Tammany Hall and mass naturalization

Started by prime, Apr 16, 2024, 03:07 PM

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prime

QuoteSome immigrants voted or held office before they were naturalized. They took part in mass naturalization "ceremonies" arranged before election days by political organizations such as New York City's Tammany Hall. Some immigrants were even declared citizens by branches of the government that did not hold the power of naturalization.

https://zeteojournal.com/2017/04/24/anti-immigration-politics-pre-trump-sosolik/

QuoteThere was also much fraud in naturalization, most notoriously in New York City, where the Democratic political organization, Tammany Hall, would routinely arrange mass naturalization "ceremonies," if they can be called that, before tame local judges, often in close proximity to election day.

https://www.amerika.org/politics/american-nativism/

QuoteThousands of recent immigrants in New York were naturalized as American citizens and adult men had the right to vote. Because New York City, like other major urban areas, often lacked basic services, the Tweed Ring provided these for the price of a vote, or several votes. Tweed made sure the immigrants had jobs, found a place to live, had enough food, received medical care, and even had enough coal money to warm their apartments during the cold of winter. In addition, he contributed millions of dollars to the institutions that benefited and cared for the immigrants, such as their neighborhood churches and synagogues, Catholic schools, hospitals, orphanages, and charities.

https://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/william-boss-tweed-and-political-machines

QuoteBy the 1930s, Tammany had woven its way into every level of city politics—and it was controlled by the New York Mob. Graft and cronyism ruled many facets of city government, including the judicial system and police department. Elected officials handed out appointments to their friends, providing them with access to bribes and power, and most institutions prioritized helping Democrats who had shown their loyalty to Tammany instead of serving all constituents equally.

https://www.history.com/news/tammany-hall-corruption-downfall-fdr-seabury-investigation

QuoteThe greatest of all Native American Chiefs in the Lenni-Lenape (Delaware Valley) area was named Tammany. His life, discoveries, battles and deeds were legendary.  Circa 1698, Chief Tammany met William Penn and offered him a large piece of land for farming, which today is (generally speaking) geographically formed by the State of Pennsylvania. Around the time of the American Revolution the Sons of Liberty (the Revolutionaries), in a continuing effort to disassociate themselves from the British Monarchy and the Church of England, sought to create a Saint that was 100% American. Native-born Chief Tammany was thought to be a candidate to fill such a unique role.

Even with Tammany's potential future windfall in accepting the Irish immigrants into their ranks, their numbers would not truly matter (as voters) until 1821 as it was not until the NYS Constitutional Convention of 1821, that "manhood suffrage" (the inability of those who were not landowners to vote) was passed, as a result of Tammany's influence. Hence, every man's vote (white man that was) could now be counted. The later acceptance of the Irish immigrants, and the imminent change in laws, cemented Tammany's cornerstone in the framework of politics and made it the dominant force in politics at all levels.

Tammany would not recognize the wishes of the Irish immigrant population in New York City until it recognized that the numbers of Irish in the city, which grew exponentially as a result of the Great Irish (Potato) Famine (1845-49), meant more potential votes, and, therefore, greater political strength for Tammany. The Irish immigrants, unlike the Germans that preceded them, already spoke the English language and were similarly adverse to the rule of England.  The Irish immigrants, however, unlike their German predecessors, were unskilled in the "trades." The Irish were skilled at politics, which they were repressed to express in Ireland.

https://nypdhistory.com/whats-the-deal-with-tammany-halls-corruption-of-the-new-york-city-police-department-chapter-1/