In the late 19th century, political machines were mostly beneficial, due to helping the people and solving urban problems, but they also harmed cities with the use of graft. To begin political machines were beneficial because they had helped the poor, and people in need.
Why were machines used in politics in the late 19th century?
Many machines formed in cities to serve immigrants to the U.S. in the late 19th century who viewed machines as a vehicle for political enfranchisement. Machine workers helped win elections by turning out large numbers of voters on election day. Click to see full answer. Also asked, why did machine politics become common in the late 19th century?
What was the impact of the political machines on cities?
Impact of Political Machines. In the minds of many Americans, political machines contributed mightily to the reputation of cities as dens of vice and corruption. As America urbanized and industrialized in the late 19th century, cities such as Chicago, Baltimore, and especially New York became synonymous with the dishonesty of political machines.
What is the political machine in American history?
Video: Political Machine: Definition & History. The urban political machine dominated the American cityscape around the turn of the 20th century. In exchange for votes and support, the machine allied with both rich and poor in major urban areas.
How did the political machine help the poor in the colonies?
For the urban poor, the political machine and the 'boss' provided tangible benefits, such as help in emergencies, government jobs, and a variety of social services. The political machine also provided entertainment for the lower classes through rallies, speeches, picnics, parades, and other fanfare.
How did political machines gain power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
At the turn of the 20th century, many U.S. cities were run by collections of self-serving political machines. These organizations controlled access to political power by rigging votes, buying people's loyalty — and their ballots.Dec 4, 2018
Why did machine politics become common in big cities in the late 19th century?
Political machines became common in cities because basic services for citizens and new immigrants were often extremely lacking and poor in quality. … The problems of government corruption, ineffective government employees, and an increasing influence of money in politics resulted from patronage.Jan 3, 2022
How did political machines operate during the Gilded Age?
The machines offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for political or financial support. Political machines gained control of local government in major US cities. At the base there were local precinct workers who tried to gain voters' support on a city block and reported to a ward boss.
What led to the rise of political machines?
What factors led to the rise of political machines? New demands were put on city governments for city services (fire, police, sewage, water, etc.) Taxes increased and new offices were set up to help with these. Define political machines (in your own words).
How did political machines gain influence in big cities during the late 19th and early 20th centuries quizlet?
Political machines became common in cities because basic services for citizens and new immigrants were often extremely lacking and poor in quality. By stepping in to help ameliorate these problems, political machines won influence and votes from the populace, who often had nowhere else to turn for effective help.
Why did political machines develop in cities?
Many machines formed in cities to serve immigrants to the U.S. in the late 19th century who viewed machines as a vehicle for political enfranchisement. Machine workers helped win elections by turning out large numbers of voters on election day.
What did political machines?
political machine, in U.S. politics, a party organization, headed by a single boss or small autocratic group, that commands enough votes to maintain political and administrative control of a city, county, or state.
What were political machines quizlet?
Definition- Political machines were organizations linked to a political party that often controlled local government. Usage- In the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century, it was mainly the larger cities like Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York City and Philadelphia that had political machines.
Why did many immigrants support political machines?
Immigrants supported political machines because they provided jobs and services such as a fire brigade. What effect did muckrakers have on reform? Muckrakers influenced voters, causing them to put pressure on politicians, the politicians then had to support reforms.
What positive effect did political machines have in big cities quizlet?
Political machines provided immigrants with jobs, services, and support that the government did not give. City dwellers were able to gain votes and support.
Why did political machines arise quizlet?
Political machines were political groups that worked to gain and keep political power. They arose in major cities during the period of urbanization during the late 1800s. They responded to the increased demand for city services, housing, and jobs of new city dwellers.
Why were political machines difficult to break up quizlet?
Why were political machines difficult to break up? They created a cycle of favors for votes. Why were so few violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act brought to court? Court cases cost too much time and money.
What were the effects of the 19th century machine politics?
Since the 19th-century heyday of machine politics, civil service reforms limiting the number of patronage jobs, the institution of direct primaries rather than party nomination of candidates, the municipal operation of public utilities, and judicial review by state and federal courts have all reduced the power of political machines. The steady exodus of city residents to the suburbs since World War II and a more mobile population with fewer ties to particular neighbourhoods have also weakened the social base that once made political machines synonymous with city government.
What is a political machine?
Political machine, in U.S.politics, a party organization, headed by a single boss or small autocratic group, that commands enough votes to maintain political and administrative control of a city, county, or state. The rapid growth of American cities in the 19th century, a result of both immigrationand migrationfrom rural areas, ...
How does machine patronage affect hostilities?
