Political appointments in the United States federal government until 1883. In 1820 Congress limited federal administrators to four-year terms, which led to constant turnover; by the 1860s and the Civil War, patronage had led to widespread inefficiency and political corruption. Although it used to be confined to cabinet positions, department heads, and foreign ambassadorships, by the 1860s patronage had spread to low-level government positions. This meant that when the incumbent political party lost a presidential election, the federal government underwent wholesale turnover. On July 2, 1881, Charles J. Guiteau, a disaffected and mentally unstable political office seeker, assassinated President James Garfield. This highlighted how much the
HMS Canada (1881) HMS Canada (1881) HMS "Canada" was a screw corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1881 and sold for scrap in 1897. Her bow badge was removed prior to being sold for scrap and is currently displayed in the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. "Canada" was laid down at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1879, one of nine ships of the "Comus" class. She was launched on 26 August 1881 and completed later that year. Planning for six metal-hulled corvettes began in 1876; these became the "Comus"-class corvettes and were designed for long voyages away from coaling stations. Given a