Tammany Hall
Logo of Tammany Hall (T. H. Building, Park Avenue South, NYC)
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| Named after | Tamanend (anglicized to "Tammany"), Lenapes' leader |
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| Motto | "Freedom Our Rock" |
| Formation | May 12, 1789 |
| Founder | William Mooney |
| Founded at | New York City, New York |
| Dissolved | 1967 |
| Merger of | Tammanies |
| Type | Democratic pressure group |
| Legal status | Defunct |
| Headquarters | Several: last was in Madison Avenue at East 23rd Street, New York City |
| Location |
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| Services | Patronage, initially for Irish immigrants |
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Aaron Burr (first) J. Raymond Jones (last) |
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Key people
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William M. Tweed, Fernando Wood, Richard Croker, Lewis Nixon, Carmine DeSapio |
| Affiliations | Democratic Party |
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It was the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in controlling New York City and New York State politics and helping immigrants, most notably the Irish, rise up in American politics from the 1790s to the 1960s. It typically controlled Democratic Party nominations and political patronage in Manhattan from the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854 and used its patronage resources to build a loyal, well-rewarded core of district and precinct leaders; after 1850 the great majority were Irish Catholics.
The Tammany Society emerged as the center for Democratic-Republican Party politics in the city in the early 19th century. After 1854, the Society expanded its political control even further by earning the loyalty of the city's rapidly expanding immigrant community, which functioned as its base of political capital. The business community appreciated its readiness, at moderate cost, to cut through red tape and legislative mazes to facilitate rapid economic growth, The Tammany Hall ward boss or ward heeler – "wards" were the city's smallest political units from 1786 to 1938 – served as the local vote gatherer and provider of patronage. By 1872 Tammany had an Irish Catholic "boss," and in 1928 a Tammany hero, New York Governor Al Smith, won the Democratic presidential nomination. However, Tammany Hall also served as an engine for graft and political corruption, perhaps most infamously under William M. "Boss" Tweed in the mid-19th century. By the 1880s, Tammany was building local clubs that appealed to social activists from the ethnic middle-class. In quiet times the machine had the advantage of a core of solid supporters and usually exercised control of politics and policymaking in Manhattan; it also played a major role in the state legislature in Albany.
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