Political Machines played a large part in the history of the United States during the Gilded Age. A political machine is an organized group that controls the activities of political parties in a city. These machines would offer support and rewards in exchange for political support. Some political machines gained control of the local government, like in Baltimore, New York, San Francisco, and other major cities. Some of the machines were very successful, such as Tammany Hall, but there were a number of unsuccessful political machines too. In the Gilded Age, the success and failures of political machines greatly affected the politics of American society. One of the most famous political machines in history is Tammany Hall. Tammany Hall was New …show more content…
This led to the downfall of Boss Tweed as his extortion and fraud came forward and he was sentenced 12 years in jail. There were other successful political machines but none were able to reach the heights Tammany Hall had before its inevitable downfall. Political Machines were successful for a few reasons, but the biggest reason is that they gave the people what they wanted. People were more willing to vote for the mayoral candidate that would promise them things that they wanted, and this prompted the bosses to take advantage of that fact. The bosses would buy votes in a way that basically creates social services. They did this by giving poor immigrants housing, jobs, and food in exchange for their vote. In doing this, they were able to control local governments and influence elections into their favor. (157-158) Although this was good for growing cities, the political machines were very corrupt and would prioritize their own agenda over what the city actually needed. This would lead to them conning the city, saying things would cost way more than they actually did and pocketing the rest of the