Local Politics of the Gilded Age-The political machine Mario Lozano, Chase Meiron, Bry Pfolsgrof, Amanda Szeztaye, Ariana Lewandowski, Corina Thomas, Katlyn Cocks, Jessica Deyoung, Mattew Kripp, (Amber)Mason Brady, Robert Corso

The Gilded Age The Gilded age was a time period in the late 1800’s, which was an overall time of prosperity for the country in terms of technological advancement It was a time of extreme poverty for the lower class On a local scale, many large companies used their economic and social influence to gain, and later abuse, political influence

Political Machines A political machine was an unofficial organization that was designed to keep political sway Designed to influence popular vote in their favor Used corrupt methods to gain and retain their government jobs Party boss-The political leader of a political machine; gained the political sway, and these were those elected to positions of power One of the most famous party bosses was William Marcy Tweed (Boss Tweed) Controlled Tammany Hall, the political club of New York’s Democratic party

Benefits of a political machine Many politicians used their political influence in corrupt ways A political machine gave many benefits to the politicians inside the system and those that controlled it Political machines during the Gilded Age were ways of controlling and abusing government offices, and effectively robbed the public Many of the methods used by political machines to gain profit were illegal These illegal profits were used to keep the party in power; the profits from Tammany hall were used to keep Tweed and the Democrats in power

Methods of corruption Immigrants were taken advantage of because of poor education Controlled public jobs Kickbacks for those that voted in their favor Grafts Many party bosses used grafting to take money from public treasuries Fake expenses on construction projects and other general public contracting were a popular graft Tweed used this frequently Raised property taxes on those who opposed them Bribery was used to persuade people to vote, usually with jobs

Effects of political machine Gave a small, wealthy group of people power Made the rich richer Robbed money from the general public Taken from tax dollars and local treasuries Twisted the arms of voters in order to vote for them Took things out of context to gain support Used methods listed Created slums Depressed the economy of cities Larger economic differences between rich and poor