Skip to main content

Primary sourceDocument16 January 1883

Pendleton Act

United States Congress · 16 January 1883

A federal law creating merit-based hiring for government jobs, passed after Garfield's assassination by a disappointed office seeker.

This law was passed as a direct response to Garfield's assassination by a disappointed office seeker.

Ask James A. Garfield about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Scanned handwritten page of the enrolled Pendleton Act, headed 'Forty-Seventh Congress of the United States of America, At the Second Session,' with the title 'An Act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States' and the enacting clause below, with blue and red ink annotations at top.
Pendleton Act, 16 January 1883. U.S. National Archives, Record Group 11.

About this source

What it is

This is the enrolled copy of the Pendleton Act, approved on 16 January 1883 and signed by President Chester A. Arthur. It is held by the U.S. National Archives. The act took its name from Senator George Hunt Pendleton of Ohio.

Why it matters

The Pendleton Act set up a system where federal jobs were awarded through competitive exams rather than political favors, replacing the old "spoils system." Congress passed it directly in response to Garfield's assassination by a man angry he had not received a government job. Arthur, once part of the old patronage system himself, became a strong supporter of reform after Garfield's death. The law created the Civil Service Commission and marked a turning point in how American government worked.

Why it matters

Look closer

  • Why might Garfield's assassination have convinced Congress to finally pass reform it had resisted before?
  • What does the handwritten annotations and formal heading tell you about how laws were recorded in this period?
  • What problems with the old "spoils system" does this law try to fix?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of James A. Garfield and Rutherford B. Hayes on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More James A. Garfield sources

Meet the AI James A. Garfield →
Speech

Primary source

Inaugural Address of James A. Garfield

James A. Garfield · 4 March 1881

Black and white photograph of a bearded man in a dark military-style uniform with double-breasted buttons and a shoulder insignia, seated with one hand resting on his knee against a plain backdrop.Photograph

Primary source

General James Garfield

Mathew Benjamin Brady

Black and white studio portrait of a bearded man with receding hair, wearing a dark suit jacket, white collar and dark bow tie, gazing to the side against a plain gray backdrop.Photograph

Primary source

James Garfield

Brady-Handy Photograph Collection

Photograph of a dark chalkboard-style bulletin board in the New York Gold Room headed 'BLACK FRIDAY', covered with handwritten gold price figures and the words 'Quotations of Gold, September 24, 1869'. Handwritten caption below reads 'This is a Photograph of the Bulletin Board in the Gold Room at N.Y. Sept 24, 1869'.Photograph

Primary source

Black Friday 1869

24 September 1869

Black and white studio portrait of a young man with swept-back wavy hair, wearing a dark jacket, patterned vest, white shirt, and dark bow tie, facing the camera with a serious expression.Photograph

Primary source

Garfield at 16

Ready when you are

Start chatting with James A. Garfield now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions