Tammany Hall

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Robert Weeks DeForest to Jane Addams, November 25, 1903

Emotion and the Thinking Cap, October 1912

Frances Alice Kellor to Jane Addams, January 24, 1913

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Founding Date

1786

Ending Date

1964

Description

Tammany Society was originally a club for "pure Americans", their name and other customs being derived from Native American culture. By 1798, Tammany Society had found a more permanent place to meet, and dubbed the name of their space, and spaces to come, Tammany Hall. From a fraternal society, the club became increasingly political in the Democratic sphere. Tammany Hall influenced local, state, and national elections, including the reelection of John Adams.

On the outside, Tammany Hall was concerned with the poorer members of its club. The Society gained the trust of the growing immigrant population by helping newly arrived foreigners find work, living space, and sometimes even citizenship. In reality, the gratitude for these gifts was translated into votes for whichever politician was being endorsed by Tammany Hall. These votes and the millions of dollars being poured into Tammany Hall in return for endorsement made Tammany Hall one of the biggest political bosses in the United States.

Probably the most infamous head of Tammany Hall was William M. "Boss" Tweed. Tweed led a campaign of corruption -- an estimated 75 to 200 million dollars were stolen out of the City between 1865 and 1871, the height of Tweed's power.

The machine suffered multiple setbacks, including the onset of the Great Depression and the 1932 election of Franklin D. Roosevelt for president. The Society resurfaced in the early 50s, but again lost power when its then head, Carmine De Sapio, was taken out of power by the newly formed New York Committee for Democratic Voters. The machine dissolved by the mid 1960s.