Corruption in the Gilded Age

Corruption in the Gilded Age

A)Gould-Fisk gold schemeGould & Fisk, two government-friendly financiers, attempted to use government influence to corner the gold market. Convincing Grant to hold U.S. gold from the market, they then proceeded to buy all the gold available.

Corruption in the Gilded AgeB) Credit Mobilier scandal

Consider this scenario:You have an antique gold watch that you inherited from your grandfather. You bring it to an antique store to have it appraised. The store owner studies the watch and estimates its worth at $500. He offers to buy it from you, insisting that this is great price. Do you sell the watch to him?

Corruption in the Gilded AgeB) Credit Mobilier scandal-Union Pacific Railroad executives created this Credit Mobilier company (an apparent financial company hired to oversee the funding of railroad construction and the payment of contracts to Union Pacific for construction of the transcontinental railroad)-They concealed the fact that this “separate” company was managed by the same people who ran Union Pacific-therefore, the separate company authorized payment of inflated salaries to Union Pacific exes-to prevent Congress from talking, the executives sold them lucrative stock in the railroad-$72 million had been given to Union Pacific for a railroad that cost $53 million to build-

Corruption in the Gilded AgeC) Whiskey Ring: Treasury Department officials and whiskey

distillers defrauded the federal government of liquor-tax revenues.

-The Treasury Department permitted distillers to give Treasury Department officials monetary kickbacks under the table in lieu of paying a whiskey tax.

-These kickbacks went unrecorded. The money filled the personal pockets of Treasury officials and the coffers of the Republican Party.

-Millions of dollars in whiskey taxes went unpaid.

-Some distillers participated readily in giving illegal kickbacks in lieu of the tax, while those who hesitated were charged with technical violations of the law until they agreed to cooperate.

Corruption in the Gilded AgeD) Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall-Tweed served on NYC’s board of supervisors, awarding government contracts to individuals and companies in exchange for political support.-From the total cost of various building projects, a portion of the $ went into Tweed’s pockets, the pockets of his supporters; very little $ of the cost was actually spent on labor and supplies-He also rigged elections to ensure his reelection-Overall, Tweed is believed to have stealing $25-45 million from NYC taxpayers

Corruption in the Gilded AgeCorruption– Tweed-style:The construction cost of the New York County Courthouse, begun in 1861, grew to nearly $13 million (about $178 million in today's dollars.)“A carpenter was paid $360,751 (roughly $4.9 million today) for one month's labor in a building with very little woodwork ... a plasterer got $133,187 ($1.82 million) for two days' work".

Tweed and his cohorts are positioned appropriately in a ring (circle), with each member denying blame by pointing an incriminating finger at the next man. The four leaders, according to Nast, are in front (left-right): Tweed, Sweeny, Connolly, and Hall. Tweed is pointing at Ingersoll, whose hatband reads “Chairs,” in reference to his chair-making trade. The unanimous refusal to take personal responsibility is emphasized by the nondescript figure behind Hall who is labeled “Tom, Dick & Harry." Nast's inspiration for this cartoon may have come from a headline on the July 28 editorial page of Greeley’s Tribune, which read: “Widening The Circle--Fixing The Responsibility.” Nast’s famous "Who Stole the People's Money?" became a classic visual metaphor for public figures "passing the buck."

Questions to consider

1) Why was there so much organized corruption during the post-Civil War era?

2) How did the people and the government attempt to eliminate this corruption and “clean house”?