A man who could manipulate because of his power...

In the book Mightier Than The Sword, by Roger Streitmatter I came across a chapter that went into the history of William Marcy Tweed who is also known as "Boss" Tweed. I really did not know much about Tweed until reading the chapter. According to the book he is responsible for scams that he and his associates comprised together which resulted in him earning 200 million dollars from tax payers. He was a robber, but not a robber who took money from you right where you stood. Tweed robbed people by using the strong connections that he possessed within the government. Tweed became apart of the infamous Tammany Hall which was a political organization. Tammany hall back then can be related to political organizations that exist today which try to push for what the organization would like to see.  Tammany hall was a democratic force that was able to influence other politicians. The reason why Tweed became so powerful was because he held so many positions in politics. His highest position was being a member of the New York State Senate. It seems as though back during the 1800s, the ones with money and close relationships with political figures seemed to have the biggest say. It seems now in the year 2012 nothing has changed and the people with money and close political ties still seem to have the biggest vote. William Marcy Tweed was able to prove that his money got him what he wanted.

                                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLDI7Gb2FrY



Just a clip from the movie Gangs of New York. The movie is about gangs in the 1800s in New York City that had pull in the political world because of their power. In this scene we see William Marcy Tweed negotiating with one of the heads of a gang. We can get an idea that Tweed would sit down with politicians and people with power to discuss business.

Tammany Hall...

Tammany Hall can be described as the home of Tweed’s operations. Tammany hall once was an organization that rebelled against New York's interests in money however it turned into the home base for "Boss" Tweed. Tammany Hall used a democratic theme and many high officials were apart of the organization. At the time of when Tweed was apart of the organization, he did business with the former Mayor of New York A. Oakey, Richard B. Connolly the City Controller and Peter B. Sweeny who was the director of the Cities Parks. These three men and Tweed can be all put into Tweed’s ring of corruption. The reason why Tweed got everything his way was because of the enormous pull that these men had. They had the money, which gave them the power.

                                                           Image: 'United State of Art' 

                                                              http://www.flickr.com/photos/55943778@N00/3658781959

So how did this man’s power come to an end? How could the untouchable be harmed? Thomas Nast was able to expose the corruption to New York. Thomas Nast was a cartoonist who focused his efforts towards exposing the political corruption to the public. He did this by directly placing Tweed and his associates in cartoons that showed these men taking money. Eventually Nast was able to expose enough images that the public viewed his pictures and believed in what he was saying. I think that it was great that Nast used no words in order to get his point across. All he needed was to draw a sketch and it can describe corruption in the simplest terms. One of Nast’s drawings showed a picture of “Boss” tweed with a head that was a moneybag instead of his actual head. This showed how he was full of money.

         

 It is important to learn from what Nast did. He utilized his freedom of the press and published drawings that helped take out corruption. He did what he could as a citizen. He raised awareness by doing what he could. We can learn from this as a society. As citizens, we have the role of providing information from what we witness in our daily lives. All we have to do is take a picture with our camera phone and we have true information from a valuable source. We learn from Thomas Nast that if you want to end political corruption, you must turn the public against the corrupted by exposing corruption. Nast exposed corruption through his images. We could do the same thing if we feel that something is being taken from us.