Transcript Hayes-Tilden Compromise (Seriously?)

A ppt actually created by your teacher
Background … who was Tilden?
 Samuel Tilden was a NY Attorney,
http://www.nndb.com/
leader of the NY Democratic Party
and General Assembly in the 1860s
and 1870s.
 Challenged “Boss” Tweed and the
Tammany Hall political machine in
the city.
NNDB web site – database that tracks
important figures and their
connections to others in
society/history.
Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed
•William M. “Boss” Tweed was elected
Chairman of Tammany Hall Political Machine
in New York in 1863.
•Basically controlled all Democratic nominees
for all city positions.
•Used “kickbacks” and provided positions in
local government to make sure corruption was
never an issue.
•This included members of his payroll on local
police forces, judges, magistrates and
politicians.
•Used power to award city contracts to those
who helped make sure the “right people” were
elected.
http://www.nndb.com/
Tilden receives an “assist”
Thomas Nast was a cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly
who took it upon himself to caricature Tweed as
politically corrupt.
Examples:
http://cartoons.osu.edu/nast/images/tammany_tiger100.jpg
Who are the women in the den? What do they
represent?
http://www.nevadaobserver.com/TNO%20Reference%20Page%20Fil
e/Thomas%20Nast%20Cartoons/The%20Rich%20Growing%20Riche
r.jpg
Does the nature of this cartoon transcend NYC? How
so?
http://www.csub.edu/~gsantos/img0055.html
Why are vultures such a strong symbol?
(While we’re on Nast …)
 Nast also took on the social injustices of the time
period:
 Jim Crow/Black Codes
 Chinese Immigration Laws
 Native American displacement (w/ cameos)
 The Klan and other Racist movements in the South
So, back to Tilden and Tweed
 Two parts to bringing Tweed down:
 1. Public perception of Tweed dwindles w/ Nast’s
cartoons.
 2. As part of the NY Assembly, Nast begins to impeach
judges on Tweed’s payroll.
Estimates show that Tweed cheated the NYC government out
of as much as $200 million in 10 years.
The aftermath
 The first trial led to a hung jury (shock, right?) but a
second jury found Tweed guilty and sentenced to him
to 12 years. He served one. He was later arrested again
and fled to Cuba and then Spain. He was extradited to
the US and died in prison after two years.
 Tilden becomes NY Governor and later exposes the
Canal Ring – a group extorting money for canal repairs
in New York state.
 Chosen by the Democrats to run for president against
Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876.
How does a compromise lead to
the presidency?
 GILDED AGE … term penned by Mark Twain in a
famous book of the time (follow link to Google Books
version). GILDED – Gold plated but not golden on the
inside.
 During this period, corruption was the norm more
than exception (see Hall, Tammany)
 President Grant allowed Jim Fisk and Jay Gould to
single-handedly drive the price of gold so high the
market burst on September 24, 1869 – will lead to
inflation and the long term cause of the economic
panic of 1873.
Railroad Speculation!
 As the rail lines moved west, more and more shady
deals drove up the price of land around those lines.
 As speculators drove up the prices, the actual land
depreciated in value.
 Jay Cooke controlled bond investments from
Philadelphia bank for new rail lines and also Union
war bonds.
 Inflationary rates, coupled w/ depreciated land value
led to many people defaulting on loan/bond
repayments. The impending recession would last until
1878.
What’s the common theme?
NO ONE IS TAKING RESPONSIBILITY!
Government intervention is non-existent.
It follows a pattern of Laissez-faire government
If economic and political decisions that affect the whole
country are being made behind closed doors, why not
the presidency, too?
What was the Hayes-Tilden
Compromise?
 What was at stake?
 Who made the decision?
 What was the short-term decision?
 What was the long-term effects?
 Read AmPag 511-527 for next class. We will begin a
major class project at that point. It will encompass all
of Chapter 23 as well as Chapter 24. Also note the class
links in the history file at the program website.