Today we spent most of the time reading George Plunkitt and what he called Honest Graft. It was an overview of how political machines work. Just because they helped people doesn't mean they weren't illegal or criminal. Similar to drug cartel's in Mexico today, while they may do some nice things for orphanages and such, it doesn't mean they are good. Political machines are nowhere near drug cartels but they did get most of their money illegally using graft. They then used that money to stay in power by providing services and assistance to their voters. We finished the class by beginning to look at why America turned on the Chinese and desired to have them excluded from coming to the US in the 1880's.
Chinese Exclusion
Honest vs Dishonest Graft