Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall was a political roped in New York, which was founded in 1786 as Tammany Society. The name is derived from its venue, the Tammany Hall. She was the organization of the Democratic Party in New York City and controlled for decades the policy in the city. Tammany gave the immigrants and the lower classes in the city, a voice, but also took advantage of the organization of these groups with considerable ruthlessness in order to enforce their own political goals. Especially in the second half of the 19th century Tammany Hall was notoriously famous because of the scandals and abuses of urban resources and post as supply means for the clientele of the party and to obtain financial support. To date, Tammany Hall is a synonym for corrupt party politics ( political machines ), especially in large cities.
- 3.1 Party Machine
Etymology
The name derives from the office of the Democratic Party in New York City, where Tamanend (also called Tammany ) goes back to a chief of the Lenni Lenape and friend of the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn. The chief had the Quaker sold a piece of land that should be the starting point of the later capital, Pennsylvania as one of the 13 founding countries of the United States was.
History
Foundation
The Tammany Society in Philadelphia has existed since 1772; she stood for unrestricted trade and unrestricted federalism and independence of a central government.
When George Washington was the first presidential election in the United States from 1789 the first U.S. president, William Mooney founded on May 12 in New York City, the " Society of St. Tammany "; the meeting was called Tammany Hall. The company was involved from the beginning of party politics and founded in 1811 the " Tammany Hall Party ".
"From the beginning of the Tammany Hall party all means are acceptable to cheat in elections or their own people to heave into lucrative offices. The pressure of modern mass influence through propaganda, there was not yet. "
The Tammany Hall stood for cronyism and corruption; 1817 started in the U.S. a series of scandals; so, for example, disappeared Ruggles Stroke type, actually Sheriff of New York, with 68,000 U.S. dollars. Robert Swartwout could stay in the Presidium of the " Tammany Society ", although he had embezzled $ 68,000.
William Tweed
In particular, William Tweed freely admitted to his illegal activities. 1852 Tweed was elected as a Democrat to the City Council, 1853, he was for this party Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives of the United States. 1857 Tweed " sachem " ( section chief ) of the " St. Tammany Society ", 1863 " grand sachem " (leader) and thus also the chairman of the Democratic Party in New York. In this position, Tweed was the dominant figure in New York politics and was a state senator in 1868.
In the years of his political career Tweed amassed a fortune in the amount of double-digit million sum outstanding. Under his leadership the St. Tammany Society inflow of 200 million U.S. dollars from public funds in addition. This was, among other things, by advocating control commissions, the construction project had to be approved. So cost in 1858 the construction of the New Yorker " County Courthouse ", which had first been estimated at U.S. $ 250,000, the city last more than 12 million dollars. The sum was largely benefit the Tammany Society, whose members also controlled the companies involved in the construction.
In addition, served tweed of a wide range of unfair means to retain power and to enrich themselves further. Counter bribes were illegal immigrants right to stay there. In addition, civil servants and elected officials were intimidated or bribed in turn. It also arrived in New York to electoral fraud, which fell on Tweed itself. Indirectly controlled Tweed also the press by docile made the newspapers by the assignment of well-paid jobs listings of community or of members of the Society.
Tweed was significantly overthrown by the famous cartoonist Thomas Nast, who published in the magazine Harper 's Weekly and in his drawings denounced the system of corruption and political arbitrariness to Tweed.
After the election of Ulysses S. Grant as President, appointed as a result of these Edwards Pierrepont to the Federal Attorney for the Southern District of New York. This office he held until 1870, thereafter proceed as a member of the so -called " Committee of Seventy " against corruption in New York to the party leader William Tweed in Tammany Hall. In 1873 he declined the offer of the President from going as ambassador to Russia, since the fight against corruption was not completed in his view. Until 1874 Tweed was sentenced to twelve years in prison because of massive corruption.
Michael Tuomey
In connection with the swill milk scandal was able to prevent any further investigation had grown up in the environment of Tammany hall Alderman Michael Tuomey (aka " Mike Butcher "). There was a food scandal involving milk from cows that were kept in the environment of the Irish dominated distilleries in appalling hygienic conditions and fed with mash remains more bad than good. The resulting " milk " was also adulterated and mixed among other things with strength and rotten eggs, they served mainly the lower class as baby food and was made responsible for a rampant child mortality.
Party machines
The intense political competition in the USA of the Gilded Age (ca. 1876-1914 ) led to expensive advertising campaigns and costly election campaigns. Events, promotional materials and long battles of words coined this political time. All this was organized without solid, reliable party structures.
In addition to New York also developed in many other cities and individual states so-called political machines. The objective of this informal party political organizations was enough to win votes for upcoming elections. They put it on a strictly hierarchical organization. At the top was the boss William Tweed, followed by tenement officers and ordinary members of the machine. With the help of some illegal means such as corruption and blackmail the party machinery brought first city districts and municipalities under control. Assuming they strove to power in counties and states and eventually had held so much power that they or similar party donations or open support with official agencies, government contracts could reward.
Historians are still divided on about the assessment of party machines. On the one hand machines, especially the Tammany Hall, illegal activities such as corruption, extortion and street violence and were thus pioneering mafia structures in the United States promoted. Thus were used for election purposes in the 1850 Irish criminal gangs such as in particular the Roach Guards and Dead Rabbits. In the 1920s in New York City, it was then their successors as the Eastman gear. Through waves of immigration from Italy, the focus had shifted nationality among immigrants, and the Five Points gang was here used for violent voices recovery. In Chicago, there were, for example, the Ragen 's Colts. The bands thus enjoyed political protection for their illegal activities; Frank Ragen was even chief of police in Chicago.
On the other hand, urban / municipal services were organized and achieved great success in the field of immigrant integration. In addition, the political machines brought some important politicians, including U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, out.