Editing Tammany Hall (section)

===1789–1840===
The Tammany Society was founded in New York on May 12, 1789, originally as a branch of a wider network of [[Tammanies|Tammany Societies]], the first of which had been formed in Philadelphia in 1772.<ref>{{Citation|editor-last=Hodge|editor-first=Frederick Webb|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zEcSAAAAYAAJ|title=Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico: N-Z|date=1910|place = Washington| publisher= [[Smithsonian Institution]] | journal=Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin|volume=30|issue= 2 | pages=683–684}}</ref> The society was originally developed as a club for "pure Americans".<ref name=tamboo /> 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 their meeting hall a [[wigwam]]. The first Grand [[Sachem]], as the leader was titled, was William Mooney, an upholsterer of [[Nassau Street (Manhattan)|Nassau Street]].<ref name="The History of New York State">{{Cite web|url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/his/bk12/ch5/pt1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024000/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/his/bk12/ch5/pt1.html|url-status=dead|title=The History of New York State<!-- Bot generated title -->|archive-date=September 30, 2007}}</ref> Although Mooney claimed the top role in the early organization, it was a wealthy merchant and philanthropist named [[John Pintard]] who created the society's constitution and declared it to be "[a] political institution founded on a strong republican basis whose democratic principles will serve in some measure to correct the aristocracy of our city." Pintard also established the various Native American titles of the society.<ref>Allen pp. 5–6</ref>

The Society had the political backing of the [[George Clinton (vice president)|Clinton]] family in this era, whereas the [[Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton|Schuyler]] family backed the [[Alexander Hamilton|Hamiltonian]] [[Federalists]], and the [[Livingston Manor|Livingstons]] eventually sided with the anti-federalists and the Society.<ref>Allen pp. 7, 10</ref> The Society assisted the federal government in procuring a peace treaty with the [[Creek Indians]] of Georgia and Florida at the request of [[George Washington]] in 1790. It also hosted [[Edmond-Charles Genêt]], representative of the [[French First Republic]] after the [[French Revolution]] toppled the ''[[Ancien Régime]]'' ("old rule"),<ref>Allen pp. 7–10</ref> in 1793. By 1798, the society's activities had grown increasingly political. High-ranking Democratic-Republican [[Aaron Burr]] saw Tammany Hall as an opportunity to counter [[Alexander Hamilton]]'s [[Society of the Cincinnati]].<ref name="tamboo">{{Cite magazine|date=22 August 1955|title=Sachems & Sinners: An Informal History of Tammany Hall|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,807536,00.html|access-date=2023-01-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215051043/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,807536,00.html |archive-date=December 15, 2008| magazine= Time Magazine |url-status=dead}}</ref> Eventually Tammany emerged as the center of [[Democratic-Republican Party]] politics in the city.<ref name="The History of New York State" /> Burr used Tammany Hall as a campaign asset during the [[U.S. presidential election, 1800|election of 1800]], in which he acted as Democratic-Republican campaign manager. Some historians believe that without Tammany, President [[John Adams]] might have won New York State's electoral votes and won reelection.<ref>Parmet and Hecht, pp. 149–50</ref>

Early cases of political corruption involving Tammany Hall came to light during the group's feud with local politician [[Dewitt Clinton]]. The feud began in 1802 after Clinton accused Aaron Burr of being a traitor to the Democratic-Republican Party.<ref name=":1">Myers, p. 17</ref> Clinton's uncle, George Clinton, was jealous of Burr's achievements and positions. However, George was too old to compete with young Aaron Burr, and so he left it to his nephew.<ref name=":1" /> One of Burr's political cohorts and the author of Burr's biography was a businessman, a newspaper editor, and a sachem of the Society named Matthew L. Davis. Other Burr operatives included [[William P. Van Ness]] and John Swartwout, the latter of whom dueled with De Witt Clinton in 1802 in New Jersey.<ref name="Allen pp. 13,14,18">Allen pp. 13–14, 18</ref> In 1803, Clinton left the United States Senate and became Mayor of New York City. As mayor, Clinton enforced a spoils system and appointed his family and partisans to positions in the city's local government. Tammany Hall soon realized its influence over the local political scene was no match for that of Clinton,<ref name="ta21rtv">Myers, p. 21</ref> in part because Burr's support among New York City's residents greatly faded after he shot and killed [[Alexander Hamilton]] in [[Burr–Hamilton duel|a duel]]. Tammany continued to support him for a time, but eventually pressure from the public persuaded the organization to no longer affiliate themselves with Burr.<ref name="ta22rtv">Myers, p. 28</ref>

