Tammany Hall

About Tammany Hall

Tammany Hall was the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in controlling New York City politics and helping immigrants (most notably the Irish) rise up in American politics from the 1790s to the 1960s. It usually controlled Democratic Party nominations and patronage in Manhattan from the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854 up to (but not including) the election of Fiorello La Guardia in 1934, whereupon it weakened and collapsed.

The Tammany Society was founded on May 12, 1789. The name "Tammany" comes from Tamanend, a Native American leader of the Lenape. The society adopted many Native American words and also their customs, going so far as to call its hall a wigwam. The first Grand Sachem, as the leader was titled, was William Mooney, an upholsterer of Nassau Street. By 1798 the Society's activities had grown increasingly politicized and eventually Tammany, led by Aaron Burr, who was never actually a member, emerged as the center for Democratic-Republican Party politics in the city. Burr built the Tammany society into a political machine for the election of 1800, in which he was elected Vice President. Without Tammany, historians believe, President John Adams might have won New York state's electoral votes and won reelection. In 1830[citation needed], the Society's headquarters were established on East 14th Street in a building called Tammany Hall, and thereafter the name of the building and the group were synonymous.

After 1839, Tammany became the city affiliate of the Democratic Party, emerging as the controlling interest in New York City elections after Andrew Jackson's. In the 1830s the Loco-Focos comprised a democratic, anti-monopoly faction that appealed to workingmen. Throughout the 1830s and 1840s the Society expanded its political control even further by earning the loyalty of the city's ever-expanding immigrant community, which functioned as a base of political capital. The Tammany Hall "ward boss" served as the local vote gatherer and provider of patronage. New York City used the designation "ward" for its smallest political units from 1686–1938.