1. Politics in the Gilded Age

2. The Emergence of Political Machines:
• Cities experience rapid
growth in the late 19th
century
• Inefficient government in the
beginning
• Social Darwinism, the best
will survive
• Cities are receptive to a new
power structure, the political
machine, the city boss

3. The Political Machine:
• An organized group
controlled the
activities of a political
party in a city
• Offered services to
voters and
businesses in
exchange for political
or financial support
In this 1899 cartoon from Puck,
all of New York City politics
revolves around boss Richard
Croker.

4. Organization of the Political Machine
• The political machine was organized like a
pyramid
– Base: local precinct workers and captains (gain
city support on a city block)
– Level 2: Ward boss (worked to secure the vote in
all precincts in the ward)
– Level 3: City boss (controlled the activities of the
political party)

5. The Political Boss:
• Controlled access to municipal jobs and business
licenses
• Influenced the courts
• Built waterworks, sewer systems, parks, schools,
hospitals, and orphanages
• Solved Urban Problems
• Many bosses were first and second generation
immigrants
• Provided solutions and helped immigrants adjust
to the culture and life of America

6. Municipal Graft:
• Many political bosses fell
victim to corruption
• Once a political machine
got its candidates into
office, it could take
advantage of numerous
opportunities for graft, the
illegal use of political
influence for personal gain

7. Boss Tweed
– Became head of Tammany Hall,
New York City’s powerful
Democratic political machine, in
1868
– Between 1868 and 1871, Boss
Tweed led the Tweed Ring, a group
of corrupt politicians, in defrauding
the city
– One scheme involved billing New
York taxpayers 13 million on a
construction job that cost only 3
million
– Tweed and his friends pocketed
about 10 million

8. Civil Service Replaces Patronage:
• The desire for power and money
that made local politics corrupt
in the industrial age also
infected national politics
• Since the beginning of the 19th
century, presidents have been
complaining about the problem
of patronage, or giving of
government jobs to people who
had helped a candidate get
elected
• Reformers began to push for
changes and adopted a merit
system of hiring

9. Civil Service Replaces Patronage:
• Jobs in civil service-government
administration-should go to the most qualified
persons
• Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, and
Chester A. Arthur all supported reform over
the patronage system
• President Garfield angered many Stalwarts
(receivers of the patronage system) when he
appointed many reformers to patronage jobs

10. Civil Service Replaces Patronage:
• An angry lawyer, turned down for a job by
the president, gunned down the president
(assassinated) on July 2, 1881
• President Arthur pushed Congress to pass
civil service law
• The resulting Pendleton Civil Service Act of
1883 authorized a bipartisan service
commission to make appointments to
federal jobs through a merit system based
on candidates’ performance on an
examination
• Public administration became more honest
and efficient
• Because officials could no longer pressure
employees for campaign contributions,
politicians turned to other sources of
donations

11. Business Buys Influence:
• With employees no
longer a source of
campaign contributions,
politicians turned to
wealthy business
owners
• The alliance between
government and big
business became
stronger than ever