...under the falsified image. Over time, individuals began noticing and criticizing the political and social corruption existing in America. Theodore Roosevelt gave a name to the journalists and writers who exposed the underlying corruption in the early 20th century. The term ‘Muckrakers’ was first used in 1906 and became a title these journalists were proud of. Lincoln Steffens was a journalist, lecturer, philosopher, and an overall leading figure among the muckrakers. Lincoln Steffens spent nine years working for a New York City newspaper. In that time, Steffens discovered quite a lot of evidence of the corruption of politicians and business owners. He exposed them for what they were, upper class citizens desiring special privileges in a time when the lower class was living day to day. By 1901,...
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...first is The Tweed Ring Scandal which happened in New York. The second is The Credit Mobilier Scandal. The last is Black Friday which was a gold scandal. They are all very strategically planned scandals. Most of these scandal actually got pulled off somehow. My favorite scandal would have to be the Tweed Ring scandal. They managed to get anywhere from 30 million dollars to 200 million dollars. The main guy that was in the scandal was called boss tweed. He had the entire state New York under his fingertips. For now lets get into The Tweed Ring Scandal. "William "Boss" Tweed began his rise to influence in the late 1840s as a volunteer fireman in New York...
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...as the "Gilded Age." Corruption was everywhere. William M. "Boss" Tweed was at the epicenter. Could you imagine taking over a city as large as New York City? Without any legal authority? Somehow, Tweed managed to do just that. William M. Tweed was born April 3, 1823. His father, Richard Tweed, was a furniture chair maker. His mother's name was Eliza Magear Tweed. There is speculation behind his middle name. Most believe it is Magear; however some newspapers claimed that it was Mercy. Due to this issue, on most legal documents his middle name was simply M. As a child growing up in lower Manhattan, young William received an average education. Tweed was known for starting street fights. At...
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...Ethical Obligations breached by Smith and Halloran: According to the news report in Politico (2013), the New York state Sen. Malcolm Smith and New York City Councilman Dan Halloran were arrested Tuesday in an alleged plot to rig the New York City mayor's race. Considering the ethical norms mentioned in Northouse text, Smith and Halloran breached following ethical obligations: Bribery: Smith tried to bribe his way into the election campaign. According to Preet Bharara, US Attorney, "Smith drew up the game plan and Councilman Halloran essentially quarterbacked that drive by finding party chairmen who were wide open to receiving bribes." Using unlawful means, being on a leadership positions in something that is never acceptable and creates long lasting conflicts. The same happened in the case of Smith & Halloran. They tried to set up whole scenario through the pay-to-play scheme. The US government is already into investigating the public corruption matters which are proceeded through the pay-to-play plans. As per a cooperating witness and an undercover FBI agent posing as a wealthy real estate developer, Smith tried to bribe leaders of Republican Party county committees around New York City to run for mayor as a Republican. According to a news article in WNYC by Hamilton (2013), “…Vincent Tabone, the head of the GOP in the Bronx, and Joseph Savino, the vice chair in Queens, were allegedly set to receive $40,000 in bribes to help Smith get on the GOP ballot. Halloran himself was...
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...EXPAND ON GILDED AGE CORRUPTION IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT Was it innovation or greed and corruption that played a pivotal role in making the United States the leading industrialized nation in the world during the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, also known as the Gilded Age? In the book, Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson the author describes how greed and corruption by the United States government ultimately leads to poor decisions after a horrific disaster in 1900 [Larson]. In addition, well-researched essays by Henry Demarest Lloyd and Emma Goldman back up Larson’s theory that the Gilded Age was actually a very dark time for the United States. Isaac’s Storm describes the historical aspects of the national weather service, weather forecasting, and hurricane predictions. Larson gives insight into the personal tragedy of a destructive storm in September of 1900 and how it affected Galveston, Texas and its position as a major city in the United States. Teemed with devastation and arrogance, the book follows Isaac Cline who was one of the first meteorologists at a time when there really was not a true science connected to weather predictions. He showed a real aptitude in this new field and eventually found himself assigned to the weather bureau in Galveston, Texas [Larson]. At the beginning of the 20th Century, a great confidence pervaded the United States. Isaac Cline was one of the era’s new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of...
