History of NY state Exam 2

Politics in early 19th century

Broadening democracy: Property qualifications ended

Martin Van Buren and the creation of modern political systems

Competing parties strengthen democracy how?

• Streamline politics

• easier to vote, don’t need to research

• gives parties platforms

• organizes people in government

The Albany Regency (Democratic Party)

• Party Leadership and organization

• “Party Line”: Idea that leadership decides positions on issues

• Party Press: Promoted their party through newspapers, paid to control newspapers

• Patronage power (Spoils system)

Religious Revival and Social Reform in NY 1800-1865

• Rapid Economic and Social Change, “Yankee Invasion” of Central, Western NY

• “The Second Great Awakening”

• NY’s Burned Over District

Protestant Revivalism

• Charles Grandison Finney, etc

• Growth of Churches, concern w/ social problems

Other NY religious movements

1. Millerites- millennialism

   1. Belief that Jesus will return and after 1K years the world will end (End of world belief)

2. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day of Saints (Known as Mormons)

3. Oneida Community- Christian communist utopia —> tried to create a perfect world, complex marriages

4. Spiritualism- Fox sisters, claimed they could communicate with dead relatives

Social Reform Movements in NY 1820-1860

• Inspired by religious revivals, role of Protestant churches, New England migrants

• New Englanders bring social and religious mindset to NY

• NYC as headquarters of “Benevolent Empire”

• Arthur and Lewis Tappan, Gerrit Smith

• Role of Women

  • Middle class women

  • some education

  • moral nature

  • arranged things for leaders

Sabbatarian Movement (Social Reform Movement)

• Movement to make Sunday a day of rest

• Believed nobody should work on Sunday

• Should be in church at home reading bible

• businesses closed on Sundays

• day of worship

• blue laws, certain businesses can’t be open, no alcohol till noon

Temperance (Social Reform Movement)

• Largest Movement

• alcohol moderation, eventually move to prohibition

• believed alcohol caused poverty, crime, and social problems

• tried to encourage men to drink less

• members would go into town on Sunday morning and tried to convince people to stop drinking

• “On the wagon” meant not drinking

• “Off the Wagon” meant drinking

• Pushed for laws to restrict access to alcohol —> then pushed for prohibition

• mostly upstate becomes dry, NYC stays wet

Anti-Slavery (Social Reform Movement)

• Inspired by the American Rev

• Pushed for laws to grant slaves more freedoms

Women’s Rights (Social Reform Movement)

• Modern Feminism

• Elizabeth Stanton

• Susan. B. Anthony

• Hold meetings

• Took jefferson’s language from declaration of independence and changed it to be about women

• no political rights

• no property rights

• little marriage rights

• no access to higher education

• women were teachers and nurses

• first women’s rights convention

Institutional Responses to Social Problems

• Criminal Justice Reforms

• Mental illness

Criminal Justice Reforms (Institutional Responses to social problems)

• Prisons are born: “Auburn System

• People were beat, branded, killed, cut off noses and ears for serious offenses (Pre-Reform)

• Rehabilitation over punishment

• Prisons are designed for thieves, assaults, and minor crimes

• Prisoners worked, farmed, made clothes, job training, religious training

Mental illness (Institutional Responses to Social Problems)

• Institutions for psychiatric care and cure rather than jails

• Initially city asylums,

• NYC lunatic asylum-1841 (Welfare island, formerly blackwells island, now roosevelt)

• Later, Long Island builds many psychiatric hospitals - rural setting

• Kings Park, Pilgrim state, Central Islip, Creedmoor

• Often originally on “Farm colony” plan

• Many closed/downsized since 1960’s

Cultural Life in NY 1800-1860

1. Literature

2. Art

Literature (Cultural Life in NY 1800-1860)

• Washington Irving: Wrote Rip Van Winkle, wrote the “sketchbook” stories, legend of sleepy hollow, Knickerbockers

• William Cullen Bryant: Poet, newspaper editor

• James Fenimore Cooper: Cooperstown, “The Last of the moheigan”. “The leather stockings”

• Walt Whitman: Poet, From Huntington, “Captain my Captain”, Books are collected in “leaves of grass”, freeverse writing, wrote about ordinary people and experiences

• Herman Melville: “Mobey Dick”

