Tammany Hall

City: New York

County: New York

State: New York

The Tammany Society, founded in New York City in 1787, and reorganized two years later, was initially a non-political fraternal organization. Similar clubs were started throughout the young United States as patriotic alternatives to earlier British institutions. Over time, the society in New York became affiliated with the Democratic-Republican Party and later the Democratic Party, as many party leaders were members. The Tammany Society’s headquarters, known as the Wigwam or Tammany Hall, functioned as the meeting place of the organizing committee of the New York County Democratic Republicans, thus the committee itself and ultimately the executive function of the Democratic Party in New York City was referred to as Tammany Hall. The Tammany Society in New York continued as a fraternal organization dominated by Democrats, while Tammany Hall simultaneously became the political machine of New York Democrats. Milestones in Tammany Hall’s rise in prominence included city hall coming under its control with the election of Fernando Wood as mayor in 1854, and William M. Tweed's consolidation of power through his elevation to the leadership role of both Tammany Hall and the Tammany Society in 1863. “Boss” Tweed would become synonymous with the political machine of Tammany Hall, and infamous for his influence in New York politics and patronage. Stephen A. Douglas was made a member of the Tammany Society in 1851 and Tammany Hall supported his bid for the presidency ahead of the 1860 Democratic National Convention. Following secession, Tammany Hall advocated compromise, proposing the use of the Confederate constitution as a guide for amending the U.S. Constitution. In the immediate aftermath of the attack on Fort Sumter, Tammany Hall joined Republicans in opposing the Confederacy, and the Tammany Society formed a regiment from amongst its members.

Catherine O’Dea, “Tammany Hall,” Dictionary of American History, 3d ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003), 8:45-47; Jerome Mushkat, Tammany: The Evolution of a Political Machine, 1789-1865 (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1971), 1-2, 8, 11, 262, 321-22, 326-29, 347-49; Tyler Anbinder, “Tweed, William Magear,” American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 22:61.