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...and was projected to be a time of beneficial change to all whom lived within the nation. In the Second Founding by David Quigley, New York City is examined to determine if they lived up to the promises made during reconstruction. New York City did not “live up to the first reconstruction’s promise” which was emancipation (183). Through the thirteen amendment, the abolition of slavery was prohibited by law in the United States. However, throughout the reconstruction period, there is many instances where restrictions on the lives of certain groups of people including...
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...Fernando Wood, a future mayor of city of New York, was born in Philadelphia in 1812 and moved to NYC with his parents at a young age. Like many migrant families, Wood’s family was in search for economic success in NYC and this search for economic success would influence Fernando Wood. After some failed attempts at making money, Wood became successful in ship investing, real estate and gambling and by 1849 he became very wealthy and retired from the business world to enter politics. Fernando Wood had no qualms about forming friendships with shady characters and was an unscrupulous business man; this background would influence his politics greatly. Fernando Wood was first elected as mayor of the city in 1854 with votes from the NYC underworld,...
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...Corruption in the Government and Politics Abstract Political and government corruption has been a big problem in America for a long time. After careful research and investigating, corruption has a way of splitting a country. Corruption in government and political corrupt seems to go hand-in-hand. In America corruption has been an issue at the highest level of government which starts at the executive level of the Presidency. Over the years corruption has reared its head in other areas of our government from the President throughout Congress and even into our state and local level government. Introduction Throughout the history of the United States of America corruption in government has been an issue. Corruption in government has been an ongoing problem from the beginning of our government. Corruption dates back to the conception of our Constitution of the United States. The constitution was created and delivered in the year 1787. It was the creation of hope that this document would set forth some rules and regulations for our country as well as the citizens of this great nation to follow. It included our rights as citizens and the guarantee of having a government to carry out the will of the people. Government and political corruption was an issue even for the framers of our constitution. Before the final draft of our constitution, the document was revised several times before it was presented. The idea was that by creating the constitution it would...
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...the United States’ larger cities, leaving the poor to starve in the streets. Upton Sinclair was a novelist muckraker, someone who reveals corruption within large companies, which led to the creation of one of the most famous activist novels. Sinclair’s The Jungle depicts the utterly disturbing life of an immigrant living in the meatpacking area of Chicago. In the novel, Sinclair graphically describes the working conditions of Jurgis and other poorly paid workers. They were shut in dark, cold working environments with slippery knives which often injured workers accompanied with infection, putting them on their backs for months at a time. Throughout the novel, Sinclair manifests fictional events that often occurred...
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...Following the fire, a committee was sent in to investigate the conditions of factories in New York City, after which they compiled a list of reforms that needed to be made. Changes included improved sanitary conditions, working conditions, and shorter work hours for women and children. As well, the public became furious with the wealthy elites and the owners who they saw as unethical because wealth was valued above worker safety. Rose Schneiderman reflected on this corruption in a speech by saying, “There are so many of us for one job, it matters little if 140-odd are burned to death.” In this speech Schneiderman addresses the problem of working people being treated unfairly, and goes on to blame the public for the unbearable...
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...William Magear Tweed was an American politician most notable for being the "boss" of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th century New York City and State. At the height of his influence, Tweed was the third-largest landowner in New York City, a director of the Erie Railroad, the Tenth National Bank, and the New-York Printing Company, as well as proprietor of the Metropolitan Hotel.[2]Tweed was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1852 and the New York County Board of Supervisors in 1858, the year he became the head of the Tammany Hall political machine. He was also elected to the New York State Senate in 1867, but Tweed's greatest influence came from being...
