New York City Politics in the Mid-1800s

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From 1836 to 1852, the Whig Party became one of New York City’s most powerful and influential political groups. Whig leaders appealed to diverse social classes, advocating economic growth, humanitarian reform, and morality in politics. About 1881, Washington, D.C.. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/UIG via Getty Images

New York City Politics in the Mid-1800s

Ethnic diversity and economic challenges in the mid-1800s led some New York City politicians to take unorthodox measures to gain political office and prestige.

By the mid-1800s, New York City was the American center for trade, commerce, and industry. People of every race and religion flocked to the Big Apple and by 1850 the city was teeming with more than 500 thousand residents. Although business was booming, the average person lived in squalor. Politicians were called upon to improve conditions, but offices were often appointed to those who were willing to be bribed and not those who were most qualified. Soon New York City politics became riddled with “swindlers, liars, and thieves.” By 1870, tens of millions of dollars had been illegally siphoned from the public into politicians’ pocketbooks. Investigations finally curtailed the corruption, but not before New York City had been branded as a center of political corruption and fraud.

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Irish Americans formed the electoral base for the democratic club known as Tammany Hall. By trading favors such as jobs, services, and aid for votes, it became New York City’s most powerful political machine.

Satirical political cartoons were particularly effective at stirring up controversy in the state. They were often posted on walls and passed from person to person, as well as being published in local newspapers.

From 1800 to 1880, New York City’s population doubled every decade. Housing standards steadily declined as the average family of five lived in less than 300 square feet of cramped, poorly lit space with no indoor plumbing or proper ventilation.

The number of immigrants entering New York City more than quadrupled between 1840 and 1860. Irish and German immigrants made up more than 70 percent of those who came and soon became some of the most influential people in the city.