Politics in the Gilded Age U.S. History 11 A

Politics in the Gilded Age Main Idea Why it matters now Local and national political corruption in the 19th century led to calls for reform Political reforms paved the way for a more honest and efficient government in the 20th century and beyond

Political Machines Since cities were so crowded, the local government couldn’t control everything During the late 1800’s many cities were run by a Political Machine Political Machine – an organized group headed by a city boss (political boss) that controlled activities in a city Offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for political or financial support

The Role of the Political Boss What else did the political bosses do? They controlled access to jobs Build parks, sewer systems, and waterworks Gave money to hospitals, schools, and orphanages This was all done so that people would vote for them!!!

Immigrants and Bosses The immigrants liked the idea of political machines and bosses Why? Many of the bosses were immigrants themselves – they spoke their language and battled the same hardships They helped the immigrants with Naturalization – full American citizenship Helped them get jobs and houses Again, all in exchange for votes!

Political bosses were also called “party bosses”

Secret Ballot Before, political parties printed their own ballots, (called “tickets”) which listed only the party's candidates. Tickets were distributed to loyal party members who dropped the tickets in the ballot box on election day. Under this system, voter fraud was rampant (tickets were inserted in ballot boxes on behalf of dead or nonexistent citizens) Party bosses could monitor the votes of their constituents to enforce party discipline. The secret ballot was printed by the government, distributed at the polls, and filled out in private Helped to take away control of some political bosses and stop voting fraud Privacy at the ballot box ensures that citizens can cast votes without party bosses knowing how they voted.

Graft Many bosses got rich through Graft – the illegal use of political influence for personal gain Example: By helping a person find work on a construction project for the city, a political machine could ask the worker to bill the city for more than the actual costs of material and labor The worker then “kicked back” a portion of the earnings to the political machine

The Tweed Ring Boss Tweed (William M. Tweed) became the head of Tammany Hall – NYC’s powerful democratic political machine Between 1869-1871 Boss Tweed led a group of people (the Tweed Ring) in defrauding* the city for millions of dollars *Defraud – to trick or cheat someone in order to get money; to use fraud in order to get money from a person or organization

What Did Tweed Do? The NYC Courthouse was being built. The project cost tax payers $13 million, while the actual cost was only $3 million! The difference went to the Tweed Ring. It is estimated that the tweed Ring stole between $30-200 million dollars from NYC

Eventually… They were busted! In 1871 the ring was broken Tweed was indicted on 120 counts of fraud and extortion and was sentence to 12 years in jail His sentence was reduced to 1 year, but he got in trouble again and was arrested While serving this sentence, he escaped to Spain

Patronage National politics were also corrupt – It’s all about who you know Patronage – giving government jobs to people of the same party who had helped a candidate get elected Shouldn’t the job go to the most qualified person?

Civil Service Civil Service – government jobs Police officer DMV employee Public defender Employees of the Veteran’s Hospital Etc. Reformers proposed that civil service jobs would go to the most qualified, regardless of political views

President Hayes President Rutherford B. Hayes attempted to reform civil service Some members of the republican party didn’t like this He decided not to run for re-election because he had no support

Garfield’s Assassination Stalwarts opposed change in the patronage system Reformers supported changing the system The new president, James Garfield, attempted to reform the patronage system and was assassinated Chester A. Arthur, Garfield’s Vice President, became the new President

Garfield’s Assassination Garfield was shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station Doctors could not find one of the bullets lodged in his body He suffered a great deal and his condition fluctuated. He could barely keep down solid foods and eventually could only consume liquids. Ultimately he died eleven weeks after being shot.

Chester A. Arthur in Action Arthur’s first message to the Congress was to pass the Pendleton Civil Service Act This created a civil service commission that was in charge of giving government jobs based on merit, not on politics This caused politicians to turn to big businesses for money