History of New York City - Term Paper Example

History of New York The rise and fall of corrupt Pol who conceived the soul of New York by Boss Tweed and Kenneth Ackerman, New York: Da Capo press, 2005 ISBN number 978-0786714353, 437 pages. In this book, the author states that among numerous European nations, New York City was known as paradise, Eden and a high waist grass. Maple, chestnut, oak, raccoons, otters, wolves, and foxes characterized New York City. The city has state buildings for the empires and houses of peasants from all over the world. Mike Wallace and Edwin Burrows have tried to expound on the monumental historical work in Gotham. The history of New York City is also analyzed in the book written by Boss Tweed and Ackerman called, ‘the rise and fall of the corrupt pol who conceived the soul of modern New York’. In this book, Tweed is among the monumental characters that ascended and influenced the American history politics. He recorded clearly the career of Ackerman who is an investigator in the city’s history. Ackerman is an accessible, vibrant, and captivating legendary biographical figure who fixed elections and bribed the legislature of the State. This paper focuses on the history of New York City by unraveling what the authors in these two books said about the New York City. Ackerman succeeds in outlining the rise and fall of political leaders through his book that is characterized by betrayal and political intrigue. In addition, he explores graft, violence, courtroom drama that characterized daily life of the residents of this State. The author reveals how intercontinental police gave orders during presidential campaigns. Furthermore, the pace at which events are taking place in New York is very fast. Tweed was politically recognized in the city and New York State in 1868. He is more concerned about the events and not the grand thesis of urban, machine politics and reforms which he avoids (Burrows and Wallace 45). He leaves the readers with the chance to unveil the meaning of corruption and reforms that were formed to counter the politics during that time. In terms of the degree of corruption, one cannot be in a chance to gauge the real level of graft in New York. According to Tweed, it was hard to quantify the exact amount of corruption but all the ring members acquired something in the construction of Tammany hall regime in New York. Tweed became rich as he earned some funds in private favored by the public officials. His account was laundered with money through some undefined transactions that made it a princely catch. He made an error when he displayed his transactions ostentatiously. This made him a centre of attraction whenever questions of corruption were raised for he had no explanation on how he acquired his stunning wealth. According to Ackerman, this was just one form in which corruption took place in New York. In addition, electoral fraud was rampant in that politicians could easily buy votes from voters. Tweed asserts that in the 1868 elections, the ballots did not actually make the awaited outcome but those who counted did. There was repeated voting and from his critics, and throwing franchise to the immigrants who gave much support through their political support. The objection of this was not just meant to process the natural papers and fabricate them but the voting element of the Irish was unfit to exercise the franchise quite openly. Thus, the Anglo Saxon race did not stand the test long and was robbed of its victory (Burrows and Wallace 197). Therefore, there are no outstanding claims that Tweed together with his cronies was alone in the government plunder or their participation in manipulating ballot boxes. Samuel Tilden was the one who revived the bitter adversary as a reformer though his stance and ambitions were compromised. Therefore, the vote fraud in the State is alleged against Tweed for failing the Horatio Seymour’s presidential candidacy. To make it worse, it was raised during the campaigns and this was revealed six years across the line when his agents were alleged to swaying undecided voters to his stand off campaigner, Rutherford Hayes. Tilden shared the platform publicly with Boss in Tweed’s glory. In the New York community, some business partners were opportunistic when they adopted the causes behind the reforms. Tweed had ruled New York City very well during his regime. The values of the real State had sharply risen similar to that of brokerage house and manufacturing jobs. Furthermore, the new economy, which relied on bond issuance that funded the continuing developments, had changed tremendously. The New York Times shone light to the business campaigners who turned to Tammany Boss on corruption cases. The motive was a moral horror though the graft scale proved more efficient than the financiers did. In addition, the scandal affected the markets of credit. Some business titans for instance John Jacob Astor who was the voucher for the city, was compelled and conditioned to demand for scrutinize accounting that aimed at ending corruption. In New York, the author demonstrates how misuse of legal process destroyed the legal institutions in New York City. For instance, when he was tried, he did not receive fair hearing. In the first proceeding, the jury gave biased ruling in an effort to oust him from political scene. The second hearing was a desired conviction. Noah Davis, the presiding judge despised openly Tweed though he could not recuse himself. He therefore gave the defense assistance to stack the second jury and accepted to question the moral character of Tweed. Davis gave a lengthy lecture immediately Tweed was convicted. He accused him for misconduct in the history of a civilized State. Tweed was sentenced to twelve-year imprisonment, which was a shorter period to that of his foe. This was an appropriate punishment for the committed mistakes. This resulted to filing of civil suits and donating several dollars to bail Tweed out. This was in vain as Tweed ended up spending his life behind bar for a misdemeanor which had earlier been punished (Burrows and Wallace 291). Later Tweed fled to Spain with the help of unidentified accomplices. This was done against any treaty and later the government brought Tweed back from Spain. This was done with a political motivation as the grant administration organized for Tweed’s return in 1876. This took place year before presidential elections in America. Due to his influence, he would destroy Tilden’s memories with the Tammany Boss. At this time, reform politics had turned into pure politics. This was only valuable to the reformists as their results were just a meager. Tweed’s case was a national concern because his personal charisma and public figure which purported a political symbol that his foe was seeking. This was answered through the recovery of $1.1 million dollars, which amounted to about a quarter the legal fees consumed (Burrows and Wallace 256). Tweed is a symbol of both good and bad things. He participated in corruption, which was very vital during those times. He had witnessed corruption since the world war with no protest. Corruption was rampant in firms, the civil war that saw low quality products supplied to the army. Through his corrupt activities, the least able in the society were helped. As a corrupt victim, he was a political adversary and numerous people were determined to gain from his demise (Burrows and Wallace 302). Burrow and Wallace writings in ‘American history’ outlines the New York City history in a similar manner like Ackerman’s writings. This is an epic story about the vast natured of the city. They posit that the history of New York is the same history of America as a nation. In the book, the authors deal with Amsterdam in the earlier years under the peter Stuyvesant regime, slave resistance and the various revolts, the Indian war, the revolutionary war and defeat of the Washington armies. Furthermore, the book deals with the seven destructive years of British reign, and the first capital of US, New York, duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The book gives the details on building of the railroads and the Erie Canal, and the growth of New York as a financial centre and a port and the drafts on the riots about the civil war. In the city there were numerous immigrants in the city and rise of entertainment for instance, Coney Island. The book further outlines the birth of skyscrapers and construction of Brooklyn Bridge. The city underwent changes from the grid plan of the streets and Herman Melville who painted portraits of the life in the city and Whiteman celebrated it later with other reformists. In conclusion, the two books figures the individuals who guaranteed the fact that local history does not exist. In fact, it is the portrait soul and heart of America and the wonders that people learn about the American history. Therefore, Gotham is a brilliant story and the fast-paced narrative that unlocks the several stories to one blockbuster of the same book. This outlines the history of New York City both economically, politically and socially through the Gotham writings. Work Cited Burrows, Edwin and Wallace, Mike. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (The History of New York City). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print. Read More