More handpicked essays just for you.
Ap world history/chpter 14/irish immigrants
The evolution of the party in the united states
Essays on irish immigration to the USA
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, strong political organizations, known as political machines dominated big cities. Political machines were characterized as top-down organizations that had centralized control. Political bosses were the leaders of these local party organizations. These bosses gave orders to the people below him know as ward, precinct, and block captains. Political machines rose mainly in the Northwest and the Midwest, but slowly started to take over in those regions. They were very influential, and started to take over cities one political machine at a time. The main goal of these machines was to get their candidates elected, and that is what they did. The way you were would describe machine politics worked was …show more content…
that it was an “exchanged process.” Political machines liked to trade favors for people to vote for their candidates on the ballot. The machine “rewarded its friends and punished its enemies; it dispensed specific benefits (such as jobs and building permits) that were denied to people and businesses who failed to support the machine” (Levine, 2015). During the 1800s and early 1900s many immigrants came to the U.S.
(mainly Irish) from Europe at a time when there was no national welfare system to aid people in need. Machine captains saw this as an opportunity to recruit people for the machine, or to help gain peoples votes. The way they got the immigrants to agree to vote for their candidates was that they offered them shelter, emergency assistance, help in securing employment, and other favors. An example of this is with Tammany Hall a political machine in New York, their “boss” William M. Tweed “spent $50,000 of his personal funds in his own ward and gave each of the city’s alderman $1,000 out of his own pocket to buy coal for the poor” (Levin, 2015). Tammany-controlled treasury in the city and gave well over a million dollars to many organizations, especially ones dealing with religion which really spoke to immigrants. Machine captains also tried to attend any social gathering they could, weddings, funerals, Irish wakes, Jewish bar mitzvahs, …show more content…
etc. Not only did machines help the poor, they also helped slumlords and the owners of factory sweatshops. The machines rewarded their business allies with necessary permits, licenses that are needed, inspections, construction contracts, overlooking harsh working and living conditions of the urban poor, and lucrative franchises. In return, owners would give the machines cash, or control over several jobs that the machine would be able to dispense to its supporters in return for their votes. Since machine bosses dispenses jobs and other favors so widely in the effort to win votes from various ethnic groups in the immigrant city, a lot of analysts refer to the urban machine as a rainbow coalition. The Irish made a big impact on political machines as they increased power for the Democratic party as well as the Catholic church.
Irish came to the U.S. due to poor living conditions and mainly the potato famine. Between 1820-1860, Irish composed over one third of arrival in the United States. When arriving, a lot of Irish entered the work force at the bottom of the ladder. They endured in a lot of dangerous job, building railroads, mining coal, digging canals, etc. Many women became servants or domestic workers. Living conditions were not the best, and many were often over crowded. Mobs and violence broke out due to the poor living conditions, their willingness to work for low wages, long standing religious tension between Irish Catholics and protestants, and replacing native-born workers with lower paid Irish. Over time, many Irish climbed occupational and social ladders. They reached these standards by politically appointed positions such as policeman, fireman, and teachers. Second and third generation Irish were better educated, wealthier, and more
successful. The Irish’s subjugation and strife gave rise to an unmistakable Irish identity and a sense of cohesion (in Ireland and U.S.). They soon become a huge political power force because so many Irish lived in U.S. cities, and had excellent organizational ability. This truly transformed politics in cities. It put power in the hands of men of working class again, and built an loyalty to the individual and the organization. City problems led to political machines, cities grew so fast that their government couldn’t keep up with the needs of people like water, sewage systems, sanitation, and protection. The solution to these problems were political machines. They stepped in and provided services in exchange for votes and money. The people didn’t see that they were getting taken advantage of so the positive to them was that they were getting benefits and their needs taken care of. Eventually political machines did decline and this was due to a growing national prosperity and gains in education. As voters became more aware of politics and gained quality knowledge they no longer needed the benefits the machines offered. Over-all after time went on many people realized that political machines just were not the way to run the state’s government. Not only was it use to better education, but a rise of welfare, racial polarization, and changes in the mass media influenced the change as well. I’m very glad political machines are not in affect as much as they were in the past and we have state government systems set up like the Dillon’s rule and Home Rule.
...l to readers to see how the reform movement played a major role in better health and labor standards across many cities in the United States. By giving more focus to these positive elements, I thought it could have made for a very interesting contrast between pros and cons for the reform movement, similar to what readers received while reading about machine politics in Chapter 3.
One of the most important problems that arose from this growth, however, was the absence of a legitimate urban government. Political, or urban, machines filled this void, and through patronage and graft secured votes from as many people as possible for their respective parties4. Immigrants were usually the easiest targets because they frequently did not speak much English, but more importantly, they were looking for security in the city, which could be achieved simply by giving a party your vote on Election Day7.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Starting in the 1830s, many immigrants came flooding into the United States of America due to hard times, famines, and economic opportunities. Everyday, thousands of underprivileged citizens would take on the task of being an American. To begin, many immigrants were Irish due to the Irish Famine in the late 1840s (Doc 2). According to Catherine Moran McNamara, “The Irish lived under awful stress. I’ve seen the family thrown out (Doc 2).” Meanwhile during the Irish Famine, many potato crops died, leaving families without a source of food or income(OI). However, the Irish were not the only culture going through tough times. In Greece, the pay was unbearable with only five dollars a day(Doc 3). Also, George Kokkas explains that Greece lacked education for the youth. He stated that “I was concerned for the education of my kids.
