Industrialization & Political Machines Age of Prosperity (for some)

Age of the Robber Barons: The Robber Baron were entrepreneurs and industrialists who built great fortunes. Andrew Carnegie – US Steel John D. Rockefeller – Standard Oil The government created policies to support the industrialists. Government supported owners over workers in labor disputes.

Ups and Downs of the Economy Just as today the economy went through periods of growth and depression Major depressions occurred in 1873 and 1893 Farmers were especially hit hard as high US tariffs led European nations to refuse to buy US agricultural products

Wage Discrepancy While great wealth was being created and an emerging middle class was gaining power the number of poor was also growing. The poor were mainly immigrants, minorities, or unskilled laborers who flooded into the cities looking for work in the factories The new industrialization led to increased production for farmers which sounds like a good thing but actually led to lower prices for agricultural products.

Changing social structure and beginnings of reform A major problem of industrialization was child labor. To ensure the family could eat all members generally had to work. That meant children as young as 6 worked Employers loved child labor because even though the average unskilled worker only earned about 10 cents and hour you could pay women and children even less. The average work day was 12-14 hours. No health insurance, no workers safety standards, and no unemployment insurance. Muckrakers, journalists who wrote to expose the problems in society, government and business, would soon tackle many of these growing problems

Adventures in the Spoils System The Political Machine Adventures in the Spoils System

Elements of the Political Machine Bosses which controlled the politicians District captains who mobilized and organized support at the neighborhood level Party loyalists who supported the machine with votes and money in return for jobs or favors

How it worked The “Machine” ran on patronage or securing jobs for supporters. Also called the spoils system Bosses dealt with government officials, businesses and sometimes criminal elements to achieve the “machine” goals Captains dealt with the voters by providing: Jobs Food and shelter Cheap immigrant labor for businesses that gave money to the machine

Tammany Hall (Democratic political machine of New York City) Run by William “Boss” Tweed Most famous of the big city Machines “Boss” Tweed would be convicted of graft and corruption. He was found guilty on 204 of the 220 counts brought against him. The most serious being theft of 25 million in tax payer money.

Tammany Hall cont. Tweed was brought down by political cartoonist Thomas Nast Nast used his Tammany Tiger cartoon to show the misdeeds of the Tammany Hall Machine Nast also created the symbols for the 2 political parties the Democrat Donkey and Republican Elephant. But probably his most famous creation is our image of Santa Claus

“Stop those damn pictures. I don’t care what the papers write about me “Stop those 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.”