Art (Cultural Life in NY 1800-1860)

• Hudson River School

  • Americas first original artistic movement

  • Landscape Painting: Painted American Scenery

  • Thomas Cole, Asher Durand, John F Kensett, Frederic Edwin Church

• Enjoyed nature and wanted to preserve the scenery of the U.S land

• Thomas Cole painted “The Clove”, “View on the Catskill”

• Asher B. Durand’s “Kindred Spirits”

European immigration into NY (1820-1860)

• 1790-1820: Low immigration

• 1815: 13,000

• 1855: 250,000

• 2 main sources of old immigration: Northwestern Europe, German states, Ireland

• Castle Garden- NY immigration Depot, 1855-1890

• no quotas yet

The Germans (European Immigration)

• Background and Characteristics:

  • Settled West to farm, NYC, Upstate, Western NY

• Economic and Social Experience in NY:

  • Established businesses, beer production, furniture making, steam engines, metal working, settled in enclaves, Germans stayed together, didn’t change much culturally

• Politics:

  • Voted and participated a bit

  • didn’t vote all for 1 person

• NYC: Kleindeutschlandt (“Little Germany”) in East Village

• Community Life: Beer Gardens, brass bands

• Entrepreneurship: Steinway Piano

• Gen. Slocum tragedy 1904- German churches take a boat excursion and boat sinks, many died

• East 16th street- “German Broadway”

Irish Catholics

• Background and Characteristics:

  • Many lived in Scotland and Ireland, Protestants, discriminated against in Ireland, peasant farmers, potato failures encouraged immigration, most are poor, unskilled laborers

• Locations:

  • Stayed in Manhattan mostly

  • Albany, Buffalo

• Economic and Social Experience

  • men worked in hard labor

  • women were maids

• Politics:

  • Democrats, participated frequently, some political talents, very popular in politics

• Religion:

  • Catholic

  • Built churches and parishes

  • St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Nativists response to immigration

1. Large numbers generate friction

   1. Many areas changed

2. Labor competition with native born

3. Immigrant voting power and corruption

4. Anti-Catholicism

   1. Religious and political danger: Violent attacks on churches, threatened to burn down, mobs gathered. John Hughes

5. Political Response:

   1. 1849- “Order of Star-Spangled Banner”

   2. American (“Know Nothing”) Party

      1. People born in America and had deep rooted ties in America

      2. Wanted to reduce immigrants political participation

      3. Advocated for 21 year requirement to vote and hold office

NY during the civil war

• 1860 Election: Lincoln wins NY state but loses NYC

• Responses to Succession: Preserving Union vs ending slavery

• NYC Mayor Fernando Wood: Democrat mayor of NYC before war starts. Proposed that NYC should succeed from NY and the Union to preserve economic engine

• War Democrats and Peace democrats: wanted to fight war to preserve union. Peace democrats wanted to let the south go

• Moderate and Radical Republicans:

  • Moderates wanted to preserve the union and end slavery carefully

  • Radicals wanted to end slavery immediately

• Initial Enthusiasm- most enlistments of any state

• ethic state units formed

Civilian NY’s support war effort

• Middle and upper classes

• union league- encourage patriotic support

  • opened hospitals

  • made bandages and clothing

  • Fundraisers: sold paintings

• NY sanitary commission and women’s control relief association

NYC Draft Riots (July 13th-16th 1863)

• Working Class attitudes change: People don’t want to enlist anymore

• National: Conscription Act of 1863: Congress implements a military draft, First draft in U.S. history

  • Inequities of draft law

  • could pay a substitute to take your place in draft or simply pay a commutation to not go

• mobs gathered to protest the draft

• destroyed draft offices

• attacked houses businesses, looted shops

• tens of thousands rioted

• mostly poor people vs. wealthy class

• army called in to assist police

• cost of riots: 150+ people are killed, thousands in property damage

Aftermath of the riots

• NY Quota reduced

• Lincoln goes easy on rioters

• Tammany fund for commutation fees

• Fear of disorder haunts upper class for decades

Gilded Age NY 1865-1900

• Tremendous economic growth and wealth

• Beautiful on the surface but rough on the inside, lots of issues

• corrupt politicians

• poverty

• economic inequality

• mansions are built in NY

NY politics in the Gilded Age 1865-1900

• Republicans dominate upstate. Democrats NYC

• Era of “Political Machines”

