Changes

[[File:Leonidas C. Houk.jpg|thumb|right|260px|[[Leonidas Houk]], a Tennessee Stalwart.]]

[[File:Leonidas C. Houk.jpg|thumb|right|260px|[[Leonidas Houk]], a Tennessee Stalwart.]]

[[File:John A. Logan portrait.png|thumb|right|260px|[[John Logan]], an Illinois Stalwart.]]

[[File:John A. Logan portrait.png|thumb|right|260px|[[John Logan]], an Illinois Stalwart.]]

'''Stalwart''' is a term used to describe the "Old Guard,"<ref name=uspartypolitics>[https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/american-party-politics American Party Politics]. ''Encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved December 21, 2021.</ref> [[conservative]]<ref name=encyclopedia.combasicinfo>[https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/stalwarts Stalwarts]. ''Encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved August 25, 2021.</ref> wing of the [[Republican Party]] during the [[Gilded Age]] that stood firmly for equal rights for [[African American]]s and opposed [[Jim Crow]] and the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. From 1877–81, they opposed the Jim Crow Democrats' efforts to rebuild the [[Democratic Party]] in the post-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] era with a [[civil service system]] that discriminated against [[black]]s, instead favoring the traditional [[spoils system]].<ref name=trumpchristie>Matthews, Dylan (July 20, 2016). [https://www.vox.com/2016/7/20/12233454/christie-trump-purge-federal-employees Donald Trump and Chris Christie are reportedly planning to purge the civil service]. ''Vox''. Retrieved December 21, 2021.</ref>

'''Stalwart''' is a term used to describe the "Old Guard,"<ref name=uspartypolitics>[https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/american-party-politics American Party Politics]. ''Encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved December 21, 2021.</ref> [[conservative]]<ref name=encyclopedia.combasicinfo>[https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/stalwarts Stalwarts]. ''Encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved August 25, 2021.</ref> wing of the [[Republican Party]] during the post-[[Reconstruction]] [[Gilded Age]] which stood firmly for equal rights for [[African American]]s, opposing [[Jim Crow]] and the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. From 1877–81, they opposed the Jim Crow Democrats' efforts to rebuild the [[Democratic Party]] in the post-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] era with a [[civil service system]] that discriminated against [[black]]s, instead favoring the traditional [[spoils system]].<ref name=trumpchristie>Matthews, Dylan (July 20, 2016). [https://www.vox.com/2016/7/20/12233454/christie-trump-purge-federal-employees Donald Trump and Chris Christie are reportedly planning to purge the civil service]. ''Vox''. Retrieved December 21, 2021.</ref>

Opposing the Stalwarts were the congressional [[Half-Breeds]], [[Moderate Republican]]s who supported civil service reform in the name of supposed "integrity" and at the expense of blacks.<ref name=trumpchristie/>

Opposing the Stalwarts were the congressional [[Half-Breeds]], [[Moderate Republican]]s who supported civil service reform in the name of supposed "integrity" and at the expense of blacks.<ref name=trumpchristie/>