Tammany Hall
On the 12th of May 1789, a group of men gathered in New York City to incorporate the Tammany Society. They chose a name from Tamanend, a Lenape chief who had become a folk hero in the late seventeenth century. The new organization called its meeting hall a wigwam and referred to its leader as a grand sachem. William Mooney served as the first Grand Sachem, though wealthy merchant John Pintard actually wrote the society's constitution. Pintard declared the group to be a political institution founded on strong republican principles designed to correct the city's aristocracy. Members included supporters of Governor George Clinton and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. In 1790, the society helped the federal government secure a peace treaty with the Muscogee at President George Washington's request. By 1793, they hosted Edmond-Charles Genêt, the controversial representative of the French First Republic. Aaron Burr later used the society as a vehicle for political gain during the 1800 presidential election. Some historians believe that without Tammany support, President John Adams might have won re-election. Burr alienated many supporters by opposing Jefferson in the contingent election after the electoral college vote resulted in a tie between him and Jefferson.
In the 1840s, over 130,000 Irish immigrants arrived in New York City to escape the Great Famine. They came in poverty and joined scores of thousands of their fellow countrymen who had arrived over prior decades. By 1855, 34 percent of the city's voter population was composed of Irish immigrants. Tammany Hall provided these new arrivals with patronage employment, job referrals, legal aid, food, shelter, and other extralegal services including citizenship and naturalization assistance. The organization secured lifelong support from this large and growing Irish population which would form the majority of its electoral base for the next century. In exchange for these services, the Tammany political machine harvested Irish immigrant votes. On the 24th of April 1817, immigrant discontent led to a huge riot during a Tammany general committee session. Following voting reforms in 1821, acceptance became a political necessity. Tammany eventually came to depend on Irish immigration as its source of viability. During the 1854 mayoral election, Fernando Wood became the first person supported by the Tammany Hall machine to become mayor of New York City.
William M. Tweed consolidated control over city and state politics after succeeding Fernando Wood as grand sachem in 1858. He embezzled funds directly through public works programs and more complex racketeering schemes. County auditor James Watson kept the books and records of the Tweed ring until he died one week after being fatally injured in a sleigh accident on the 21st of January 1871. Watson's successor provided city accounts to former sheriff James O'Brien who turned them over to The New York Times. The records showed enormous frauds doubling the state debt from $50 million to $113 million over two years. At a September 4 mass meeting at Cooper Union, a committee of seventy prominent New York reformers was appointed to examine the misdeeds of the Tweed ring. Editorial cartoonist Thomas Nast used his work to undermine Tweed among illiterate New Yorkers who made up a large majority of the Tammany base. Tweed was arrested and convicted of corruption in 1872 before escaping once and then dying in Ludlow Street Jail in 1878. His conviction gave the organization its national reputation for corruption.
On the 14th of December 1894, voters in New York County, Kings County, Richmond County, and Queens County voted to consolidate into one city with a unified municipal government. This consolidation dramatically weakened Tammany Hall which now had to compete with other Democratic Party machines including the Brooklyn machine led by Hugh McLaughlin. Richard Croker returned to the United States in 1898 to oppose reformers efforts to outlaw Sunday drinking. In 1936, Fiorello La Guardia successfully led the adoption of a new city charter which mandated proportional representation method of electing members of the City Council. This abolished the ward system which formed the basis of political machine organizations in the city. Roughly three-quarters of city positions required job seekers to take an exam in 1939 compared to only about half in 1933. La Guardia defeated Jeremiah T. Mahoney to become the first anti-Tammany mayor to win re-election in 1937. He was re-elected again in 1941. His long reform tenure weakened Tammany in a way that previous reform mayors had not.
During Prohibition, traditional street gangs were replaced by modern organized crime syndicates enriched by bootlegging. Tammany came to depend on criminal bosses such as Arnold Rothstein to maintain some measure of street control. Rothstein's murder in 1928 weakened Tammany significantly. In 1935, Governor Herbert H. Lehman appointed Thomas E. Dewey as special prosecutor. Dewey obtained the conviction of Lucky Luciano who maintained control of his criminal organization from prison until his deportation to Italy in 1946. In 1939, Dewey prosecuted and secured the conviction of longtime Tammany leader Jimmy Hines on bribery charges. The Dewey prosecutions and imprisonment of Hines weakened the machine's power in the criminal underworld. In 1943, Frank Hogan released a transcript of a recorded phone message between mob boss Frank Costello and Thomas Aurelio. Aurelio pledged undying loyalty to Costello during disbarment proceedings against him. While Aurelio avoided disbarment and even won re-election, Michael Kennedy resigned his position within Tammany in January 1944 after admitting he had secured Aurelio's nomination and election as grand sachem.
Carmine DeSapio became Tammany Hall's first Italian-American boss in 1949 and reestablished boss rule. He publicly promoted himself as a transparent reformer and made political decisions known to the press. DeSapio diversified membership including non-white and non-Catholic politicians. In 1953, he successfully engineered the election of Robert F. Wagner Jr. as mayor over incumbent Vincent Impellitteri. Despite electoral successes, DeSapio could not escape close ties with Frank Costello who was convicted of tax evasion in 1954. During DeSapio's reign, Costello continued to influence Tammany officials from prison following an assassination attempt in 1957. In 1961, Wagner was re-elected by denouncing DeSapio and Tammany machine politics. DeSapio opponents including Eleanor Roosevelt formed the New York Committee for Democratic Voters which helped oust him as district leader in Greenwich Village. By 1967, Tammany Hall had ceased to exist. The organization dissolved after decades of sustained opposition from reform activists and changing demographics in Manhattan.
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Common questions
When was the Tammany Society incorporated in New York City?
The Tammany Society was incorporated on the 12th of May 1789. A group of men gathered to establish this organization which later became known as Tammany Hall.
How did Irish immigrants support the Tammany Hall political machine in the 1840s and 1850s?
Irish immigrants joined Tammany Hall for patronage employment, job referrals, legal aid, food, shelter, and citizenship assistance. This support formed the majority of its electoral base for the next century after over 130,000 arrived during the Great Famine.
What happened to William M. Tweed and his ring after the exposure of fraud in 1871?
William M. Tweed was arrested and convicted of corruption in 1872 before dying in Ludlow Street Jail on the 2nd of May 1878. The records showed enormous frauds doubling the state debt from $50 million to $113 million over two years.
Why did Fiorello La Guardia weaken Tammany Hall through city charter reforms in 1936?
Fiorello La Guardia adopted a new city charter in 1936 that mandated proportional representation and abolished the ward system. Roughly three-quarters of city positions required job seekers to take an exam by 1939 compared to only about half in 1933.
When did Tammany Hall cease to exist as an organization?
Tammany Hall ceased to exist by 1967 after decades of sustained opposition from reform activists and changing demographics in Manhattan. The organization dissolved following Carmine DeSapio's ousting and the re-election of Robert F. Wagner Jr. in 1961.