What did the Pendleton Act establish after the 1881 assassination of President James Garfield?

• A. The spoils system
• B. The merit system
• C. The civil service system
• D. The patronage system

Answer: (C)

The act focused on creating a civil service system that hires and retains federal employees based on merit rather than political b favors. In the wake of Garfield’s assassination, reformers aimed to curb the spoils and patronage that had dominated federal hiring. The act established merit-based hiring through competitive examinations and set up the Civil Service Commission to oversee these standards, promoting a professional, less politically driven bureaucracy. This shift away from patronage is what the question is pointing to, even though not every office moved to merit recruitment immediately.