The term given to the time frame of the 1870's-1890's is The Gilded Age. This term is derived from the famous novel by Mark Twain, The Gilded Age. The book is about corruption in politics, and the self-served ness of high ranking members in office in the government and city seats. Indeed, this was an age of corruption as much as it was an age of development and breakthroughs.A Political Machine is an organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city. The leader of the Machine was called the Boss. The Boss was the informal mayor, and had power over everything in the city, whether it was drug rings, tap dance school, or locally sponsored charities. The Boss had controlled access to the courts, businesses, licensing, and even the police force. The Boss could get people into or out of court and jail, could give money to schools, hospitals, or public projects, and was usually immune from police investigation or interference, even if their activities seemed iffy. Many a time, the Boss was the King Pin, Godfather, or any other head of organized crime that you can think of. There were some good and helpful Bosses, but the bad ones dominated the playing field.Bosses were usually first or second generation immigrants who had worked their way up the political ladder to the high ranking positions that they possessed. Being directly descended from immigrants, aspiring city workers were aided in rising to power. Because they could speak the language, knew the customs of their people, and knew what their people (and others) needed to survive and succeed in a new country. Those aspiring to be in a political machine would do many favors for anyone that they could. Favors could include classes to learn English, acquiring jobs for newcomers, finding places for them to live, protection, and everything in between.When the seemingly helpful men needed something in return, they could use those favors to gain leverage over people, and get much accomplished when rising up in power. The smart ones knew to never ask for a return in service, but to wait until the debt could be repaid, and then graciously accepted. It was people who bided their time and exercised control who became the most successful and sometimes fearful Bosses. Bosses would use their influence over the people that they had helped to gain more and more votes to high positions in office. Once in office, the Boss would then continue to build on his network of allies, thus improving his chances of becoming Boss again, and extending their power.Here is one of the more famous crimes that a Boss was convicted of. The Tweed Ring Scandal:William Marcy Tweed, formally known as Boss Tweed, was Boss of New York City around 1868-1871. More importantly, Tweed was the head of Tammany Hall, the Democratic political machine that was the controlling political party of New York at that time. Ultimately, Tweed had control over all of New York.Now the scandal involves many people, but my main focus is the main instigator; Tweed. At this time, the New York County Courthouse was under construction. The final cost of the building grew to over $13 million. Back then, that was a considerable amount of cash. But how did one building cost that much? Tweed hired specific contractors and workers for the job. These men were known as “Ring Favorites”. Tweed told these men that when they were finished with a job or project involving the building (and other projects for the city) to multiply the amount of the true cost of labor by 5, 10 or even 100. The bills would be paid by the city A.K.A the taxpayers. Tweed was able to get all of the money paid without the knowledge of the common citizen. Multiple police officers were even in on the unjust system.All of this money was going to the hired workers. A bit more than what they truly earned was paid to them and the rest of the large amount of money was divided between Tweed and his cronies. The lesser pawns in the scheme were also paid. Because the scheme was so simple, coupled with the fact that it did not involve the manipulation of officials high in office or otherwise, the scandal was very hard to track by investigators.In 1870, Tweed refused to authorize the annual Orange Parade which was a celebration always held by the Protestants. The refusal created a large riot in the city. New York’s Sheriff James O’Brien, who was very well off under Tweed’s reign, felt it was time to act. O’Brien gave The New York Times evidence of embezzlement involving the Tweed Ring. Apparently, the New York Times was offered $5 million to not publish the story. Fortunately for the citizens of New York, the newspaper printed the story anyways, Tweed was arrested, and the Tweed Ring was eradicated.Tweed escaped from jail and fled to Spain where he worked as a common seaman aboard a ship. He was eventually identified and captured. The Spanish authorities recognized Tweed from political cartoons depicting Tweed and his scandals. At the time, they didn’t know that he Tweed was wanted for embezzlement, but was wanted for being a notorious child kidnapper as depicted in the cartoon above.This was just one example of treachery in political machines during the Gilded Age. I hope that this has been as informative for you as it has been for me. It’s nuts how that could have happened, and I know that it is still a prevalent part of society in large cities today. History repeats itself, or, I suppose, it never stops.
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