WILLIAM MARCY TWEED Essay, Research Paper

William Marcy Tweed was born in New York City, NewYork, on

April 3rd 1823. He was

raised by his mother and father. He received some elementary schooling

before becoming an

apprentice chair maker. Although he didn’t make lots of money he used his

job to gain experience.

Tweed than attended schools in New York City and in Elizabeth,

New Jersey. Tweed soon

after became a book keeper, and after that helped his father in his fathers

brush factory. Tweed

wasn’t satisfied with his job so he became a volunteer fireman at a local fire

station, in New York

City. He wasn’t satisfied with just being a volunteer so he decided to open

his own fire station. He

organized a volunteer station, in New York City and became a very

popular individual for doing so.

Tweed took advantage of his popularity gained from his venture and

ran for New York City

Alderman. He was elected in 1852, and served for four years. During this

time, he was elected to

the Federal House of Representatives. But after one term, 1853-1855,

returned to full time

participation in municipal politics. He was defeated in the next election for

alderman in 1856 but

managed to be elected to a new board of supervisors. His job was to

check up on corruption at the

elections.

Under Tweeds management, the new board soon became a

corruptive body. Tweed managed

to get his friends appointed into important city offices like county clerk,

district attorney, and

recorder. By 1859 Tweed was the most powerful figure in Tammany Hall

and practically dictated

the Democratic nominations.

In 1860 he dominated the Democratic State Convention and by

skillful political maneuvering,

and by liberal bribes, all but controlled the state by 1868. Tweed ran the

Democratic Party and

captured elections from the opposition by force, bribery and illicit votes. He

gather his funds for

bribery and his huge personal fortune by raiding the municipal treasury

systematically.

He organized a law office, though he knew little law, and received

huge “retainers” from such

favor seeking clients as Jay Gould’s Erie Railroad.

He established a printing company and assigned all city printing to that

organization. Tweed set

up a marble company, began the construction of a new county courthouse,

and then sold his own

marble to the city at fraudulent prices. He also set lower taxes and sold city

bonds at ridiculously

low rates.

Tweed was a member of the New York State Senate from 1867 to

1871 and in 1868 was

elected Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall. In the meantime certain civic

groups and individuals, in

particular Samuel J. Tilden, chairman of the Democratic State Committee,

and George Jones,

owner of the New York Times, were attacking Tweed, and when the New

York Times obtained

and published factual information concerning his thefts of public money,

Tweed was arrested for

fraud on Dec. 16, 1871.

The jury disagreed at his first trial about at his second he was

convicted and sentenced in November 1873 to serve 12 years on

Blackwell’s Island, New York. He was released in January 1875, little

more than a year later, but was immediately rearrested to face an action

brought by the State of New York for recovery of the more than six million

dollars Tweed had taken from the city.

He was confined to the Ludlow Street Jail but escaped in December

1875 and fled to Cuba and then to Spain. He was arrested in Spain and

returned to the US in November 1876 and again confined to Ludlow Street

Jail, where he died, April 12, 1878.

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