Institutional racism reforms of the spoils system in place since the 1830s, and abuses of the post-war Grant-Jacksonian era; when Congress authorized the president to appoint a Civil Service Commission and prescribe regulations for admission to public service. A dis-satisfied office-seeker assassinated President Garfield in 1881 and Congress was motivated to pass the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883 which firmly established civil service. During reconstruction, this enabled the federal government to provide jobs for newly freed blacks in the south (primarily the Postal Service) where no other employment opportunities existed for them. Since the inception of the merit system in
1881 Michigan Wolverines football team entirely on individual play. Our half-backs, I believe, were equal to any we met, but our line was weak, the men being light and having little experience. Most of us had never played in a match game and some of us had never seen a copy of the rules. Having lost all of its games and being outscored 28–4, the 1881 Michigan team holds the distinction of having the worst record in the school's history—a record that has not been matched in the more than 125 years of football that followed. After the 1881 season, Michigan did not schedule any