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...run a city however they choose to through criminal activity and manipulation. In the 1800s a secret society formed to unite Sicilian natives against invasion by France and Arabs. Fleeing from the hills of Italy to avoid attack Italians called the “Mafia” migrated to the United States in the 1920s. The Mafia’s migration to New York City and other large cities in America to continue criminal activities were seen in the early 1920s. In one particular group called the La Cosa Nostra, LCN, mob, or the Mafia inhabited New York City’s metropolitan area. The LCN consist of a collection of Italian-American families of organized crime (Finckenauer, 2007). The La Cosa Nostra entails five families with its main headquarters in Italy. With each family’s organization resembling the structure of a hierarchy. Its hierarchical structure of organization provides protection along with its social structure protected by corrupt politicians and governmental officials. “For nearly three quarters of a century, beginning during the time of Prohibition and extending into the 1990s, the LCN was clearly the most prominent criminal organization in the United States” (Finckenauer, 2007. P. 1). Bound by blood, oath, and conspiracy members are sworn to secrecy with a very complex and organized organization with strong political ties with dedication to practice crime and protect its members. As the organization began to grow so did its involvement in the drug syndicate, political corruption...
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...2012 Abstract Lt Charles Becker was a police officer in New York City during the late 19th century and early 20th century who extorted money from local brothels and gambling houses (“casinos”) located within what is now the New York Times Square. He did so all while working in internal affairs and receiving promotions. The action which led to making Lt Becker’s activities public was when a local gambler and bookmaker, “Beansie” Rosenthal got tired of Lt Becker harassing him and he went to the press and accused Lt Becker of extortion. Two days later, Mr. Rosenthal was killed. Lt Becker was accused of the murder and brought to trial and found guilty of first degree murder. The scandal surrounding him and his other illegal activities, led to his execution in the electric chair in New York’s Sing Sing Prison in 1915. He was the first police officer to be put to death for murder. In addition, the revelation of his activities led to the shock and acknowledgment of the public to the corrupt activities of police. To this day, he is the only New York City police officer put to death for murder. A. Life of Charles Becker Charles Becker was born to a German-American family in the village of Calicoon Center, Sullivan County, New York. He arrived in New York City in 1890 and went to work as a bouncer in a German beer hall in the Bowery before joining the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in November 1893. Becker received...
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...Corruption, Misconduct, and Brutality by Police Officers Stephen D. Windish June 9, 2014 CJA / 214 Instructor: Mr. Martinez University of Phoenix Abstract Since the beginning of the structured police forces across the United States corruption, misconduct, and claims of brutality by police officers has been a problem. Police officers who were sworn to protect and serve the people of their communities have been instilled with authority over people. Throughout history anyone having some type of power or absolute authority over another has created controversy. This paper will look into the statements and details of concerns dealing with police corruption, misconduct, and brutality of police officers in the United States. Corruption, Misconduct, and Brutality by Police Officers Corruption by uniformed police officers is a form of misconduct. This is done by an officer who is attempting to obtain something for his personal gain like money or a possible advancement in career. Misconduct of this type is done with the officer using his authority or power abusively. The term police corruption is typically stated when speaking or referring to the department administration doing something to gain a political edge or possibly a kind of gain financially. The everyday uniformed officer could be listed as corrupt by accepting money to not perform his duties properly. All officers who are stated to be corrupt have committed an action that is considered to be illegal. In...
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...The evolution of American Policing is perhaps one of the most interesting topics to study pertaining to our American government. The police system that we currently use today has evolved tremendously since it first was established in 1626 while the United States was still under British control. However, some forms of American policing began a few years before 1626. When the colonists first became settled down in America, they realized they needed to keep order through out their towns. That is when the colonists formed the very first Justice Of Peace. It was fairly similar to the Bristish government that was in place during the time period because most of the new American inhabitants came from Great Britain or had British roots. The Justice of Peace was more responsible for dealing with criminals and deciding how they would be punished. However, not everyone was able to be a part of the Justice of Peace. All men who were able to perform work, were over the age of 18 and weren't part of the Justice of Peace were part of little town organizations that would patrol mostly at night and keep look out for the town's safety. The Rattle Watch Group, which was formed in 1610 and would stay in effect until 1664, patrolled from sunset to dawn. They were often seen carrying weapons and wooden rattles to signal the farmers and local colonists if they were in danger or in a threatning situations. You would often be able to spot them because they carried green laterns to show they were watchmen...
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