Political Machines And Urban Revolution

In the second half of the nineteenth century cities in the United States began to see a great increase in urban growth, which gave the political machines an opportunity to flourish and gain control of the city. Due to the change from an agricultural society to urban society, things began to to change as people moved to the city for industrial employment. The rapid disorganized growth caused an increase in immigration, poverty, crime, and disease. This gave the machine bosses an opportunity to gain power as a promise of democracy. It was a "You scratch my back, I scratch yours" proposition. Those who needed help made a promise to vote for the"boss". And it worked for a while.

The political machines were most often associated with the democratic political party. They became dominant in every large American city by using democracy as a way of giving those who did not have enough what they needed. They also developed relationships with real estate and business operations. Supporters were rewarded with construction contracts, and opportunities to work for the city. Some of these jobs were becoming police officers and and building inspectors. Machines …show more content…
For the poor, the political machine not only gave them jobs but also found out what that particular family needed and they "fixed" their problem. If the husband was sick they would provide groceries for the family while he was out of work. If they had a family member in jail they would find a way to get them out. If they did not have money to pay their rent, they took care of it for them. They would pay for new shoes for the workers children when they started school in the fall. They provide amusement park tickets and even treated the workers with beer after a long hard day at work. Those in need were provided favors, services, legal assistance, and even cash to gain