Quote (thesnipa @ 9 Aug 2022 14:59)
right! that would suck ass.
Tammany Hall calls into question whether the US was even close to a democracy previous to western expansion which gave electoral power to many regions via statehood. before the 1840s-50s with the large boom of statehood i'd wager no. Putin's sham elections of modern day are likely far more fair and honest than say the election of Andrew Jackson. who likely would have won regardless via a populist movement, but didnt even need to stay up of a night with Tammany support. they were America's kingmakers.
You're surely aware of the guy, but anyone who isn't should really read up on "Boss Tweed":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._TweedThe guy was so corrupt that he became a billionaire in 2010s dollars from bribes and embezzlement alone.
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"an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party's political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th-century New York City and state. At the height of his influence, Tweed was the third-largest landowner in New York City, a director of the Erie Railroad, a director of the Tenth National Bank, a director of the New-York Printing Company, the proprietor of the Metropolitan Hotel,[2] a significant stockholder in iron mines and gas companies, a board member of the Harlem Gas Light Company, a board member of the Third Avenue Railway Company, a board member of the Brooklyn Bridge Company, and the president of the Guardian Savings Bank."
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For example, the construction cost of the New York County Courthouse, begun in 1861, grew to nearly $13 million—about $178 million in 2017 dollars, and nearly twice the cost of the Alaska Purchase in 1867.[19][24] "A carpenter was paid $360,751 (roughly $4.9 million today) for one month's labor in a building with very little woodwork ... a plasterer got $133,187 ($1.82 million) for two days' work".[24] Tweed bought a marble quarry in Sheffield, Massachusetts, to provide much of the marble for the courthouse at great profit to himself
This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Aug 9 2022 07:17am