1. Politics in the Gilded Age Chapter 7 – Section 3

2. Gilded Age: Politics of Corruption

3. Politics in the Gilded Age – Objective
explain the role of political machines and political bosses

4. Politics in the Gilded Age – Chapters in Brief
Chapter Overview: The population rises as immigrants supply a political base for many urban politicians. Abuses in local and national government calls for reform The large populations of cities provided an opportunity for a new political force – the political machine controlled by a boss. A machine was a group that controlled a political party. By giving voters services they needed, the machine won their votes and controlled city government. The city boss controlled the whole machine – and the city. Bosses controlled jobs in the police, fire, and sanitation departments. They controlled the city agencies that granted licenses to business. They controlled the money used to fund large construction projects. Many bosses were first- or second-generation immigrants, and they understood immigrants’ concerns. By helping to solve immigrants’ problems, they won loyalty.

5. Politics in the Gilded Age – Chapters in Brief
Political machines could point to many accomplishments. As they gained power, though, some individuals became corrupt. Some used illegal methods to win elections. Others abused power to become wealthy. Since the bosses controlled the police, they were seldom pursued. The Tweed Ring of New York was one of the most famous examples of corruption among city officials. Boss Tweed and many associates were finally convicted of various crimes. Corruption reached national politics. For many decades, presidents had given jobs to loyal party workers in what was called the spoils system. As a result, some workers were not qualified for their jobs. Others used their positions to get money. Reformers wanted to end these abuses. They proposed a civil service system in which government jobs would go only to those who proved they were qualified.

6. Politics in the Gilded Age – Chapters in Brief
President Rutherford B. Hayes took some steps to reform the federal government. This aroused the anger of some members of his own party. These Stalwarts, as they were called, opposed any changes. The next president, James Garfield, favored the reform movement, and he was shot and killed by an unbalanced Stalwart. His successor, Chester Arthur, pushed through the Pendleton Act of It created the Civil Service Commission to give government jobs based on merit, not politics. The act helped Reform the civil service. However, some politicians now turned to wealthy business leaders for campaign money. As a result, some corruption continued. Another issue was how high to make the tariff, or tax on imported goods. Business leaders and Republicans wanted high tariffs so they could cut foreign competition. Democrats favored low tariffs. Under Republican Presidents Benjamin Harrison and William McKinley, the tariff was high. Under Democrat Grover Cleveland, the tariff was lower for a short period.

7. Chapters in Brief
3. What role did political machines play in cities? 4. What led to the call for civil service reform?

8. Chapters in Brief - Answers
3. What role did political machines play in cities?
> political machines helped immigrants
adapt to life and helped build the cities
> many officials became corrupt
4. What led to the call for civil service reform?
> unqualified government employees
interfered with the daily functioning of
the government
> other appointees used their positions for
personal gains
> this lack of ability and corruption led
many to urge civil service reform for
federal workers

9. Gilded Age:
Gilded refers to the glitter of wealth and the flashy display of high society
made possible by the expansion of industry and America as an Industrial giant in the world
majority of presidents were Republicans
government tended to side with big business
wealth for some meant dismal living and working conditions for many others
Written by Mark Twain: satirizes greed and political corruption in post-Civil War America

10. The Emergence of Political Machines
In the late 19th century, cities were in trouble
Rapid growth and inefficient government opened new types of politics
Political machines, groups that controlled a political party in a city, emerged during this time period
** Political machines were wrong
during the Gilded Age ( )
because most of the candidates who
were elected through a machine
used their position to steal tax dollars**

11. The Emergence of Political Machines
Political boss
Political Machines
controlled the activities of a political party in a city
offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for political and financial support
were organized like a pyramid
TOP: political boss
BASE: local precinct workers and captains
workers and captains worked to gain voters’ support on city block or neighborhood – reported to a ward boss who worked to secure the vote in all the precincts in the ward
Precinct Captains

12. The Role of the Political Boss
controlled city jobs, police, firemen, licenses and inspections
influenced courts and other municipal agencies
used influence to assist schools and hospitals

13. Immigrants and the Political Machine
Immigrants 1. received sympathy 2. became legal supporters 3. provided votes for the machine Political Bosses 1. 1st or 2nd generation who were raised in poverty 2. could speak the native language of immigrants 3. not only understood problems, but found solutions 4. helped find jobs and places to live

14. Municipal Graft and Scandal
Fraud
political machines turned to fraud to accomplish their goals
they ran phony elections
“vote early and vote
often”
they padded the list of eligible voters with names of dogs, children, and dead people

15. Municipal Graft and Scandal
overcharge for a job
they used kickbacks, which was were illegal payments
buy land before it will be developed with inside knowledge
once in office, political machines used graft
Graft: illegal use of political influence for
personal gain

16. Municipal Graft and Scandal
Graft Example:
> a political machine helps a person find work on a
construction project for the city
> the political machine could ask the worker to bill
the city for more than the actual cost of materials
and labor
> the worker then “kicked back” a portion of the
earnings to the political machine

17. “Boss Tweed” and the Tweed Ring Scandal
William Marcy Tweed was
known as “Boss Tweed”
head of Tammany Hall,
which was the democratic political
machine that dominated New York
City in the late 19th century
ran the Tweed Ring,
which was a group of
corrupt politicians between
1869 and 1879, the Tweed Ring
pocketed approximately
$200,000,000 from New York City
Thomas Nast, a political
cartoonist, took on the
Tweed Ring with his
political cartoons

18. Boss Tweed and the New York Machine
Tweed Video (9:18)

19. Thomas Nast Cartoon
1. Under the Tammany tiger’s victim is a torn paper that reads
“LAW.” What is the significance?
2. Boss Tweed and his cronies, portrayed as noblemen, watch
from the stands on the left. The cartoons caption reads
“What are you going to do about it?” What effect do you
think Nast wanted to have on his audience?

20. Politics in the Gilded Age Nast Cartoons

21. Thomas Nast Cartoons

22. Civil Service Replaces Patronage
the desire for power and money that made local politics corrupt in the industrial age also infected national politics
since the beginning of the 19th century, presidents had complained about the problem of patronage
Patronage: the giving of
government jobs to
people who had
helped a candidate
get elected

23. Civil Service Replaces Patronage
reformers began to press for the elimination of patronage and the adoption of a merit system of hiring
civil service: non-military branch of government
administration
those reformers said that jobs in civil service should go to the most qualified person

24. Civil Service Replaces Patronage
Quote that reflects the concept of “nativism” as it existed in the Gilded Age:
** The best reason that could be given for this radical
restriction of immigration is the necessity of
protecting our population against degeneration and
saving our national peace and quiet from imported
turbulence and disorder **

25. Essential Question
Why did machine politics become common in big cities in the late 19th century? Justify your answer.
Write three complete sentences in the summary location on your note sheet

26. Politics in the Gilded Age – Objective
explain the role of political machines and political bosses