Matthew Davis would go on to refine the Society as a political machine, beginning in 1805. The Society, with Davis's guidance, received a state charter as a charitable organization, organized the General Committee of Tammany Hall, and used the General Committee to decide leadership within the Democratic-Republican party in New York City from that point forward.<ref name="Allen pp. 13,14,18"/> In December 1805, Dewitt Clinton reached out to Burr's supporters to gain enough support to resist the influence of the powerful Livingston family.<ref name=ta22rtv /> The Livingstons, led by former New York City mayor [[Edward Livingston]], backed New York Governor Morgan Lewis, who presented a significant challenge to Clinton.<ref name=ta23rtv>Myers, p. 23</ref> The Tammany Hall sachems agreed to meet with Clinton in secret, on February 20, 1806,<ref name=ta23rtv /> and agreed to back him, on the condition that the Clintons would once again acknowledge Aaron Burr as a Democratic-Republican and stop using "Burrism" as a reason to object to their ideas.<ref name=":1" /> The Clintons readily agreed to these conditions, but did not intend to honor them. When the Sachems caught wind of this, the feud between Tammany Hall and Clinton resumed.<ref name=ta22rtv />

Tammany Hall became a locally organized machine dedicated to stopping Clinton and Federalists from rising to power in New York.<ref name=ta24rtv>Myers, p. 24</ref> However, local Democratic-Republicans began to turn against Tammany Hall.<ref name="ta25rtv">Myers, p. 26</ref> From 1806 to 1809 public opinion forced the local Common Council to crack down on Tammany Hall. The resulting investigations found that a number of Tammany officials were guilty of embezzlement and illegal activity.<ref name="ta28rtv">Myers, pp. 27–30</ref> For example, one official, Benjamin Romaine was found guilty of using his power to acquire land without payment and was ultimately removed from his office as City Comptroller<ref name="ta23rtv" /> despite the Council being controlled by Democratic-Republicans.<ref name="ta23rtv" />

Following the disclosures, the Federalists won control of the state legislature and the Democratic-Republican Party maintained a slim majority of the local government in New York City.<ref name=ta30rtv>Myers, p. 30</ref> Matthew Davis convinced other sachems to join him in a public relations stunt that provided income for the Society. The shallow graves of some Revolutionary War soldiers who died in British prison ships were located in [[Wallabout Bay]] (near the [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]]). Davis announced that the Society was going to provide proper burials for these soldiers with [[Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument|a monument]] dedicated to their memory on nearby land owned by a fellow sachem.

The remains were, in fact, reburied. The Society led a flotilla, on April 13, 1808, in thirteen boats, to Brooklyn, with each boat carrying a symbolic coffin. A dedication ceremony was held at Wallabout Bay and the state voted to provide the Society $1,000 to build a monument. The Society pocketed the money and the monument was never built.<ref>Allen p. 21</ref> However, Tammany Hall did not learn their lesson,<ref name="ta22rtv" /> and instead of fixing the problem of corruption, Wortman, one of the chief powers at the time, created a committee, consisting of one member from each ward, that would investigate and report in general meetings who were friends or enemies.<ref name="ta25rtv" />

During 1809–1810, the feud between Tammany Hall and the Clintonites intensified, as each party continued attacking each other.<ref name="ta25rtv"/> One of the Clintonites, James Cheetham, wrote extensively about Tammany and its corrupt activities, using his position as State Printer and publishing his work in the ''American Citizen'' newspaper''.''<ref name=":2">Myers, p. 27</ref> Tammany Hall did not take lightly to these activities and managed to remove Cheetham from his position as State Printer.<ref name=":2" /> At the same time, Clinton attempted to cooperate with Tammany Hall in order to create a state dominated by Democratic-Republicans. In an attempt to persuade Tammany sachems, he pulled his support for Cheetham, who was his protégé at the time.<ref name="ta22rtv" /> Cheetham's loss of Clinton's support angered him, and he responded by releasing details of Tammany and Clinton's attempts at cooperating to control the state.<ref name="ta22rtv" /> On September 18, 1810, James Cheetham died after an attack that was possibly Tammany-related.<ref name="ta22rtv" />
   
