Name
Date
REVIEW
CALIFORNIA CONTENT
STANDARD 11.2.4
Urban Political Machines
Specific Objective: Analyze the effect of urban political machines and responses to
them by immigrants and middle-class reformers.
Read the chart to answer questions on the next page.
Copyright © McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin Company
Urban Political Machines
• Emerged in major cities, such
as Baltimore, New York, and
San Francisco after the Civil
War
• Organizations that controlled
all of the activities of a political
party in a city
• Offered citizens services, jobs,
or favors in exchange for their
votes or financial support
• Run by city bosses who
controlled access to
government jobs and business
licenses and influenced the
courts and other agencies.
• Led to election fraud and
political corruption
Responses by Immigrants
• Got help with their most urgent
problems. City bosses offered
them jobs, housing, or help
with becoming full citizens
in exchange for their votes.
For this reason, many immigrants supported the political
machines.
• Some immigrants worked their
way up in the political machine
organization. Their knowledge
of the needs and language of
immigrants put them in a good
position to secure the
immigrants’ votes.
Responses by Middle-Class
Reformers
• Wanted city government to be
more responsive to citizens
and more efficient
• Distrusted immigrants’ power
in politics
• Galveston, Texas, pioneered
the use of a commission of
experts to run the city. By 1917,
commissions ran 500 cities.
• Other cities adopted councilmanager forms of government.
Citizens elected a city council,
which appointed a manager.
Usually, the manager was
someone trained in public
administration. Managers ran
nearly 250 cities by 1925.
• Some mayors instituted
reforms and encouraged citizens to take an active role in
managing cities.
CSS Specific Objective 11.2.4: Review 33
Name
Date
PRACTICE
CALIFORNIA CONTENT
STANDARD 11.2.4
Urban Political Machines
Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer.
4
Source: Copyright © Bettmann/Corbis
1
The cartoon portrays a city boss,
covered with a ledger book, taking
money from a safe. According to the
cartoon, city bosses are
A
careful record keepers.
B
corrupt and deceitful.
C
educated snobs.
D
shrewd business owners.
5
2 Political machines controlled local
elections by
A
exchanging services and favors for
votes.
B
launching strong campaigns for their
candidates.
C
monitoring voting booths for fairness.
D
sponsoring voter registration drives.
34 CSS Specific Objective 11.2.4: Practice
6
Which statement best describes why
immigrants often supported political
machines?
A
Political machines protected
immigrants from corrupt
governments.
B
Immigrants were particularly
concerned about reform in
government.
C
Political machines could offer help
and services to immigrants.
D
Immigrants were used to political
machines in Europe.
What role did some immigrants play
in running political machines?
A
They kept city bosses honest.
B
They served as a link between their
community and the bosses.
C
They controlled city business licenses.
D
Immigrants were unable to play a
role in running political machines.
Why did the city boss system lead to
corruption?
A
City bosses were not elected officials.
B
Growing cities had too many
problems.
C
Immigrants had too much influence
in cities.
D
One person had too much power.
Political machines were
organizations that
A
educated voters on both sides of
political issues.
B
monitored elections for fairness.
C
controlled a political party’s activities
in a city.
D
encouraged reform in government
hiring.
Copyright © McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin Company
3