In cities whose neighbourhoods are divided along ethnic or racial lines, machine patronage may aggravate hostilities by awarding most jobs and services to those people of the same background as the city’s power elite. In practice, this made machine politics the last defense of white neighbourhoods against growing black populations, while black politicians who anticipated power viewed their constituents as merely the latest in a series of ethnic or racial groups that had benefited from the machine.
What was the political machine in the 20th century?
Lesson Summary. Around the turn of the 20th century, the political machine dominated most every major American city. Headed by a 'boss ,' the political machine supported poor immigrants and made shady deals with the wealthy in exchange for electoral support.
How did political machines help poor people?
On a positive note, political machines also undoubtedly helped poor urban immigrants transition to a new life in America. Low-income city dwellers could count on the local political 'boss' to help them in a crisis or assist them with a neighborhood problem—in exchange, of course, for a vote on election day.
What Were Political Machines?
Image yourself a poor Irish immigrant living in New York City's Lower East Side around the turn of the 20th century. Your husband or wife suddenly falls ill, and his or her health steadily gets worse. You have no money for medical help, but you know who to contact: the 'boss' of the local Democratic political machine. The 'boss' shows up and helps get your husband or wife to the hospital. You say you have no money, and he replies, 'Don't worry about it. Just remember this on election day.' And you do—you vote for whichever Democratic candidate the 'boss' tells you to vote for!
What cities were associated with the dishonesty of political machines?
As America urbanized and industrialized in the late 19th century, cities such as Chicago, Baltimore, and especially New York became synonymous with the dishonesty of political machines.
What were the benefits of the political machine?
For the urban poor, the political machine and the 'boss' provided tangible benefits , such as help in emergencies, government jobs, and a variety of social services. The political machine also provided entertainment for the lower classes through rallies, speeches, picnics, parades, and other fanfare. In return, the political machine's 'boss' ...
Who is the Republican Senator who said politics is a rotten business?
Though most urban political machines were of the Democratic persuasion, such corruption was not foreign to the Republicans. Roscoe Conkling , a Republican Senator from New York, explained that politics 'is a rotten business….
What are the factors that work against the oldstyle machines?
Regardless of the race or background of the voters, however, there are factors which work against the oldstyle machines. Civil service regulations make it harder to create a job or pad a payroll. Federal income taxes and federal accounting requirements make it more difficult to hide the rewards of graft. Television, public relations, and polling have created a whole new set of political techniques and undermined the personal ties and neighborhood loyalties on which the old organizations depended.
Why did the political bosses emerge?
The political bosses emerged to cope with this chaotic change and growth. Acting out of greed, a ruthless will for mastery, and an imperfect understanding of what they were about, the bosses imposed upon these conglomerations called cities a certain feudal order and direction.
What were political bosses like?
Political bosses varied in their idiosyncrasies and styles. A few, like Curley, became polished orators; others, like the legendary Charles Murphy of Tammany Hall, never made speeches. They were temperate, businesslike types; among them a drunk was as rare as a Phi Beta Kappa. If they had a generic failing it was for horses and gambling. Essentially they were hardheaded men of executive temper and genuine organizing talents; many, in other circumstances and with more education, might have become successful businessmen.
What were the businessmen dependent on?
Although many factory owners could be indifferent to politics, other businessmen were dependent upon the goodwill and the efficiency of the municipal government. The railroads that wanted to build their freight terminals and extend their lines into the cities, the contractors who erected the office buildings, the banks that held mortgages on the land and loaned money for the construction, the utility and transit companies, and the department stores were all in need of licenses, franchises, rights of way, or favorable rulings from city inspectors and agencies. These were the businesses that made the big pay-offs to political bosses in cash, blocks of stock, or tips on land about to be developed.
What happened in 1950?
The reason is not hard to find. Some of the cities kept growing and all of them kept changing, but the bosses, natural products of a specific era, could not grow or change beyond a certain point.
What were the jobs that were needed to dispense with the city?
At a time when many newcomers to the city were seeking unskilled work, and when many families had a precarious economic footing, the ability to dispense jobs was crucial to the bosses. First, there were jobs to be filled on the city payroll. Just as vital, and far more numerous, were jobs on municipal construction projects. When the machine controlled a city, public funds were always being spent for more schools, hospitals, libraries, courthouses, and orphanages. The growing cities had to have more sewer lines, gas lines, and waterworks, more paved streets and trolley tracks. Even if these utilities were privately owned, the managers needed the goodwill of city hall and were responsive to suggestions about whom to hire.
What was it like to move from a farm to a big European city?
To move from farm or village to a big European city was an adventure, but one still remained within the reassuring circle of the known and the familiar. In American cities, however, the newcomers had nothing in common with one another except their poverty and their hopes. They were truly “the uprooted.”.
