Chapter 7 Part 3
Terms to Know Political Machine Graft Boss Tweed Patronage Civil Service Rutherford B. Hayes James A. Garfield
Ore Terms! Chester A. Arthur Pendleton Civil Service Act Grover Cleveland Benjamin Jarrison
The Political Machine Growing Cities Growing Poverty Growing Crime And insufficient Government response
After the Civil War The Political Machine gained control of cities all ov er America An organized group that took control of a political party in a city
What the Machines Offered: Services to voters and businesses In exchange for Political or financial support
Machines were like a pyramid At the base were the block captains They helped the poor and got the votes when the poor became citizens At the top was the Boss: He could deliver the votes or the contracts
The Party Boss Was sometimes the mayor Or could be behind the scenes Controlled city jobs Licenses Could influence the courts And city agencies
The Machine Built Parks Sewer Systems Waterworks Gave miney to schools Hospitals Orphanages
The Machine By solving urban problems the machine continued to earn voters’ loyalty
Immigrants and the Machine Block captains were often recent immigrants themselves They understood the problems of the new arrivals Helped with jobs, housing, medical care, getting ready for citizenship, education
The immigrants were grateful They would vote for whoever the block captain suggested Help from the government and the Church was hard to come by
The Machine filled a need BUT it WAS corrupt Boss Tweed was the most famous of the big party Bosses 1869-1871 He led the Tweed Ring And defrauded NY city out of a great deal of money
The construction of a courthouse Cost $3 million dollars BUT the taxpayers ended up paying $13 million for it Eventually there was a punlic outcry
Thomas Nast A political cartoonist inspired the outcry
1871 Tweed was indicted 12 counts of fraud and extortion Was sentenced to 12 years in jail Was released after one year Then was rearrested
Corruption in National Politics Patronage: giving government jobs to people who helped others get elected Was sometimes called the Spoils System Often the people in these jobs were not qualified for the jobs
Reformers Tried to end corruption in government Tried to end Patronage Pushed for civil service reform Government jobs should be awarded based on merit Political views should not matter
Rutherford B. Hayes President 1877-1871 Awarded government jobs in his cabinet to independents Established a commission to investigate the nation’s custom houses for corruption
Garfield 1881 Was a Republican President who had Arthur (a Stalwart) as his VP Had Blaine (a Liberal who stood for reform) as his Sec. of State
Garfield was assassinated in 1881 By Charles Guiteau Guiteau was upset because he did not get a government job that he wanted Said, “I am a Stalwart. Now Arthur is President!”
Garfield was shot in July Died in September Then Arthur was President
The Pendleton Act Provided for tests for government jobs More of a merit system Also a bipartisan Civil Service Commission was appointed to make the appointments
Less financial help From people ho[ing for jobs So money came from Big Business in exchange for government favors Businesses made big campaign contributions and it paid off
Cleveland 1884-88 The first democrat since the Civil War Fought for a lower tariff Hurt Big Business Lost to Benjamin Harrison in 1888 Harrison favored a high tariff and was supported by Big Business
NOTE Harrison had won the electoral vote but Cleveland had the popular vote During Harrison’s term the economy took a tumble
Election of 1892 Cleveland beat Harrison The first President to serve two non consecutive termsThen, Panic of 1893 And McKinley, a Republican, won in 1896