Corruption and Politics in the Gilded Age

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Corruption and Politics in the Gilded Age
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The Politicians of the Gilded Age

• Compared to Abraham Lincoln Presidents of the
  Gilded Age (1877-1893) seemed especially weak,
  both in gaining the presidency and in their
  actions as president.
• One Exception Grover Cleveland, who maintained a
  reputation for integrity through two terms
  (1885-1889 1893-1897)

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Corruption in Gilded Age Politics

• This time was possibly the most corrupt period in
  American politics.
• Spoils system awarding government jobs to loyal
  party workers, no matter qualified (or
  unqualified) they were
• President Grants Administration was especially
  well known for corruption during his tenure as
  President (Remember Grantism?)

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Credit Mobilier

• The Credit Mobilier was a French construction
  company that had helped build the Union Pacific
  RR. The heads of the company were also stock
  holders of Union Pacific stock, and steered
  large, fraudulent contracts to their company.
  They ended up stealing a lot of money from Union
  Pacific and the government who helped fund the
  building of the RR. To make sure they didn't get
  caught, they transferred some of their stock to
  big-wig congress members. In 1872, congress went
  to investigate and found that Schuyler Colfax,
  Grant's VP had accepted stock from the deal. It
  made the Republican party look super corrupt.
  Whether Grant knew of this, who knows.
• .

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Whiskey Ring

• The Whiskey Ring of 1875, exposed by Secretary of
  the Treasury Benjamin H. Bristow, involved
  diversion of tax revenues in a conspiracy among
  government agents, politicians, whiskey
  distillers, and distributors. Over 3 million in
  taxes were stolen from the federal government
  with the aid of high government officials.
  Orville E. Babcock, the private secretary to the
  President, was indicted as a member of the ring
  but escaped conviction because of a presidential
  pardon.

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The Belknap ScandalIndian Bureau Contracts

• Grants secretary of war, William Belknap, was
  caught taking bribes to sell lucrative Native
  trading posts in Oklahoma to his hig. Grant let
  him resign and get away with the crimes.

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Political Machine

• An unofficial organization that worked to keep
  one politician or political party in power.
• Ex. Tammany Hall/the Tweed Ring kept William
  Tweed in power in New York.
• Most large cities were run by political machines
  at the turn of the century.

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How the Political Machine Worked

• The machine decided who got hired for what jobs
  within the city and who got contracts for stuff
  like roadwork.
• In return the machine (and its leaders) got paid
  with kickbacks (bribes)
• This form of corruption is called Graft
• Political Machines were kept in power by ward
  bosses who served the concerns of the poor urban
  citizens and would then tell them who to vote
  for

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How a Political Machine Worked .

• The most infamous example of machine politics was
  Tammany Hall, headquarters of the Democratic
  Party in New York City. Headed by William Marcy
  Tweed, the Tammany Hall political machine of the
  late 1860s and early 1870s used graft, bribery,
  and rigged elections to bilk the city of over
  200 million. Some of this money went to create
  public jobs that helped people and supported the
  local economy. Some went into constructing public
  buildings at hugely inflated expense, thus lining
  the pockets of building contractors and suppliers
  of materials. But contractors and suppliers, and
  anyone else doing business in the city, had to
  give kickbacks to the bosses in order to stay in
  business. Many machine bosses, including Boss
  Tweed, amassed fortunes as a result of kickbacks
  and bribes.

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The Tweed Ring

• In New York
• Gave 50,000 to the poor
• 2 million for schools orphanages and hospitals
• Ran the citys debt up to 70 million with its
  graft and illegal practices.

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Thomas Nast

• His political Cartoons helped to bring down Boss
  Tweed and his ring.
• Created the Democratic Donkey and Republican
  Elephant.
• Also created the Modern Santa Claus

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Work

• Draw me a political Cartoon and then explain it.
  You may use either a current issue or an issue
  from the time period that we have been studying.
• In your explanation include the issue and how you
  represented the issue in pictures.