Tammany Hall

Tammany Hall, (also called the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order), named for Tamanend (meaning "affable"), a Native American leader of the Lenni Lenape, was started in 1786 and was declared on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It was the Democratic political machine that played a major role in controlling New York City politics. It also helped many immigrants, especially the Irish, rise in American politics. In 1858 Boss Tweed became its leader. Although tainted by corruption, Tweed nevertheless presided over a number of positive social welfare developments.NYHS v45 n04, Quarterly, October 1961 BOSS TWEED’S PUBLIC WELFARE PROGRAM by JOHN W. PRATT, P.396-411 Courtesy of New York Heritage Digital Collections, obtained from myheritage.org

In the middle 20th century it became less powerful and dissolved in the 1960s.

References

Category:Politics of the United States
Category:New York City
Category:History of New York City