constitution was approved by the original colonies, how many states had to ratify it in order for it to be in effect? _________________________________________

9. Does enumeration affect the income tax levied on citizens in various states? __________

10. A person opposed to swearing in an oath may say, instead: I (solemnly) ______________________________________________________________

11. To serve as President of the United States, a person must have attained:_____25 years of age _____35 years of age _____40 years of age _____45 years of age

12. What words are required by law to be on all coins and paper currency of the U.S.? ________________________________________________________________________

13. The Supreme Court is the chief lawmaking body of the state._____True _____False

14. If a law passed by a state is contrary to provisions of the U.S. Constitution, which law prevails? ________________________________________________________________________

15. If a vacancy occurs in the U.S. Senate, the state must hold an election, but meanwhile the place may be filled by a temporary appointment made by ________________________________________________________________________.

16. A U.S. senator is elected for a term of _____ years.

17. Appropriation of money for the armed services can be only for a period limited to _____ years.

18. The chief executive and the administrative offices make up the ___________________ branch of government.

19. Who passes laws dealing with piracy? ________________________________________________________________________

20. The number of representatives which a state is entitled to have in the House of Representatives is based on _________________________________________________

21. The Constitution protects an individual against punishments which are _______________ and _______________________.

22. When a jury has heard and rendered a verdict in a case, and the judgment on the verdict has become final, the defendant cannot again be brought to trial for the same cause._____True _____False

23. Name two levels of government which can levy taxes: ________________________________________________________________________

24. Communism is the type of government in: _____U.S._____Russia_____England

25. Cases tried before a court of law are two types, civil and _________________________.

26. By a majority vote of the members of Congress, the Congress can change provisions of the Constitution of the U.S._____True _____False

27. For security, each state has a right to form a _________________________________.

28. The electoral vote for President is counted in the presence of two bodies. Name them: _____________________________________________________________________

29. If no candidate for President receives a majority of the electoral vote, who decides who will become President? ___________________________________________________

30. Of the original 13 states, the one with the largest representation in the first Congress was ______________________________________________________________________.

31. Of which branch of government is the Speaker of the House a part? _____Executive _____Legislative _____Judicial

32. Capital punishment is the giving of a death sentence._____True _____False

33. In case the President is unable to perform the duties of his office, who assumes them? ___________________________________________________________________

34. "Involuntary servitude" is permitted in the U.S. upon conviction of a crime._____True _____False

35. If a state is a party to a case, the Constitution provides that original jurisdiction shall be in ______________________________________________________________________.

36. Congress passes laws regulating cases which are included in those over which the U.S. Supreme Court has ____________________________________________ jurisdiction.

37. Which of the following is a right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution._____Public Housing _____Education _____Voting _____Trial by Jury

38. The Legislatures of the states decide how presidential electors may be chosen._____True _____False

39. If it were proposed to join Alabama and Mississippi to form one state, what groups would have to vote approval in order for this to be done? ________________________________________________________________________

40. The Vice President presides over ____________________________________________.

41. The Constitution limits the size of the District of Columbia to ______________________________________________________________________.

42. The only laws which can be passed to apply to an area in a federal arsenal are those passed by ___________________________________________ provided consent for the purchase of the land is given by the _________________________________________.

43. In which document or writing is the "Bill of Rights" found? ______________________.

44. Of which branch of government is a Supreme Court justice a part?_____Executive _____Legislative _____Judicial

45. If no person receives a majority of the electoral votes, the Vice President is chosen by the Senate. ____True ___False

46. Name two things which the states are forbidden to do by the U.S. Constitution. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

47. If election of the President becomes the duty of the U.S. House of Representatives and it fails to act, who becomes President and when? _______________________________________________________________________

48. How many votes must a person receive in order to become President if the election is decided by the U.S. House of Representatives? _______________________________

49. How many states were required to approve the original Constitution in order for it to be in effect? ______________________________________________________________

50. Check the offenses which, if you are convicted of them, disqualify you for voting:_____Murder_____Issuing worthless checks_____Petty larceny_____Manufacturing whiskey

51. The Congress decides in what manner states elect presidential electors._____True _____False

52. Name two of the purposes of the U.S. Constitution. _________________________________________________________________________

53. Congress is composed of __________________________________________________.

54. All legislative powers granted in the U.S. Constitution may legally be used only by ______________________________________________________________________.

55. The population census is required to be made very _____ years.

56. Impeachments of U.S. officials are tried by ___________________________________.

57. If an effort to impeach the President of the U.S. is made, who presides at the trial? _____________________________________________________________________

58. On the impeachment of the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S., who tries the case? ________________________________________________________________

59. Money is coined by order of:_____U.S. Congress_____The President's Cabinet_____State Legislatures

60. Persons elected to cast a state's vote for U.S. President and Vice President are called presidential _________________________________________________________.

61. Name one power which is exclusively legislative and is mentioned in one of the parts of the U.S. Constitution above______________________________________________.

62. If a person flees from justice into another state, who has authority to ask for his return? _____________________________________________________________________

63. Whose duty is it to keep Congress informed of the state of the union? _____________________________________________________________________

64. If the two houses of Congress cannot agree on adjournment, who sets the time? _____________________________________________________________________

65. When presidential electors meet to cast ballots for President, must all electors in a state vote for the same person for President or can they vote for different persons if they so choose? _____________________________________________________________________

66. After the presidential electors have voted, to whom do they send the count of their votes? _____________________________________________________________________

67. The power to declare war is vested in ________________________________________.

68. Any power and rights not given to the U.S. or prohibited to the states by the U.S. Constitution are specified as belonging to whom? ______________________________

Answers:1. Trial by Jury only

2. False (every 10 years)3. Habeas Corpus (immediate presentation of charges); lawyer; speedy trial.4. January 35. January 206. Proposed change, as in a Constitution7. Life (with good behavior)8. Nine9. Yes10. Affirm11. 3512. In God We Trust13. False14. U.S. Constitution15. The governor16. Six17. Two18. Executive19. Congress20. Population (as determined by census) less untaxed Indians21. Cruel and unusual22. True23. State and local24. Russia25. Criminal26. False27. Militia28. House of Representatives, Senate29. House of Representatives30. Virginia31. Legislative32. True33. The Vice President34. True35. The Supreme Court36. Co-appellate37. Trial by Jury38. True

39. Congress and the legislatures of both states40. The Senate41. 10 miles square42. Congress; state legislatures43. Constitution44. Judicial45. True 46. Coin money; make treaties 47. The Vice President, until the House acts 48. 26 49. 9 50. Murder 51. False 52. (Preamble statements) "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." 53. House of Representatives and Senate 54. Congress 55. 10 56. The Senate 57. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 58. The Senate 59. The U.S. Congress 60. Electors 61. Pass laws, coin money, declare war 62. The Governor 63. The President 64. The President 65. They can vote for different people 66. Vice President (President of the Senate) 67. Congress 68. The states; the people