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Tammany Hall was the name given to the Democratic political machine that dominated New York City politics from the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854 through the election of Fiorello LaGuardia in 1934. The eighty-year period between those two elections marks the time in which Tammany was the city's driving political force, but its origins actually date to the late 18th century and its fall from power was not truly complete until the early 1960s.The Tammany Society of New York City was founded in 1786 as a patriotic fraternal organization whose primary activities were social, with an intial movement within the society to improve the image of Native Americans. By 1798, however, the Society's activities had grown increasingly politicized and eventually Tammany emerged as the central proponent of anti- Federalist Jeffersonian policies in the city of New York. Aaron Burr organized the Tammany society as his political machine for the election of 1800Summary The election of 1800 is often considered a realigning election. The flaws inherent in the electoral college were brought into full focus in this election. Under the United States Constitution, each presidential elector cast two votes, without dist. Throughout the early 19th centuryAlternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical ( 18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801- 1900. Events The Little Ice Age ended Tammany continued to deepen its association with the Democratic Partylogo depicts a stylized donkey in red, white, and blue. The Democratic Party is one of the two major United States political parties. The Party is currently the minority in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, as w, emerging as the controlling interest in New York City elections after Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson ( March 15, 1767 June 8, 1845) was the seventh President of the United States, serving from 1829 to 1837. Sometimes nicknamed "Old Hickory," Jackson was the first president not born an aristocrat. Early life Andrew Jackson's Scotch-Irish pa's presidential victory in 1828Summary Held on December 2, the election of 1828 featured a rematch between incumbent President John Quincy Adams and chief rival Andrew Jackson, who was now a candidate under the banner of the new Democratic Party. Unlike the 1824 election, no other majo. Throughout the 1830sEvents and Trends Dutch-speaking farmers known as Voortrekkers emigrate northwards from the Cape Colony. Croquet invented in Ireland Railroad construction begins in earnest in the United States. World Leaders Emperor Francis II ( Austria) Emperor Ferdinan and 1840sEvents and Trends First signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi New Zealand. The treaty between the British Crown and Maori made New Zealand a British colony and is considered the founding point of modern N the Society expanded its political control even further by earning the loyalty of the city's ever-expanding immigrant community, a task that was accomplished by helping newly-arrived foreigners obtain jobs, a place to live, and even citizenship so that they could vote for Tammany candidates in city and state elections.
By 1854 all these factors had combined to make Tammany a political force of hegemonic proportions in New York City, conferring immense power on the Society's "bosses" and allowing them to enrich themselves and their associates through corruption and administrative abuse. William M. "Boss" Tweed1869 tobacco label featuring Boss Tweed William Marcy Tweed a. Boss Tweed ( April 3, 1823 April 12, 1878), American politician, was the first political "boss" of Tammany Hall, which had formerly been controlled by committees. Tammany Hall had existed sinc's infamously corrupt reign was nefarious enough to incite an attempt at reform in the early 1870s. Rutherford B. Hayes's involvement in this effort contributed to his success in the election of 1876, but Tammany was consistently able to function in spite of this and continued to direct the flow of money, patronage, and votes into the early 1930s. Ultimately, even Tammany was unable to escape from the drastic social and cultural changes brought on by the Great Depression, and in 1932 the machine suffered a dual setback when Mayor James Walker was forced from office and Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president. The New Deal helped alter the demographic landscape of New York by restricting immigration and making people less dependent on Tammany for jobs and assistance, while the election of Fiorello LaGuardia removed the City Hall from Tammany's immediate control.
Despite these setbacks, the Tammany machine achieved something of a renaissance in the early 1950s under the leadership of Carmine DeSapio, who succeeded in engineering the elections of Robert Wagner, Jr. in 1953 and Averill Harriman in 1954, while simultaneously blocking the successful candidacies of those who had not curried his favor. Perhaps most notably among these politicians was Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., whose defeat in the 1954 race for New York Attorney General was related to DeSapio's downstate mobilization against his election. Inadvertently, DeSapio had sown the seeds of his own ruin. Eleanor Roosevelt held DeSapio responsible for her son's defeat and grew increasingly disgusted with his political conduct through the rest of the 1950s. Eventually, she would join with her old friends Herbert Lehman and Thomas Finletter to form the New York Committee for Democratic Voters, a group dedicated to enhancing the democratic process by opposing DeSapio's reincarnated Tammany. Eventually their efforts were successful, and in 1961 DeSapio was removed from power. The once mighty Tammany political machine, now deprived of its leadership, quickly faded from political importance and by the mid-1960s had ceased to exist.
