Machine made

By Terry Golway

Subjects: History, Practical Politics, Irish Americans, New york (n.y.), politics and government, Municipal government, Tammany hall, Immigrants, Political corruption, Politics and government, Immigrants, united states, Political activity, Tammany Hall, Tammany Hall (Political organization), New york (n.y.), history, Progressivism (United States politics)

Description: A journalist, historian, and expert on the Irish American experience tackles the common stereotypes and presents a revisionist version of the notoriously crooked Tammany Hall, describing the crucial social reforms and labor improvements they contributed. "Historian Terry Golway has written a colorful history of Tammany Hall, which takes a more sympathetic view of the organization than many historians. He says the Tammany machine, while often corrupt, gave impoverished immigrants critically needed social services and a road to assimilation. According to Golway, Tammany was responsible for progressive state legislation that foreshadowed the New Deal. He writes that some of Tammany's harshest critics, including cartoonist Thomas Nast, openly exhibited a raw anti-Irish and anti-Catholic prejudice."