“ugliness beneath” gilded age political machine organized political group headed by a political...
TRANSCRIPT
“Ugliness Beneath”
Gilded Age
Political Machine• Organized political group headed by a political
boss• Offered services• …but expected:• Relationship with immigrants• Corruption/graft• Boss Tweed (William)• Tammany Hall (NYC)
POLITICAL BOSS• controlled activities of a political party in a
city.• Offered services to voters & businesses in
exchange for political or financial support.– For example: jobs, place to live, bailed out of jail
for petty crimes
• Took advantage of immigrants
GRAFT• Many Bosses got rich through GRAFT-the
illegal use of political influence for personal gain.
• To win elections, some filled the list of eligible voters w/names of dogs, children, & the dead.
BOSS TWEED& TAMMANY HALL
• William Marcy Tweed, a.k.a. “Boss Tweed”, one of the most powerful political bosses.
• Became head of Tammany Hall, New York City’s most powerful Democratic machine.
©CSCOPE 2008 6
Boss Tweed
Picture from Boss Tweed Pagehttp://www.polaris.edu/iltli/Tchrpgs/Tweed.htm
"Stop them damn pictures. I don't care what the papers write about me. My constituents can't read. But, damn it, they can see the pictures."
Tammany Tiger on top of
Manhattan
Political Machine - My notes may look like this:
• Organized political group headed by a political boss- controlled activities of a political party
• Offered services -jobs, housing, bail $• …but expected: a vote in return for services• Relationship with immigrants -taken advantage of• Corruption/graft –illegal use of political influence
for personal gain• Boss Tweed (William) –Political boss in NY• Tammany Hall (NYC) –NYC’s Democratic Political
Machine
Patronage—Spoils System• Andrew Jackson• Civil Service• Assassination of President Garfield• Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)
-established exams/qualifications
-protects against political pressure
-political changes should not effect services (keep skilled employees on the
job)
-jobs are positions held by civilians in a government agency (police officers, fire fighters,
public defenders)
Treatment of Minorities
• Legalized segregation• De facto segregation• Literacy tests• Poll tax• Racism• Lynching
Problems of Urbanization
• High population• Tenement living• Poverty• Sanitation/pollution• Child labor• Alcoholism
Problems of Industrialization
• Unskilled labor replaced skilled labor• Child Labor• Low wages• long hours• Unsafe working environment• Blacklists against organized labor
unions• No political power for working poor
Negative Effects of Laissez-faire
• No regulation of wages, working hours/week
• No help when injured on the job• Child labor• Discrimination• Govt preferential treatment of
management/ownership over workers
Huge Disparity between those who have everything…and those (most
Americans) who have little…