Boss Tweed Fights

He a brawler and school dropout. He became foreman of the Big Six Fire Engine Company (not was first elected to the Board of Aldermen, and then to Congress. He rose through the political ranks and over time gained control of Tammany Hall's political machine and was able to control all of the Democratic New York state and city nominations from 1860 to 1870. Although Tweed and his crooked compadres, the infamous "Tweed Ring" , were corrupt and plundered public funds, some of the projects, such as improved water supplies and sewage disposal, benefited New Yorkers. William Tweed's graft, brought to the public's attention by the cartoonist Thomas Nast, eventually caused his downfall and he died in jail in 1878.

This tragic fire demonstrated how the fire inspections and precautions were noticeably lacking safety for these workers even though “a little more than five months before the tragedy Firemen Edward F. O’Conner made a routine inspection and said the Asch Building was ‘good’ and the building was ‘fireproof’”(28). The fire finally died down with over one hundred dead bodies piled along the streets. Sunday morning “thousands of people began to form into a slowly moving parade around the city blocks”(89). The people were walking in honor of these workers and would go around trying to identify the bodies and confiscate any items the bodies my have possessed for reminiscences. On the other hand, the departments felt immediate quilt for not stepping in to fix the Asch building before, because the departments knew of the horrible safety and health precautions the Asch building had but nobody emphasized the problems. “But who was to blame?” (113). Chief Croker was quick to blame

Their corruption often lead to their downfall, such as William Tweed, who died in 1878, penniless and imprisoned. On of the main power gaining tools for the bosses was the ability to give employment to people. The people would sign onto these payrolls even when padded, since any employment was better than no employment. Another platform was the sale and regulation of liquor.

Life in the early 1900’s wasn’t easy. Competition for jobs was at an all time high, especially in New York City. Immigrants were flooding in and needed to find work fast, even if that meant in the hot, overcrowded conditions of garment factories. Conditions were horrid and disaster was inevitable, and disaster did strike in March, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York set on fire, killing 146 workers. This is an important event in US history because it helped accomplish the tasks unions and strikes had tried to accomplish years earlier, It improved working conditions in factories nationwide and set new safety laws and regulations so that nothing as catastrophic would happen again. The workplace struggles became public after

     The fire spread from the O’Learys’ barn to the yards nearby. Soon it was spreading throughout the neighborhood. William Lee, a neighbor a block away, saw the fire and ran to Bruno Goll’s drugstore to turn in the fire alarm. Bruno Goll refused to turn in the alarm because he said the fire truck had already gone past. So instead of arguing, Lee went home to his family. At the courthouse the lookout on duty saw smoke, but thought nothing of it, thinking it was just Saturday's fire and there was no reason to be alarmed. Then he looked up and noticed it was a different fire and had his assistant strike the Box 342 for the fire department. Soon fire trucks were at the scene and attempted to put out the fire. The fire department’s Chief Marshal, Robert A. Williams got the engines to circle the fire to contain it. They got as close to the fire as they could until their arm hair was being burned and their

The Tweed Ring Scandal in New York City occurred in the 1850s and was an elaborate scheme that brought the U.S economy to the brink of collapse. It all started with mastermind William "Boss" Tweed. Tweed came from humble beginnings, he started to gain political power as a New York City firefighter. In 1853, he was elected to serve on the U.S. House of Representatives. His main concern while in office were state and local affairs, his main focus being New York City. As a senator, Tweed craved power and did whatever he could to get it. He assembled a group of democrat elites together to carry out his plan for power and riches. His plan was to use monetary bribes and political positions to win personal support and assemble his own little

In the history of the United States there were a vast amount of political leaders and big businesses that contributed to the success of cities in our country.Greed and the need for power can consume someone and make them feel like they are unstoppable,but little do people know the judgement day is right around the corner.William "Boss" Tweed is a prime example of what the need for power and greed will do to a person.William Tweed played a huge role in the success of New York City through smart politics,corruption,which ultimately led to his conviction. William Tweed was a member of the United States House of Representatives in New York.Tweed,born on April 3,1823,a man of big stature,stood six feet tall,weighing in at 300 pounds with a cheerful personality.Tweed got the nickname Boss because he was the the leader of Tammany Hall.

Those industries kept the city’s finances stable and employed thousands of people. The fire destroyed the city’s business district, but it left the stockyards and packing plants untouched. The “Hog Butcher of the World” processed more meat than anywhere else on Earth. The railroads were also undamaged. That allowed shipments of aid to come in from around the world. Book donations from England were part of Chicago’s first free library. In 1956, there was a Fire Academy built on the site where Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary’s barn once stood. The Academy trains new firefighters to this day (Schons).