Political Machines

1. Winning elections by any means necessary

2. In power: “To the victor goes the spoils”

3. Social Services to constituents (party rather than government)

• Upstate: Republican Party Machines

  • Voting Base: Native-Born Protestants (WASPs)

  • Republican Bosses: Roscoe Conkling; Thomas Platt- “The easy Boss”

• Downstate: Democratic party machines; NYC (Tammany Hall) and Brooklyn

  • Base: Working Class, immigrant support, but also business interests

The Tweed Ring

• “Boss” William Marcy Tweed

• Tammany Hall: Democrat HQ, Organization, leaders

  • Supporters: Immigrants, democratic loyalists, working class people, businessmen, and business elites

  • Tactics: Throwing out Republican ballots, bribes

  • The Spoils: Jobs, Favors, city contracts, kickbacks, real estate

  • Opponents: Middle class, Republicans, they paid taxes and votes were being cancelled

Fall of Tweed Ring 1871-1873

• Tammany Hall continues dominance of NYC politics for 50 years

• Other Machines: Brooklyn had similar political machines

• Republican machines upstate and later in suburbs, notably Nassau County 1920s-1980s

• Tweed flees to Europe but is arrested

Decline of Political Machines in 20th century

• Civil Service Laws- Replaces patronage

• Anti-Corruption laws- Electoral Reform

• Government Run welfare- new deal and after

Creation of greater NYC 1898

• Andrew Haswell Green- “Father of Greater NYC”

• Rationale for Enlargement: made sense for a larger city, port of NY, more taxable space, more people, able to build more, wanted to be biggest city

• Bronx Annexed- 1874,1894

• Meanwhile- Expansion of city of Brooklyn, 1834-1898 to encompass kings county

• Brooklyn Bridge 1883

• Challenges for Brooklyn: Water Problem, Aquaphors’s, groundwater, Hempstead lake solved this problem

• Annexation process

• Opposition to the merger: Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx didnt want to get annexed

• Non-binding referendums held

• Republican Legislature passes merge in 1896

• Creation of Nassau County: Hempstead, North Hempstead, and Oyster Bay

• Queensboro bridge (1909) and subways lead to rapid urbanization of Queens in early 20th century

Creation of Adirondack and Catskill state park, 1895-1904

• Adirondack Region late 1800s

  • Major Issues:

    • Difficult to farm, raise animals, and live in

  • 2 Major Uses:

    • Logging, cut down trees for logs and used train to transport them downstate

    • Wealthy people bought land and build “camps”, large mansions built with rustic style, they hunted, fished, etc. Lived here during the summer

  • Mix of private and public land subject to restrictions

The peopling of NY, New Immigrants, 1880-1920

• Ellis Island

  • Processing immigrants

  • Large amounts of immigration

Eastern European Jews "(New Immigration)

• Background and Characteristics:

  • South and East Europe, Italy, Greece, Russia, Poland

  • Specialized in textiles, lived in enclaves,

• Locations:

  • Lived in lower east side, Brooklyn

• Economic and Social:

  • Peddlers, retail, textiles, trade, garments

• Religion:

  • Spoke Yiddish, Kosher foods, haircuts, Yamakas, Synagogues, orthodox jews, traditions

• Politics:

  • Socialists and communists, some are radical, not supporters of Tammany Hall

• Sweatshops

Italians (New Immigration)

• Background and Characteristics:

  • Southern Italy, Sicily

  • farmers, little education, peasants, unskilled

• Locations:

  • Settled with people from their own villages, little Italy, East Harlem, Greenwich Village, Brooklyn

• Economic and Social:

  • Construction, stonework, built subways, tunnels, bridges

  • Earned money in the U.S., then moved back to Italy to buy land, didn’t want to permanently live in U.S, slower to learn English, didn’t assimilate at first, eventually stay in U.S. for good, women didn’t travel to U.S only men.

• Politics

  • Anti-Tammany hall, slow to involve in politics

• Religion:

  • Catholics, small number Jewish, Parishes

Other immigrant groups (New Immigration)

• Polish- Eastern LI, farm laborers

• Czechs- Yorkville, NYC

• Scandinavians- Bay Ridge