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Politics in the Gilded Age 1860’s-1890’s. The years between the 1860’s and the 1890’s were called the “Gilded Age” by the American author and humorist Mark Twain. What did he mean?. Gild 1 (gld) tr.v. gild·ed or gilt (glt), gild·ing, .
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Politics in the Gilded Age 1860’s-1890’s
The years between the 1860’s and the 1890’s were called the “Gilded Age” by the American author and humorist Mark Twain. What did he mean?
Gild 1 (gld)tr.v. gild·ed or gilt (glt), gild·ing, 1. To cover with or as if with a thin layer of gold. 2. To give an often deceptively attractive or improved appearance to. 3. To smear with blood. As we progress through this unit, keep all three definitions in mind!
Politics in the Gilded Age Summarized by one word: Boring!
The reason things were so boring is that both dominant political parties, Republican and Democrat, were fairly evenly balanced.
1. Well defined party elements DemocraticBloc RepublicanBloc • White southerners(preservation ofwhite supremacy) • Catholics • Recent immigrants(esp. Jews) • Urban working poor (pro-labor) • Most farmers • Big Business • African Americans • Northern Protestants • Old WASPs (supportfor anti-immigrant laws) • Most of the middleclass
2. As such, there was intense voter loyalty to their chosen party. There were few “undecided” voters
Laissez Faire In Action (inaction?) • From 1870-1900 Govt. did verylittle domestically. • Main duties of the federal govt.: • Deliver the mail. • Maintain a national military. • Collect taxes & tariffs. • Conduct a foreign policy. That was it! Most Americans believed the government existed to maintain the domestic peace and provide national security, nothing more.
As we shall see, beginning next week, the government’s laissez faire policies had a huge impact on the world of business and industry which in turn had a huge impact on the lives of all Americans.
This hands of approach also sowed the seeds for corruption in government at all levels, federal, state and city.
Laissez faire was joined in the Gilded Age by two very important things: 1. A massive influx of immigrants. 2. Explosive growth in America’s cities.
In this atmosphere, some politicians and political parties saw both things as an opportunity to expand their power.
The Political Machine An organized group that control the activities of a political party in a city by offering services to businesses and voters in exchange for their political or financial support.
Structure of the Machine City Boss Ward Boss Precinct Workers and Captains
Precinct Workers Cities were / are divided up into precincts, essentially voting districts. Precinct workers from the political machine went into these areas, largely dominated by immigrants, to make contact with possible voters. It was the precinct workers job to find out what problems immigrants wanted the city government to help them solve.
Many precinct workers were either recent immigrants themselves, or came from immigrant families. As a result, they could usually speak the same language as the immigrant voters they were trying to attract. One the precinct workers had identified potential voters and their problems, they reported that information to the ward boss.
Ward Boss A group of precincts would be put together to form a ward. Each ward would collectively elect a member to the city council.
Ward Boss The ward boss would work of solving the problems presented to him by the precinct workers. Why? What was in it for the machine?
When election day came the ward boss would make sure that the immigrants he had helped voted for the candidates he told them to. The ward boss and precinct workers would escort voters to the polling place.
At the end of the day then, a good political machine could control a ton of votes.
City Boss It was then up to the boss to control the city’s political parties. Most city bosses were not politicians themselves. Instead, they chose to work behind the scenes. Either way, the boss controlled access to city jobs, business licenses, and heavily influenced the courts and police.
City bosses were able to wield power because elected officials owed their positions to the voting power of the political machine
Being a city boss carried more benefit than simply being able to influence political decisions and city business. Bosses were able to grow incredibly wealthy through: GRAFT
GRAFT The illegal use of political influence for personal gain
For example, the city boss tells the mayor or city council what construction company to hire to complete a certain job.
That construction company charges the city more than what the job actually costs. Actual Cost: $1,000,000 What the company charges the city: $1,500,000 Profit: $500,000
A large percentage of that “profit” would be “kicked back” to the city boss, who would then share some of that kick back with his ward bosses, and possible with the precinct workers.
City bosses also got rich accepting bribes from various businesses for various favors and from bribes given by people interested in having their illegal activities ignored by the police.
The most famous political machine of the Gilded Age operated out of Tammany Hall in New York City.
Between 1869 and 1871, William “Boss” Tweed and the Tammany Hall machine ran New York City. During those years Tweed and his circle stole between $30 Million and $200 Million dollars from taxpayers through various forms of graft.
In order to expose the corruption of the Tweed Ring, Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly, began to draw cartoons documenting the graft and scandal of Tammany Hall.
Tweed attempted to bribe Nast with $500,000 if he would stop drawing his cartoons. Tweed offered the New York Times $5 Million to not publish Nast’s work. Both offers were rejected.
Tweed himself was eventually arrested, but the Tammany Hall machine continued to operate.
