Read complete books and articles on: William Tweed

Tweed, William Marcy - 1823–78, American politician and Tammany leader, b. New York City. A bookkeeper, he became (1848) a volunteer fireman and as a result acquired influence in his ward. He was an alderman (1852–53) and sat (1853–55) in Congress. By 1857 he was a power in Tammany. As chairman of the Tammany general committee and later as grand sachem, "Boss" Tweed gained absolute power in the city Democratic party, controlling party nominations and party patronage. He also became a state senator in 1868 and extended his influence into state politics. He engaged in various business deals, and through political services to Jay Gould and James Fisk he became a director of the Erie RR. But it was chiefly from the rich plums plucked through the control of New York City expenditures that Tweed made his great fortune. For a time the Tweed Ring, consisting of Tweed and his henchmen—Peter Sweeny, city chamberlain; Richard B. Connolly, city comptroller; and A. Oakey Hall, mayor—controlled the city without interference. They defrauded the city to the extent of at least $30 million through padded and fictitious charges and also profited extravagantly from tax favors. Votes were openly bought and other nefarious vote-getting methods were employed. City judges became notoriously corrupt. Attempts within Tammany to oust the Tweed Ring failed, and in 1870 Tweed forced through the state legislature a charter that greatly increased the powers of the ring. Tweed maintained personal popularity because of his openhandedness and charity to the poor. The immediate cause of Tweed's downfall was the publication in the New York Times of evidence of wholesale graft revealed by M. J. O'Rourke, a new county bookkeeper. The effective cartoons of Thomas Nast aroused public indignation. A committee of 70, organized to fight Tammany, elected most of its candidates in 1871, although Tweed himself was returned to the state senate. Largely through the efforts of Samuel J. Tilden, Tweed was tried for felony, but the jury could not reach a verdict. In a second trial he was convicted and given a 12-year prison sentence; this, however, was reduced by a higher court, and he served one year. Arrested once more on other charges, he escaped and went to Cuba and then to Spain, but was extradited (1876) to the United States. He died in prison two years later.

See D. T. Lynch, "Boss" Tweed (1927, repr. 1974); W. A. Bales, Tiger in the Streets (1962); S. J. Mandelbaum, Boss Tweed's New York (1965); A. B. Callow, The Tweed Ring (1966).

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6 of the Best Books and Articles on: William Tweed

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Boss Tweed: The Story of a Grim Generation » Read Now
by Denis Tilden Lynch. 426 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
2.

City Bosses in the United States: A Study of Twenty Municipal Bosses ("'Honorable' William M. Tweed" begins on p. 96) » Read Now
by Harold B. Zink. 371 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
3.

The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War (Chap. 6 "The Rise and Decline of Tweed's Tammany Hall") » Read Now
by Iver Bernstein. 363 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

For five days in July 1863, at the height of the Civil War, New York City was under siege. Angry rioters burned draft offices, closed factories, destroyed railroad tracks and telegraph lines, and hunted policemen and soldiers. Before long, the rioters turned their murderous wrath against the black...
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For five days in July 1863, at the height of the Civil War, New York City was under siege. Angry rioters burned draft offices, closed factories, destroyed railroad tracks and telegraph lines, and hunted policemen and soldiers. Before long, the rioters turned their murderous wrath against the black community. In the end, at least 105 people were killed, making the draft riots the most violent insurrection in American history. In this vividly written book, Iver Bernstein tells the compelling story of the New York City draft riots. He details how what began as a demonstration against the first federal draft soon expanded into a sweeping assault against the local institutions and personnel of Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party as well as a grotesque race riot. Bernstein identifies participants, dynamics, causes and consequences, and demonstrates that the "winners" and "losers" of the July 1863 crisis were anything but clear, even after five regiments rushed north from Gettysburg restored order. In a tour de force of historical detection, Bernstein shows that to evaluate the significance of the riots we must enter the minds and experiences of a cast of characters--Irish and German immigrant workers, Wall Street businessmen who frantically debated whether to declare martial law, nervous politicians in Washington and at City Hall. Along the way, he offers new perspectives on a wide range of topics: Civil War society and politics, patterns of race, ethnic and class relations, the rise of organized labor, styles of leadership, philanthropy and reform, strains of individualism, and the rise of machine politics in Boss Tweed's Tammany regime. An in-depth study of one of the most troubling and least understood crises in American history, The New York City Draft Riots is the first book to reveal the broader political and historical context--the complex of social, cultural and political relations--that made the bloody events of July 1863 possible.
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4.

The Boss and the Machine: A Chronicle of the Politicians and Party Organization (Chap. V "Tammany Hall") » Read Now
by Samuel P. Orth. 206 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
5.

Mightier Than the Sword: How the News Media Have Shaped American History (Chap. 4 "Attacking Municipal Corruption: The Tweed Ring") » Read Now
by Rodger Streitmatter. 294 pgs.

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In this pathbreaking book, Rodger Streitmatter takes the reader on a sightseeing tour of American history as influenced by the public press, visiting fourteen landmark events in U.S. history, from the abolitionist movement & the struggle for women's rights to the civil rights movement & Watergate.
6.

The Tiger: The Rise and Fall of Tammany Hall (Chap. 4 "The Ring") » Read Now
by Oliver E. Allen. 317 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library