THE POLITICAL MACHINE

OBJECTIVES:

• Explain the role of political machines and political bosses

• Describe how some politician’s greed and fraud cost taxpayers millions of dollars

POLITICS IN THE GILDED AGE

• As cities grew in the late 19th century, so did political machines

• Political machines controlled the activities of a political party in a city

New York’s Solar System, 1898

ROLE OF THE POLITICAL BOSS

• The “Boss” (typically the mayor) controlled:• Jobs• business licenses• court system

• Precinct captains and ward bosses:• 1st or 2nd generation

immigrants • Helped with naturalization• Jobs• Housing

• All in exchange for votes for the boss

Boss Tweed ran NYC

HOW WOULD POLITICAL BOSSES STAY IN POWER?

• Political machines used fake names and voted multiple times to ensure victory (“Vote early and often”) – called Election fraud

• Graft (bribes) was common among political bosses

• Construction contracts often resulted in “kick-backs”

• The fact that police forces were hired by the boss prevented close scrutiny

THE TWEED RING SCANDAL

• William M. Tweed, known as Boss Tweed, became head of Tammany Hall, NYC’s powerful Democratic political machines

• Between 1869-1871, Tweed led the Tweed Ring, a group of corrupt politicians, in defrauding the city $20 million

•Tweed was eventually indicted on 120 counts of fraud and extortion (Brought down by cartoonist Thomas Nast)

•Tweed was sentenced to 12 years in jail – released after one, arrested again, and escaped to Spain

POLITICAL CARTOON ANALYSIS: NAST VS. TWEED

• Thomas Nast= "Father of the American Cartoon“

• Nast's drawings were instrumental in the downfall of Boss Tweed

• Your Task: use the cartoon analysis sheet to peek into the deeper meaning of the following Nast drawings

“THAT’S WHAT’S THE MATTER”

GANGS OF NEW YORK CLIP

• Leo DiCaprio- Amsterdam Vallon

• Daniel Day-Lewis- Bill “The Butcher” Cutting

• Jim Broadbent- “Boss” Tweed

• What You Are Looking For:• Political Machine Organization

• City Boss, Ward Boss, Precinct Captain

• Scorsese’s opinion of political machines

• WHO HAD THE POLITICAL POWER THEN?

• DOES THIS KIND OF CORRUPTION EXIST TODAY?• Give THREE examples

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