In response to intervention, thousands of groups of people became defiant. Laborers living off the bare minimum often assembled into organized groups to enforce their demands upon the government, making a notable push for reform (D) while educated men such as Henry Demarest Lloyd promoted virtue, not land, as the ideal focus of government (B). Dissatisfaction continued within the middle class. As new industrial machines emerged, designed for mass product...
Sectionalism can be described as loyalty specifically to one’s section or region. In terms of the United States, sectionalism refers to two major regions, the North and the South. It became a rising issue in the colonies in the 1800’s and undoubtedly aided in the start of the civil war. If one was to ask Northerners, they would blame the South and vice-versa. To be brutally honest, it was a combination of both regions and their extreme sectionalism that inevitably led to an American’s nightmare, a Civil War within the Union.
The Irish Travelers began arriving in the United States during the Great Famine in Ireland in the mid 19th century. It is believed they are descendants of landowners and laborers who were displaced by Oliver Cromwell’s military campaign in Ireland in the 1600’s. As they maintain no written records of their history, their true heritage is still of some debate. Arriving in this country they were known as the Irish Horse Traders for their dealings in the horse trading industry. It has been suggested that as far back as their arrival they were engaging in schemes to defraud potential customers.
Immigration to America from Europe was at an all time high in the mid-1800s. After the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s, a large group of Irish immigrated to the United States. Since then, increasing numbers of Irish people have been moving to the United States, especially in Chicago. The Irish had come to realize that the United States really is the land of opportunity. With jobs being available to the immigrants, many more shipped in to start new lives for their families. However, for quite a while they did not live in the nicest of areas in Chicago. Many of the Irish resided in low-class areas such as overcrowded parts around the Loop, and out in the West Side. Not only did the West Side shelter the Irish, but many Germans and Jews lived in that area.
Following the years of Congressional Reconstruction during the Johnson administration, former Union General Ulysses S. Grant was elected president, despite his lack of political experience. Although Grant was an excellent soldier, he proved to be an insufficient politician, failing to respond effectively to rampant corruption throughout his two terms in office. Both government and businesses were plagued by corrupt schemes, as Republican leaders used the spoils system to gain political favors and “robber barons,” such as Jay Gould and James Fisk, stole large sums of money at the public’s expense. New York Mayor William “Boss” Tweed, leader of the “Tammany Hall” political machine, took advantage of the influx of immigrants to the United States by manipulating newly arrived immigrants, promising employment, housing, and other favors in return for their electoral support. This blatant corruption severely damaged the opinions of many Americans regarding their government, and prompted the election of numerous reform-minded politicians. Rutherford B. Hayes and James Garfield both attempted to restore honest government following the tainted Grant administration, yet political divisions between the “Halfbreed” and “Stalwart” factions of the Republican Party prev...
enough votes to maintain control over the community. Political machines were able to restructure the city governments; they also resulted in poorer services, corruption and aggravation of the immigrants and minorities. ("Encyclopedia of American History") He was able to infiltrate Tammany Hall and bribe or smooth-talk any government official that stood in his way. Famously, Tweed is known for the construction of the New York Courthouse. It wasn't until the New York Times wrote an exposé on Boss Tweed that his grafting became publicly known and finally consequences caught up with his actions.
Political machines were supported by continuing immigration, sustained by patronage, enlarged by wealth, and in the end were weeded out by reformers progress for public rather than private good, and caused by the need for public works and skilled workers, after the population of cities expanded.
There are thousands of years of history that have taken place. History is not like art(less subjective), but there is still plenty of room for speculation, criticism, and debate among historians, professors, as well as average citizens. However, not all these moments are documented, or done successfully specifically. Some of these moments end up becoming movies, books, or even historical fiction novels, but what about those fundamental moments that aren’t readily documented? In the book The Birth of Modern Politics Lynn Hudson Parsons claims that the 1828 election was momentous in the history of both political history, as well as our nation. Parsons not only discusses the behind the scenes of the first public election of 1828, but the pivotal events in Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams’ lives leading up to the election as well. Parsons succeeds in proving her thesis that the 1828 election was crucial to American politics as we know it today, as well as provoking evidence from various sources with her own logic and opinions as well.
Throughout the history of this nation there are thousands of upon thousands of immigrants coming to this country and achieving the American dream. The Irish immigrated to the United States in 1840 – 1850s in big numbers driven by hunger and by the oppression of the British. Many of them became successful politicians, police officers and businessmen. One of the brightest examples in the history of Irish immigration success is Henry Ford. His grandfather immigrated in the 1840s escaping the potato famine. Henry Ford himself was born in a poor family in Dearborn, Michigan went on to become the most successful car builder in the country (Hennigan). Between 1880 and 1920 the first wave of Italians mainly from South Italy immigrated in the United States (Hendin 13). Many escaped from the poor countryside in Southern Italy to seek better life in America. Shining ex...
Their purpose is to help the workers organize, as Mac tells him “we don’t want only temporary pay raises […] we want the men to find out how strong they are when they work together” (Steinbeck 26). The Party’s goal to help men cause labor reform provides much insight to the roots of historical labor movements. Although businessowners, local law enforcement, or in some cases, federal troops often ended strikes, men were still willing to risk their wellbeing to fight for better working
The American Political System The American political system is a federal system, which consists of
It is well known that the British political system is one of the oldest political systems in the world. Obviously, it was formed within the time. The United Kingdom of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the constitutional monarchy, providing stability, continuity and national focus. The monarch is the head of state, but only Parliament has the right to create and undertake the legislation. The basis of the United Kingdom’s political system is a parliamentary democracy. Therefore, people think the role of the Queen as worthless and mainly unnecessarily demanding for funding, but is it like that?