Political Corruption

Business wasn't the only way to get rich in the late 19th century-there was also politics. The Tweed Ring, a group of corrupt New York City officials led by William March Tweed (1823-1878), is believed to have stolen anywhere from $40 million to $200 million in public funds. Many of these men saw no wrong in what they did. One of Tweed's cohorts, George Washington Plunkett, explained his form of "honest graft" to a journalist as follows: "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em ... I'm tipped off, say, that they are going to lay out a new park at a certain place .... I go to that place and I buy up all the land I can and then there is a rush to get my land. Ain't it perfectly honest to charge a good price and make a profit on my investment 

and foresight? Of course, it is. Well, that's honest graft."

Do you agree that there is such a thing as "honest graft"? Do you think politicians should be allowed to profit from insider information? 

Dangerous Working Conditions

On January 10, 1860, there was a terrible accident at Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Seventy-seven people mostly girls less than 12 years old-died when the building collapsed on them. The
victims' families were given very little compensation. One observer called it "the respectable millionaire homicide." 

Do you think rich people are held to a different set of laws than other people? Explain. 

Haymarket Square Strike

On May 3,1886, police fired into a crowd of striking workers at McCormick Reaper Company in Chicago, killing four people. The strikers held a protest rally the next day at Haymarket Square. A bomb exploded during the rally and killed seven police officers. The rally's organizers were quickly arrested and convicted, despite the fact that the actual bomber was never identified. Four men were hanged and three were jailed. Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld (1847-1902) pardoned the three survivors in 1893, a move that ruined his
political career. 

Do you think the organizers of the rally should have been convicted? What do you think of Governor Altgeld? Would you have done as he did and pardoned the survivors? Would you have done so even
if you knew it would cost you your career? Have you ever had to make a decision where doing what was right would hurt you in some way? Explain.