Write a report summarizing each of 3 Reconstruction scandals

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Reconstruction scandals
The reconstruction period happened after the civil war, and it was an era characterized by a lot of political frauds. State government and local government leaders were led by their greed for public finances and they acted in dishonesty. This paper is going to address the three reconstructive scandals that took place in the postwar period. These scandals include the Tweed Ring in New York, the Credit Mobilier Scandal, and Black Friday.

The Tweed Ring in New York
William Tweed began to be known in the 1840s when he was a fireman volunteer in New Yolk. Because he was not famous, he established a power foundation without being noticed in a ward of his service. In 1853 he was elected to the House of Representatives for one term which ended in 1855. When he was serving his time, his interest was mostly in the local affairs and the state being very lively in the Tammany Hall. It is during this time that William assembled a group of political men that came to be known as Tweed Ring. He had a lot of power since he was the controller of all the finances at New Yolk city. This group offered citizens deals and employments in exchange for their support in the politics. In 1869 a powerful man in the Tweed John Hoffman became the governor of New Yolk giving Tweed more power. Due to the new position of one of his men, he got the power to control the courts, the security and district attorney. Tweed being a Democrat he faced criticism from the republican oppositions but due to his power he neutralized these condemnations by increasing their salaries and benefits.

In most cases, the Tweed Ring and the Tammany Hall did not agree even though there was double membership hence they were in continuous conflict. The reason as to why this corrupt ring stayed in power was due to their bribes to the voters through gifts and charities. Nevertheless, by the investigation done by New Yolk Times, Tweed was arrested for having stolen about 200 million dollars. In 1873 he was jailed for 12 years but later a higher court reduced this sentence to only one year. Upon his release, he faced another arrest by the New Yolk City which saw him answer to civil charges of stealing 6 million dollars. Afterward, he was released on a bail of 3million dollars, and this gave him an opportunity to escape to Spain. However, he was found and taken back to jail where he died (Goodnow 336).
Credit Mobilier Scandal
The Credit Mobilier scandal took place in 1872-1873. During this time, there existed the Union Pacific Railroad owned by particular main shareholders. These principal shareholders came together and formed the company known as the Credit Mobilier of America. Because this company was owned by major stockholders in the Railway Union, the group was given the mandate to construct the railway. Among the main shareholders was the George Francis Train who had the position of vice president in the union. He was the one who suggested for the formation of the company so that it can maximize the earnings of the shareholders as well as lessen their liability. The company started bribing the congressmen by issuing them with shares free of charge and also giving them the opportunity to get shares at a low price. In return, the company got subsidies from the Congress who did not hesitate to approve them as a way of appreciating the shareholders for free/cheap shares. Due to this extra funding on the company, it was making huge profits. In 1872 it was the period of election and the New York Sun exposed this act of corruption to the public. James G. Blaine was the house speaker, and he established a committee that took over the investigation. Those who revealed the corruption argued that the railroad only cost about 53 million dollars yet the Congress had given the company about 72 million dollars in contracts which were more than need to finish the railway. After the investigation, it was found that the company had gifted about thirty democrats and republicans with free shares. On the other hand, the scandal tarnished images of many congressmen. Among those whose image was ruined include Schuyler Colfax the exiting vice president, President Henry Wilson the entering vice president and some representatives like James A. Garfield. Finally, the people who had invested in the company were left bankrupt (Thomas 149).
Black Friday
When one mentions the term ‘Black Friday’ many people think of the day when the companies go black meaning they make a lot of profit. They think of the day after Thanksgiving when they go shopping and take advantage of the discounts offered by companies. However, in contrast to the thoughts of many, Black Friday has a deeper meaning than the ones mentioned above. In United States history, the term ‘Black Friday’ was first referred to in 1869 and it was referring to financial crises which saw the gold market of United States collapse. After the civil war, the American came into the era of reconstruction. In this period the government took an initiative to reconstruct the finances of the company by giving the huge public amount of debt. Among the debts that were issued included the greenbacks which were to be accepted in exchange for federal debt. The greenbacks were to be backed by credit only. Nonetheless, after the civil war, the public had a general believe that the government would use gold to redeem the greenbacks instead of credit. Due to this reason James Fisk and Jay Gould wanted to have power over the gold market so that they can benefit by getting high profits. These two lured Abel Corbin, Ulysses S. Grant’s brother in law, to support them in their arguments against the government selling gold. They also wanted Abel Corbin to persuade Grant so that he can appoint Daniel Butterfield as an assistant treasurer in the government. His position was to be of great benefit to them because Butterfield had agreed to inform them of the plans of the government to sell gold. Fisk and Gould embarked on a mission of buying gold. They bought so much gold and instead of selling stored it away. This made the prices of gold to hike. Grant became aware of what they had done; he introduced government gold into market increasing the supply which led to the decrease in prices of gold. Many investors like Corbin suffered significant losses as they tried to sell their holdings. Apparently, Fisk and Gould managed to benefit by selling their gold at a profit. James A. Garfield led the investigation that would see the two charged for their actions. Unfortunately, this information was never satisfied since Virginia Corbin and Grant’s wife the main witnesses could not testify. Despite, Grant not participating directly in the scandal, his relationship with Fisk and Gould made him part of the deal of trying to corner the gold market for their personal benefit (Boyer 200).
In conclusion, it’s clear that America’s postwar period was characterized by greedy leaders who were corrupt and wanted to satisfy their desires other than trying to build the country which had being destroyed by the war. Luckily the public through the press and other honest leaders discovered the acts of corruption and put them to an end.

Works Cited
Goodnow, Frank J. “The Tweed Ring in New York City.” The American Commonwealth.
London: Macmillan and Company (1888): 335-353.
Thomas, Andrew P. “Easing the Pressure on Pressure Groups: Toward a Constitutional Right to
Lobby.” Harv. JL & Pub. Pol’y 16 (1993): 149.
BOYER, ALLEN. “REVIEW OF K. ACKERMAN, THE GOLD RING: JIM FISK, JAY
GOULD, AND BLACK FRIDAY, 1869.” COLUM. BUS. L. REV. 1989 (1989): 195-427.