The 146 deaths caused by the Triangle fire were not looked over. This fire is said to be one that changed America because that is exactly what it did. The work done the following year created a series of new laws in the 1913 legislation that was “unmatched to that time in American history.” (Von Drehle 215) The Tammany Twins, Robert Wagner in Senate and Al Smith in the Assembly, completely recast the labor law of the nation’s largest state by pushing through twenty-five bills. Laws such as mandatory fire drills in large shops, unlocked doors that swing outwards, and automatic sprinklers in high rise buildings, were enforced by the Factory Commissions push through of a “complete reorganization of the state Department of Labor.” (Von Drehle 215)

However, after the deadly fire, which was not related to the strike, things changed. Without anywhere else to lay the blame, the D.A. and newspapers at the time began placing blame on the factory owners, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris. Drehle points out that the D.A. of the time Charles Whitman, “was no longer focused on improving factory safety laws. His priority was to indict Isaac Harris and Max Blanck on charges of manslaughter (pg. 188).” They were tried and acquitted, but their trial showed that management was becoming less powerful than it had been. In the past management mistreated workers with impunity, but the public outcry after the Triangle fire changed that. The incident showed that now owners could be held accountable for any harm that might come to their workers as a result of their negligence. Tammany Hall, and Murphy himself, faced their own difficulties brought about by the fire. Having just lost the election for mayor of New York City, Murphy realized his power, and that of Tammany Hall, was waning. William Randolph Hearst was very outspoken against Tammany Hall, workers feared its power less and less, and the new wave of immigrants coming into the US had no respect for its influence. Murphy realized that he had to win over the workers and progressives if he wanted to keep power. “The Triangle fire struck directly at those people who Tammany needed most (pg. 211).” Realizing that he needed the growing influence of

The city of New York has not always had as positive of a city government as the city's history may suggest, however. It has had a mixed political system since its beginning, with its democratic principles in question as corruption has taken hold of the city from time to time. Boss Tweed, a notorious mayor from the 1860s, was so corrupt he was openly the mastermind of the city for thirty years. His huge profit margins as a result of his control over the streetcar transportation system in that time prevented the New York subway from being built until 1910. The Italian immigrants who came from Sicily maintained traditional family ties, which soon became the American Mafia, which controlled crime in the city from the 1920s until the

At this point, Tweed won every battle that came his way. In 1866, as it would later be discovered, he, Hall, Richard Connolly, and Peter Barr Sweeney started the “Tweed Ring”, which ultimately damned him. Over the next five years, the foursome would make between $40 and $100 million dollars off the city they claimed to love and protect (bosstweedproject). The Tweed Ring seized control of the city treasure in 1870, funneling funds into their own private bank account so exceedingly that action had to be taken.

At 2215 hrs, on November 28, 1942, Fire Alarm Headquarters from Box 1514, situated at Stuart and Carver streets, received an alarm. When the responding apparatus arrived they found a small car fire at the corner of Stuart Street and Broadway. After the fire was extinguished the firefighters were about to return to quarters when their attention was called to smoke emanating from the Cocoanut Grove Nightclub a few doors away. Upon their arrival at the entrance of the Broadway lounge on Broadway they encountered numerous people leaving the premises admidst the cries of “fire”. The chief in charge immediately ordered that a third alarm be sounded from Alarm Box 1521 which the alarm was received by fire alarm headquarters at 2223 hrs. A

Workers had simple demands, such as a 52-hour workweek, a 20% pay raise, and the right to organize (von Drehle, 59). The strikers dealt with many problems, such as fierce strikebreakers, and when brought to the attention of the police, strikers tended to be the ones arrested (von Drehle, 64). This strike brought the support of many wealthy people including Anne Morgan (Von Drehle, 71), Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont (Von Drehle, 66), just to name a few, who helped bring attention to the strikers cause. This helped in bringing attention, but was not enough to keep the strike going and formally ended in winter 1909. The strike did not lead to very many gains, and it would take the death of 146 workers (Von Drehle, 265) for any actual change to be brought about. The biggest benefit to labor that came out of the fire was the Factory Investigating Commission, which was born officially in June 1911 (Von Drehle, 212). The commission had virtual self-governance, and had investigators that would personally check the conditions of New York factories (Von Drehle, 213). The commission had a small set of cities it investigated, but was later expanded throughout the state of New York (Von Drehle, 214). The commission was the product of Wagner and Smith, the so-called “Tammany Twins”, and also brought in Frances Perkins, who would later become the Secretary of Labor

I agree with you, Malcom needs to focus more on his assignments than the corner office. If he is dewelling on the fact of the success of his family members, maybe he needs to work for them and not waste time in a position he really doesn't want. Malcolm needs to understand, promoting to the top within a company can take some time. If he focuses more on company goals and his employees, then his own personal gain, he could possibly recieve a promotion. Malcolm should understand, promotion takes time to receive, a company want to ensure the job can be handle