When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia : The Emergence of the Republican Machine, 1867-1933

McCaffery, Peter

ISBN 10: 0271009233 / ISBN 13: 9780271009230

Published by Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993

About this Item

Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Seller Inventory # GRP96829936

Bibliographic Details

• Title: When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia : The Emergence of the Republican Machine, 1867-1933
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0271009233
• ISBN 13: 9780271009230
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 1.473 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

In 1903, Muckraker Lincoln Steffens brought the city of Philadelphia lasting notoriety as "the most corrupt and the most contented" urban center in the nation. Famous for its colorful "feudal barons," from "King James" McManes and his "Gas Ring" to "Iz" Durham and "Sunny Jim" McNichol, Philadelphia offers the historian a classic case of the duel between bosses and reformers for control of the American city. But, strangely enough, Philadelphia's Republican machine has not been subject to critical examination until now. When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia challenges conventional wisdom on the political machine, which has it that party bosses controlled Philadelphia as early as the 1850s and maintained that control, with little change, until the Great Depression. According to Peter McCaffery, however, all bosses were not alike, and political power came only gradually over time. McManes's "Gas Ring" in the 1870s was not as powerful as the well-oiled machine ushered in by Matt Quay in the late 1880s. Through a careful analysis of city records, McCaffery identifies the beneficiaries of the emerging Republican Organization, which sections of the local electorate supported it, and why. He concludes that genuine boss rule did not emerge as the dominant institution in Philadelphia politics until just before the turn of the century. McCaffery considers the function that the machine filled in the life of the city. Did it ultimately serve its supporters and the community as a whole, as Steffens and recent commentators have suggested? No, says McCaffery. The romantic image of the boss as "good guy" of the urban drama is wholly undeserved.

About the Author

Peter McCaffery is Assistant Dean in the School of Creative Cultural and Social Studies at Thames Valley University in London.