Urbanization and The Gilded Age

gild·ed adjective --covered thinly with gold leaf or gold paint. OR --wealthy and privileged. adjective: gilded; past participle: gilded

What was the Gilded Age? The Gilded Age in United States history is the late 19th century, from the 1870s to about 1900 The Gilded Age is defined as the time during which the U.S. population and economy grew quickly, there was a lot of political corruption and corporate financial misdealings and many wealthy people lived very fancy lives---while the poor lived in squalor.

Owners vs Workers

Urban Political Machines By the mid 1800s American cities and their problems grew rapidly Political environments change Political machines were organized

William Marcy Tweed N.Y.C.’s Infamous Boss Born April 3, 1823 in NYC Died April 12 1878 in Jail N.Y.C.’s Infamous Boss

Big Bad Bill’s Early Influences He held numerous jobs including, chair maker, bookkeeper, family business, and volunteer fireman Attended N.Y.C.’s public schools Learned woodworking as a trade He became an alderman to N.Y.C. in 1851 and rose quickly through the ranks

Political Accomplishments 1788 William Marcy Tweed Elected into the House of Representatives in 1852 Elected to the New York City Board of Advisors 1856 Elected as New York State Senator in 1867 Chairperson N.Y.S. Democratic party

Tammany Hall 1860’s Tammany controlled all Democratic New York state and city nominations Boss Tweed Strengthens Tammany through the appointment of friends called the Tweed Ring

The House that Tweed Built Tweed Built an empire out of Tammany Hall 1860 Tammany was Founded in 1788, named after a legendary Delaware Indian chief

Tammany Today Currently it is use as an off Broadway theater

Tammany The Political club and Logo 1860 Most of the members were Irish American workingmen closed out of the city’s more exclusive clubs. Tammany men took over the local Democratic Party and turned their club into a political “MACHINE”

The Machine The Boss He controlled the activities of a political party throughout a city Ward Boss He worked on securing votes, he helped the poor by handing out city jobs, contacts, or political appointment. Precinct Captains They worked to gain voters’ support on city blocks and reported to ward boss

The Tweed Ring The ring consisted of Tweed (The Grand Sachem) and his henchmen Peter Sweeny = City Chamberlain Richard B. Connolly = City Comptroller Abraham Oakley Hall = Mayor

Politics and Plunder Graft = Charging more than the Jobs worth Tweed conned the city of New York out of an estimated 200 million plus (some say a BILLION in today’s terms) Graft = Charging more than the Jobs worth Kickbacks = Giving money back to Tweed Payoffs = Keeping the law and politicians quiet

My Way or the Highway Tweed ruled the city with an iron fist. Things were done Boss Tweed’s way or they weren’t done at all. This cartoon by Thomas Nast depicts Tweed as policeman in a convict uniform

Charting the Plunder

Cutting Checks Ornate checks like this one from the County Treasurer of New York were used to make the payoffs

Keeping Power through Patronage Office Positions Held (1865) # of Random Immigrants # of Irish Immigrants Mayor’s office 2 11 Alderman 34 Tax Commissioner 26 Sheriff 1 23 Street Dept. 8 Law Dept. 76 Police Captains 32 Comptroller 126 Keeping Power through Patronage

Payroll

“Gigantic Frauds of the Ring Exposed” July 1, 1871 New York Times “Gigantic Frauds of the Ring Exposed” Tweed’s courthouse corruption exposed. Newspapers ran stories on the “FOURTY THIEVES” all those involved in the construction of the court house. At a time when men made a dollar a day contractors charged the city 400,000 for safes, 175,000 for carpets, and 7,500 for thermometers

Convicted by a Cartoonist New York Times, Harper’s Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast portrayed Tweed for what he really was: A beast feeding off the city

Eating up the city!

Nast and Harper’s Weekly published close to 50 cartoons about Tweed’s greed and dastardly deeds Thomas Nast’s Relentless Depictions of Tweed’s corruption grabs some prominent attention and lands Tweed in jail. Samuel J. Tilden spearheads the ring.

Busted December 17, 1871

Nast was offered a $500,000 bribe to end his campaign The Arrest of Tweed Nast was offered a $500,000 bribe to end his campaign He did not accept it.

Judgment Day Guilty of Corruption ! Sentenced to 12 years in jail ! Tweed faces the music “There was Tweed” Under his rule the ballot-box was freed! Six times as big a vote he could record As there were people living in the ward! W.A.Croffut “Bourbon Ballads”

Tweed Escapes

Nast haunts Tweed An American in Spain recognizes Tweed from one of Nast’s cartoons Tweed is arrested again and brought back for justice Big Bad Billy died in Prison April 12, 1878