Between the years 1809 and 1815, Tammany Hall slowly revived itself by accepting immigrants and by secretly building a new wigwam to hold meetings whenever new Sachems were named.<ref name="ta36rtv">Myers, pp. 36–38</ref> The Democratic-Republican Committee, a new committee which consisted of the most influential local Democratic-Republicans, would now name the new Sachems as well.<ref name="ta338rtv">Myers, p. 38</ref> When Dewitt Clinton decided to run for president in 1811, Tammany Hall immediately accused Clinton of treason to his party, as well as attempting to create a family aristocracy. Even though New York State voted for Clinton the following year, Democratic-Republicans could not help but see Clinton's actions as being exactly what Tammany had accused them of. With this, most Democratic-Republicans in New York City turned away from Clinton. When Tammany Hall positioned itself to support the War of 1812 and to support the Embargo Act, many others who supported the war joined Tammany Hall.<ref name="ta39rtv">Myers, p. 39</ref> In fact, during this time, because of its success in establishing political opinion, Tammany Hall was able to grow stronger and even gained support from Federalist members who supported the war.<ref name=":3">Myers, p. 36</ref>

The Native American titles of the Society were disused during and after the War of 1812 in response to attacks from Native Americans on White Americans.<ref>Allen p. 24</ref> During this time we see Tammany Hall's earliest application of its most notable technique—turning support away from opposing parties and rewarding newly joined members.<ref name=":3" /> This was the case for Federalists who joined the Society. Tammany Hall managed to gain power, as well as reduce Clinton and his followers to just a small fraction.<ref>Myers, p. 35</ref> In 1815, Tammany Hall grand sachem [[John Ferguson (New York politician)|John Ferguson]] defeated Dewitt Clinton and was elected mayor. However, in 1817, Clinton, with his success on the [[Erie Canal|Erie Canal project]], gained so much popularity that, despite his weak position after the War and Tammany's immense efforts, he once again became Governor of New York and Tammany Hall fell again.<ref name=":4">Myers, p. 46</ref>

Another factor leading to Clinton's popularity was his patronage of immigrants. The origins of Tammany Hall were based on representing "pure" or "native" Americans. This meant that the Hall dismissed immigrants such as the Irish and Germans, although the Germans were more politically averse. On April 24, 1817, discontent with this treatment led to a huge riot during a Tammany general committee session.<ref name=":4" /> Until his death in 1828, Clinton would remain Governor of New York, with the exception of the two-year period of 1823–1824, and Tammany Hall's influence waned. [[Martin Van Buren]] and his [[Albany Regency]] soon began controlling the policy of Tammany Hall. This included pushing for the state referendum that eventually granted the right to vote in New York State to all free white men in 1821. After voting rights were expanded, Tammany Hall could further increase its political power.<ref>Allen pp. 27–50</ref> Tammany Hall soon began to accept Irish immigrants as members and eventually became dependent on them to maintain viability as a political force.<ref name="Tweedfall" />

During the [[U.S. presidential election, 1828|1828 U.S. presidential election]], Tammany Hall leaders met with Democratic candidate Andrew Jackson and agreed to endorse him after he promised to give them control over the allocation of some federal jobs.<ref name="jacktam">{{cite web|url=http://www.mahalo.com/new-york-election-results/|title=New York Election Results|work=Mahalo.com}}</ref> After he was elected president, Jackson fulfilled his promise.<ref name="jacktam" /> After 1829, Tammany Hall became the city affiliate of the Democratic Party, controlling most of the New York City elections afterwards.<ref name="uoqbvoaofy" /> In the 1830s the [[Loco-Focos]], an anti-monopoly and pro-labor faction of the Democratic Party, became Tammany's main rival for votes by appealing to workingmen. However, Tammany's political opponent remained the Whigs. During the 1834 New York City mayoral governor election, the first city election in which the popular vote elected the mayor, both Tammany Hall and the Whig party, from their headquarters at the Masonic Hall, battled in the streets for votes and protected polling locations in their respective regions from known opposition voters.<ref>Allen pp. 42–43</ref> During the 1838 state election for governor, the rival Whig party imported voters from Philadelphia, paying $22 a head for votes in addition to paying for votes at their polling places. Tammany Hall operatives continued their practice of paying prisoners of the almshouses for votes and also paying for votes at their polling places.<ref>Allen pp. 36,48</ref>

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 to 1938. The 1686 [[Dongan Charter]] divided the city into six wards and created a Common Council which consisted of an alderman and an assistant alderman elected from each ward. In 1821, the Common Council's authority was expanded so it would also elect the city's mayor, who had previously been appointed by the state government. In 1834, the state constitution was amended to require the city's mayor to be elected by direct popular vote. Also in 1834, [[Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence]], a pro-Tammany Democrat, would become the first mayor ever elected by popular vote in the city's history.<ref>{{Cite web|date= 1 September 2003|title=A Brief History of Election Law in New York|url=https://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/state/1944-a-brief-history-of-election-law-in-new-york|access-date=2023-01-21|website=Gotham Gazette|language=en-gb}}</ref>