History remembers three Reconstruction scandals, all of which had a massive impact on the government and the daily lives of the people, the Crédit Mobilier Scandal, the Tweed Ring in New York, and Black Friday. The Reconstruction was a period from 1865-1877, after the Civil War, in which the federal government prepared for the Southern states to come back to the Union. The Reconstruction was a time where the nation, as a whole, needed new ways of labor to rebuild its economy after the Civil War. As the new economy was building, it opened many opportunities for manipulation and scandals. The Crédit Mobilier Scandal, the Tweed Ring in New York, and Black Friday were three scandals during the Reconstruction that stole many dollars from the nation's
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Despite his military prowess, Grant’s presidency suffered misfortune from a lack of reigning in business interests and the members of Congress. Significant stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad formed an organization, the Crédit Mobilier of America, and gave it contracts to assemble the railroad. The Crédit Mobilier Scandal occurred in the year 1872 when news broke that individuals from Congress had been included in rail industry corruption. Congressmen approved the construction of the railroads, but they did not calculate expenses, which allowed the railroad builders to manipulate and gain profit for their work. Speaker of the House, James G. Blaine involved himself in the scandal by setting up a committee to investigate the situation. Two people who were involved in the scandal were Oakes Ames and James Brooks. They joined the Union Pacific to secure funding for the railroad. They bought and sold shares of stock in the Union Pacific at par value. They sold the stock to themselves but when they reported the income, Ames and Brooks reported less than what they had actually made. This is financial misrepresentation. The "investors" took over and made a fortune. The Union Pacific Railroad organization had been procured to construct part of the cross-country rail line. Rather than obtaining outside workers to finish the development, Union Pacific top brass including the …show more content…
Grant. Two men, Jay Gould and James Fisk, attempted to manipulate the gold market on the New York Gold Exchange. They wanted to sell all the gold for an enormous amount of profit. They needed to recruit President Grant’s brother-in-law, Abel Corbin because the president had the power to change the value of gold. So even if Gould wanted to corner the market, President Grant could make the price go up. Gould needed Abel, a financial adviser, to convince Grant to not change the value by convincing the Treasury to refrain from selling gold for a month. In this way, there would be less gold in circulation, making the price of gold rise. Abel Corbin convinced President Grant to appoint General Daniel Butterfield as Assistant Treasurer of the United States who agreed to tell them when the government wanted to sell gold. Fisk and Gould bought large amounts of gold so that they could have control over the price of gold. They hoarded massive amounts of gold and forced the prices to go higher. After this, they started trying to sell the gold they bought for a profit. However, President Grant wanted to end the fiasco after he found out about the scandal, so he ordered $4 million in gold to be sold. The news sent the stock exchange plummeting, and the value of goods dropped significantly, affecting farmers most of all. As a result of the Black Friday scandal, stock prices fell, exportation of agricultural
Despite his military prowess, Grant’s presidency suffered misfortune from a lack of reigning in business interests and the members of Congress. Significant stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad formed an organization, the Crédit Mobilier of America, and gave it contracts to assemble the railroad. The Crédit Mobilier Scandal occurred in the year 1872 when news broke that individuals from Congress had been included in rail industry corruption. Congressmen approved the construction of the railroads, but they did not calculate expenses, which allowed the railroad builders to manipulate and gain profit for their work. Speaker of the House, James G. Blaine involved himself in the scandal by setting up a committee to investigate the situation. Two people who were involved in the scandal were Oakes Ames and James Brooks. They joined the Union Pacific to secure funding for the railroad. They bought and sold shares of stock in the Union Pacific at par value. They sold the stock to themselves but when they reported the income, Ames and Brooks reported less than what they had actually made. This is financial misrepresentation. The "investors" took over and made a fortune. The Union Pacific Railroad organization had been procured to construct part of the cross-country rail line. Rather than obtaining outside workers to finish the development, Union Pacific top brass including the …show more content…
Grant. Two men, Jay Gould and James Fisk, attempted to manipulate the gold market on the New York Gold Exchange. They wanted to sell all the gold for an enormous amount of profit. They needed to recruit President Grant’s brother-in-law, Abel Corbin because the president had the power to change the value of gold. So even if Gould wanted to corner the market, President Grant could make the price go up. Gould needed Abel, a financial adviser, to convince Grant to not change the value by convincing the Treasury to refrain from selling gold for a month. In this way, there would be less gold in circulation, making the price of gold rise. Abel Corbin convinced President Grant to appoint General Daniel Butterfield as Assistant Treasurer of the United States who agreed to tell them when the government wanted to sell gold. Fisk and Gould bought large amounts of gold so that they could have control over the price of gold. They hoarded massive amounts of gold and forced the prices to go higher. After this, they started trying to sell the gold they bought for a profit. However, President Grant wanted to end the fiasco after he found out about the scandal, so he ordered $4 million in gold to be sold. The news sent the stock exchange plummeting, and the value of goods dropped significantly, affecting farmers most of all. As a result of the Black Friday scandal, stock prices fell, exportation of agricultural