Chapter 15 Section 3

Tweed Ring Scandal

Boss Tweed and a group charge taxpayers 10 million more than they had to pay

"Big Jim" Pendergast

Irish-American saloonkeeper who worked his way from precinct captain to democratic city boss in Kansas City by aiding Italian, African-American, and Irish voters in his ward

Roscoe Conkling

New York ward boss used his power to build parks, sewer systems, water works, and gave money to schools, hospitals, orphanages

Tammany Hall

New Yorks powerful Democratic political machine

James A. Garfield

Ohio congressman, Republican presidential candidate "assassination can be no more guarded against than death by lightning" he was almost assassinated

Stalwarts

Roscoe Conkling, Republican New York senator and political boss' followers

Tweed Ring

a group of corrupt politicians who helped defraud NYC

Pendleton Civil Service Act

a law enacted in 1883 that established a bi partisan civil service commission to make appointments to government jobs by means of the merit system

political machine

an organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city

naturalization

attaining full citizenship

Wilson Gorman Tariff

became law without president signature.. lowered tariffs but supported federal income tax

Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner

co-wrote a book The Gilded Age about the struggle to get rich quick

Political Boss

controlled access to municipal jobs and business licenses and influenced the courts and other municipal agencies

Rutherford B. Hayes

could not convince congress to support reform... named independents to his cabinet... fired nyc top officials "nobody ever left the presidency with less regret... than I do"

Grover Clevland

democrat who won presidency.. tried to lower tariff rates.. reelected and only to serve non consecutive terms

William McKinley

elected president and raised tariffs AGAIN

patronage

giving of government jobs to people who had helped a candidate get elected

civil service

government administration

William M. Tweed "Boss Tweed"

head of Tammany Hall, led the Tweed Ring to defraud the city, arrested , let out, arrested again, escaped to Spain

extortion

illegal use of ones official position to obtain property or funds

precinct captain and political bosses

many were immigrants who worked their way up and understood other immigrants... helped them for votes in return

Charles Guiteau

mentally unstable who shot Garfield after being turned down a job... and took ownership for it

Chester A. Arthur

one of Conklings supporters nominated for VP "there doesn't seem to be anything else for an ex-president to do but... raise big pumpkins"

Thomas Nast

political cartoonist who depicted the Tweed Ring Scandal

McKinley Tariff Act

raised tariffs to their highest level yet

graft

the illegal use of political influence for personal gain

Martin Lomasnsey

ward boss of Boston ... had an important quote

Benjamin Harrison

won presidency after Clevland pushed tariff rates to the highest they could be