Political Machines

2. Political Machines Boss Tweed and Thomas Nast

3. Political Machines • A “political machine” was an organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city • In order to gain this control, they needed one thing • What do you think that one thing was? • Votes • They needed voter support to remain in office

4. Political Machines • How did they get the support of individual voters and businesses? • By providing services to these groups

5. Political Machines

6. Political Machines • A political machine was organized like a pyramid • At the bottom was a precinct worker or captain would be in charge of a city block • Then, at election time there was a ward “boss” who made sure that the precincts would vote a certain way • In exchange for these votes, these areas of the city would receive contracts for work, city jobs, or other financial gain

7. Political Machines • Some voters were paid small sums of money, or given food and groceries for their votes • The very top of the pyramid was the city “boss” • He controlled the activities of the political party • He was very powerful • The boss controlled thousands of jobs • He could choose who to hire and where

8. What were some of the jobs that might be controlled by the political machine?

9. A lot of good work was done under the political machine. . . • Parks, sewer systems and waterworks were built • Money was given to schools, hospitals and orphanages

10. Immigrants became loyal supporters of political machines • Bosses sought out immigrants • They helped them get jobs and find places to live • Immigrants, in turn, voted for the political party • “I’ve been called a boss. All there is to it is having friends, doing things for people, and then later on they’ll do things for you.” • James Pendergast, 1900.

11. Corruption in Political Machines • Political machines did many good things for people • But as the power of the political machine grew, so did greed and corruption • In order to gain votes, there was election fraud • Voter lists were “padded” to include the names of children and people who died, and even Dogs!

12. Corruption in Political Machines • For example, in one election in Philadelphia, there were only 100 eligible voters in a precinct (city block), but voters returned 252 votes • Once a machine came into power, they gained more money through kickbacks or graft

13. Examples of kickback or graft • A political machine hires a person to work on a construction project for the city • The machine asks the person to submit a higher bill than the actual cost of labor and materials • Where does the extra money go? • To the political machine • The illegal payments, or kickbacks, made many politicians very wealthy

14. The Pendleton Act 1883 • By 1877 many Americans had become weary of the spoils system • Senator George Pendleton proposed a bill that would change the way Federal Government jobs were handed out • The Civil Service Exam • Based on merit • Rather than political affiliation

15. The Pendleton Act 1883 • The act also made it illegal to be demoted or fired from a job for political affiliation • Prohibits soliciting campaign donations on federal government property • Caused a crucial shift in which political parties had to rely on businesses for funding rather than patronages hoping to receive graft

16. Tammany Hall • The most famous political machine was an organization that called themselves Tammany Hall • William Tweed was the ringleader of the Tammany Hall political machine

17. Boss Tweed • Boss Tweed and his fellow politicians pocketed as much as $200 million dollars from the city in kickbacks and payoffs • For example, when the New York City hall was built it cost taxpayers $145 million, and construction went on from 1861-1874

18. Boss Tweed • Gradually, people began to protest about this graft and corruption • Tweed was eventually sentenced to 12 years in jail • He escaped, but was captured in Spain, by officials who recognized his picture from cartoons in the New York city Newspapers • The corruption of New York City, and other large cities caused a desire to reform or improve the political system

19. How did Boss Tweed Get Caught? • Newspaper articles were written about Boss Tweed • Many of the people paying taxes in Tweeds precinct were illiterate • Thomas Nast began making political cartoons about Tweeds corruption • Immigrants and the illiterate were able to understand Nast’s cartoons and they asked for the removal of Tweed

20. Now lets take a look at some of Thomas Nast’s Political Cartoons on Boss Tweed and see what Americans saw in 1872