Political Machines

What is a “political machine?” It’s an organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city. It offers services to voters and businesses in exchange for political or financial support.

Pyramid structure At the bottom were the Precinct Captains. They were in charge of gaining voters support on a city block. Above them were the Ward Boss. A “ward” is a collection of precincts At the top is the city boss, who runs the entire operation.

City Boss’s influence They control all the municipal jobs, business licensees, have influence on the courts, etc. Basically they run the city, whether they are officially mayor or not.

Immigrants and the Political Machine Bosses would usually be first or second generation immigrants themselves, and they would help out newly arrived immigrants. These newly arrived immigrants were always happy for their help and would return the favor with their votes.

Fraud Graft- this is using your political power for personal financial gain. For example, you tell a city worker to bill the city for more money than a project will actually cost. You then “kickback” some of that extra money to the Political Boss. Another example is awarding big city projects to companies who personally pay the city boss to get the contract.

Boss Tweed He is the most infamous Political Boss He was in charge of “Tammany Hall,” which was not a building, it was the name of the Democratic Political Machine in New York City. He had the city of New York build a court house for 13 million dollars, but the actual cost was only 3 million. He pocketed the rest of the money.