Compare And Contrast Boss Vs Boss Tweed

Thomas Nast vs. William “Boss” Tweed How can one man take down New York’s most ruthless and powerful institution with just a pencil? It is the late 1850’s. America is in the middle of great conflict with itself over the “old identical question”. Immigrants are coming into the country and the streets of New York are bustling with newfound diversity. Half of the city is desperately poor and the other half is living lavishly. The corruption in the city is at an all-time high and at the center of the system is Tamany Hall. Today I am going to tell you the story of how Thomas Nast took down the infamous William “Boss” Tweed with a cartoon. Unlike other stories, this one starts in two places. First with William Tweed. William Marcy Tweed was born

Tammany Hall was one of the most corrupt organizations in New York’s history. It was made up of New York’s elite democrats. Tweed started at the bottom but the longer he stayed with them, the more power he would have. Tammany Hall worked by getting its members seats in office. Many of the men in Tammany Hall would carry multiple jobs at a time, Tweed once held 13 positions in the New York Government. Once in office the men would take a percentage of the city funds, that were meant to go to things like public sanitation and restoring the roads, and split it with the rest of the members of Tammany. The small amount of lost money was unnoticeable, but it all adds up overtime. Like I have said, Tammany Hall stole an estimated $13 million from the New York Government which is an estimated $389 million dollars in today's money. That is 3,890 times the amount an average American makes in one year.

Tammany Hall was taking advantage of New Yorkers, and no one even

He received the nickname William “Boss” Tweed for his role in the organization. At this point, they had been stealing money from the courthouse budget for over twelve years and it was becoming harder and harder to disguise their crimes. All of this was going on at the peak of the Civil War when men were needed and Lincoln created a draft for new soldiers. All men in government positions were excluded and the rich could pay their way out of it with $300. This left only the poor immigrants who could not afford the $300 payment. People were angry and felt like they were forced into fighting. This caused the Drafting Riots of 1863. Tweed began to loan money to immigrants to escape the war. This made the immigrants love and support him but would later contribute to his political