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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