Tammany Hall
Sociology
Tammany Hall, or simply Tammany, was the name given to a
powerful political machine that essentially ran New York City
throughout much of the 19th century.
It began modestly as a patriotic and social club established in New
York in the years following the American Revolution, when such
organizations were commonplace in American cities.
The Society of St. Tammany, which was also called the Columbian
Order, was founded in May 1789 (some sources say 1786). The
organization took its name from Tamamend, a legendary Indian
chief in the American northeast who was said to have had friendly
dealings with William Penn in the 1680s.
The original purpose of the Tammany Society was for discussion of
politics in the new nation. The club was organized with titles and
rituals based, quite loosely, on Native American lore. For instance,
the leader of Tammany was known as the “Grand Sachem,” and the
club’s headquarters was known as “the wigwam.”
Before long the Society of St. Tammany turned into a distinct
political organization affiliated with Aaron Burr, a powerful force in
New York politics at the time.
Tammany Gained Widespread Power
In the early 1800s, Tammany often sparred with New York’s
governor DeWitt Clinton, and there were cases of early political
corruption that came to light.
In the 1820s, the leaders of Tammany threw their support behind
Andrew Jackson’s quest for the presidency. Tammany leaders met
with Jackson before his election in 1828, promised their support,
and when Jackson was elected they were rewarded, in what became
known as the spoils system. with federal jobs in New York City.
With Tammany associated with the Jacksonians and the Democratic
Party, the organization was viewed as friendly to the working
people. And when waves of immigrants, especially from Ireland,
arrived in New York City, Tammany became associated with the
immigrant vote.
In the 1850s, Tammany was becoming a powerhouse of Irish politics
in New York City. And in the time before social welfare programs,
Tammany politicians generally provided the only help the poor
could get.
There are many stories about neighborhood leaders from the
Tammany organization making sure that poor families were given
coal or food during hard winters. The New York poor, many of
whom were new arrivals to America, became intensely loyal to
Tammany.
In the period before the Civil War, the New York saloons were
generally the center of local politics, and election contests could
literally turn into street brawls. Neighborhood toughs would be
employed to make sure the vote “went Tammany's way.” There are
myriad stories about Tammany workers stuffing ballot boxes and
engaging in flagrant election fraud.
Tammany Hall's Corruption Expands
Corruption in the administration of the city also became a running
theme of the Tammany organization in the 1850s. In the early 1860s,
the Grand Sachem, Isaac Fowler, who held a modest government
job as a postmaster, was living lavishly in a Manhattan hotel.
Fowler, it was estimated, was spending at least ten times his income.
He was charged with embezzlement, and when a marshal came to
arrest him he was allowed to escape. He fled to Mexico but returned
to the US when charges were dropped.
Despite this constant atmosphere of scandal, the Tammany
organization grew stronger during the Civil War. In 1867 a lavish
new headquarters was opened on 14th Street in New York City,
which became the literal Tammany Hall. This new “wigwam”
contained a large auditorium which was the site of the Democratic
National Convention in 1868.
William Marcy “Boss” Tweed
By far the most notorious figure to be associated with Tammany
Hall was William Marcy Tweed, whose political power made him
known as “Boss” Tweed.
Born on Cherry Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in
1823, Tweed learned his father’s trade as chairmaker. As a boy,
Tweed was a volunteer with a local fire company, at a time when
private fire companies were important neighborhood organizations.
Tweed, as a young man, gave up the chair business and devoted all
his time to politics, working his way up in the Tammany
organization.
Tweed eventually became the Grand Sachem of Tammany, and
wielded immense influence over the administration of New York
City. In the early 1870s Tweed and his “ring” demanded payoffs
from contractors who did business with the city, and it was
estimated that Tweed personally amassed millions of dollars.
The Tweed Ring was so brazen that it invited its own downfall.
Tweed was eventually prosecuted and died in prison. But the
Tammany organization continued, and its political influence
endured under the leadership of new Grand Sachems.
Richard "Boss" Croker
The leader of Tammany in the late 19th century was Richard
Croker, who, as a low level Tammany worker on election day in
1874, became involved in a notorious criminal case. A street fight
broke out near a polling place and a man named McKenna was shot
and killed.
Croker was charged with the murder. Yet all who knew him said
that Croker, who was a former boxer, would never use a pistol as he
relied solely on his fists.
At a celebrated trial, Croker was acquitted of McKenna’s murder.
And Croker went on to rise in the Tammany hierarchy, eventually
becoming Grand Sachem. In the 1890s, Croker exerted enormous
influence over the government of New York City, though he held no
government post himself.
Perhaps mindful of Tweed’s fate, Croker eventually retired and
returned to his native Ireland, where he bought an estate and raised
race horses. He died a free and very wealthy man.
Legacy of Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall was the archetype of the political machines that
flourished in many American cities in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The influence of Tammany did not wane until the 1930s, and the
organization itself did not cease to exist until the 1960s.
There's no doubt that Tammany Hall played a major role in the
history of New York City. And it has been pointed out that even
characters like "Boss" Tweed were in some ways very helpful to the
development of the city. The organization of Tammany,
controversial and corrupt as it was, did at least bring order to the
rapidly growing metropolis.