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'''Half-Breeds''' were the more [[liberal]] wing of the [[Republican Party]] from 1877-1884 that pushed for a [[civil service system]]. Civil service reform in the South effectively barred [[Black]]s from government jobs. Conservatives called them Half-Breeds because they advocated allowing former [[Confederate]] Rebels into the civil service and refused to deal with the [[Ku Klux Klan]]'s [[voter suppression]] of [[African American]] [[civil rights]]. They were considered only "half Republican", or [[Republican in Name Only]]. They helped facilitate the [[Jim Crow]] [[Democrat]]s take over of [[the South]] at the end of [[Reconstruction]].  

'''Half-Breeds''' were the more [[liberal]] wing of the [[Republican Party]] during the [[Gilded Age]] that pushed for a [[civil service system]]. Civil service reform in the South effectively barred [[Black]]s from government jobs. Conservatives called them Half-Breeds because they advocated allowing former [[Confederate]] Rebels into the civil service and refused to deal with the [[Ku Klux Klan]]'s [[voter suppression]] of [[African American]] [[civil rights]]. They were considered only "half Republican", or [[Republican in Name Only]]. They helped facilitate the [[Jim Crow]] [[Democrat]]s take over of [[the South]] at the end of [[Reconstruction]].  

They were led by [[corrupt]] [[Senator]] [[James G. Blaine]] of [[Maine]]. After the [[American Civil War]] they succeeded the moderate Republicans who had been more interested in maintaining the [[spoils system]] than the [[Radical Republicans]] commitment to civil rights. The Half-Breeds main achievement was the passage of the [[Pendleton Act]], which helped to expand the powers of the [[Deep State]].<ref>[https://www.aier.org/article/the-birth-of-the-deep-state-a-history/ The Birth of the Deep State: A History]</ref> Under the Pendleton Act, [[racist]] civil servants were no longer dependent up the [[patronage]] of an elected Democrat official, and were protected from firing when Democrats were voted out of office.

They were led by [[corrupt]] [[Senator]] [[James G. Blaine]] of [[Maine]]. After the [[American Civil War]] they succeeded the moderate Republicans who had been more interested in maintaining the [[spoils system]] than the [[Radical Republicans]] commitment to civil rights. The Half-Breeds main achievement was the passage of the [[Pendleton Act]], which helped to expand the powers of the [[Deep State]].<ref>[https://www.aier.org/article/the-birth-of-the-deep-state-a-history/ The Birth of the Deep State: A History]</ref> Under the Pendleton Act, [[racist]] civil servants were no longer dependent up the [[patronage]] of an elected Democrat official, and were protected from firing when Democrats were voted out of office.