Student Resources

• William “Boss” Tweed and Immoderation (Extremism) Narrative  
• Anticipate: Moderation/Immoderation Organizer 
• Primary Source Analysis: Political Cartoon
• Virtue in Action: My Moderation Log 

Teacher Resources

• Analysis Questions 
• Virtue in Action  
• Journal Activity
• Sources for Further Reading  
• Virtue Across the Curriculum  

• Immoderation (extremism): Acting in excess or to an extreme. Lacking restraint. 
• Moderation: the avoidance of excess of extremes. 
• Tenements: Low-rental apartment buildings, typically rundown, whose facilities and maintenance barely meet minimum standards. A room or set of rooms tenanted as a separate dwelling, apartment; flat. 
• Patronage positions: In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) as a reward for working toward victory.

Procedures 

• The following lesson asks students to apply the virtue of moderation and identify the vice of immoderation or extremism to their own lives and to a historical example of William “Boss” Tweed.  
• Students will engage with the story of William “Boss” Tweed as a warning against immoderation as they consider the question: Why is greed associated with immoderation destructive to a healthy political system and civil society?  
• The main activity in this lesson requires students to read and analyze a narrative that explores how Tweed engaged in immoderation. Students may work individually, in pairs, or small groups as best fits your classroom. The analysis questions provided can be used to help students comprehend and think critically about the content. As the teacher, you can decide which questions best fit your students’ needs and time restraints.   
• Additionally, the lesson includes primary source political cartoons for students to analyze how the press interpreted and reported on Tweed’s work and actions.  
• Lastly, the lesson includes sources used in this lesson for further reading and suggestions for cross-curricular connections. 

Anticipate

• Scaffolding Note: You may use this activity to prepare your students and introduce the vocabulary and ideas discussed in this lesson. 
  • Immoderation (extremism): Acting in excess or to an extreme. Lacking restraint. 
  • Moderation: the avoidance of excess of extremes. 
• Distribute the Anticipate: Moderation/Immoderation Organizer and review the directions with students. 
  • Directions: The Greek philosopher Aristotle urged people to seek a “golden mean” between extremes in their behavior, thoughts, and habits. In other words, Aristotle thought that any habit or thought could be practiced with moderation, rather than extremism. Using the examples in the chart below, think about what would happen if you practiced the extreme of that behavior: too little or a deficiency, or too much, or immoderation or extremism. The first behavior has been done for you as an example.       
• Have students fill in the other two behaviors/habits on the chart on their own with an option to create two of their own. Note that they only need to complete the portion of the chart that applies to Boss Tweed. They will revisit the same activity when they learn about Huey Long. 

Engage

• Pair students or create small groups to share their responses on the Moderation Organizer.   
• Ask for volunteers to share their responses. 
• Ask students to look for patterns in the responses the class discussed: 
  • What happens when our habits or behaviors go to an extreme?
  • Do you agree with Aristotle that moderation is the best course of action? Why or why not?

Explore

• Transition to the William “Boss” Tweed and Immoderation (Extremism) Narrative
• Scaffolding Note: It may be helpful to instruct students to do a close reading of the text. Close reading asks students to read and reread a text purposefully to ensure students understand and make connections. For more detailed instructions on how to use close reading in your classroom, use these directions. Additional reading strategies are provided for other options that may meet your students’ needs.  
• Essential Vocabulary: 
  • Immoderation (extremism): Acting in excess or to an extreme. Lacking restraint. 
  • Moderation: The avoidance of excess or extremes. 
  • Tenements: Low-rental apartment buildings, typically rundown, whose facilities and maintenance barely meet minimum standards. A room or set of rooms tenanted as a separate dwelling, apartment; flat. 
  • Patronage positions: In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) as a reward for working toward victory. 
• Transition to the analysis questions. Have students work individually, with partners, or as a whole class to answer the questions.  
  • Scaffolding Note: If there are questions that are not necessary to your students’ learning or time restraints, then you can remove those questions.   
• Analysis Questions  
  • What problems did Boss Tweed and his political machine attempt to address in New York City?  
  • What are some examples of immoderation of the Tweed Ring?  
  • How did the greed of the Tweed Ring contribute to the corruption of the political system?  
  • Did Boss Tweed accept justice for his greed and illegal activities?  
  • Did he take responsibility for his actions? Or, did he seek to evade justice and responsibility to the end of his life? Explain your answers.   
  • Why is immoderation, or acting without self-restraint, so destructive to a healthy political system and civil society? 
• Transition to and distribute Primary Source Analysis: Political Cartoon
  • Have students analyze the political cartoons of Boss Tweed individually, in pairs/groups, or as a class. Collect or lead a class discussion on student answers. 

Assess & Reflect

Virtue in Action  

• Transition: A healthy society is based on the virtues of the people. In other words, the actions of individuals like you and me matter, and we should try to govern ourselves by these virtues as well. Over the next week, we will keep a log of the times when we act with moderation or immoderation and then reflect on what we learned.  
• Distribute and review the directions and examples for the My Moderation Log activity.  
• Scaffolding note: Give students the option to use events they observe rather than from their own life.  

AND/OR

Immoderation (Extremism) Journal Activity  

• Have students self-reflect and answer the following question in their journal: 
  • Are there ways that American culture promotes immoderation and fulfilling desires without self-restraint? How do advertising, media, social media, movies, or television shows promote rampant consumerism, debt, and greed? What effect does that have on our civil society? What people and institutions can you think of that contradict that selfishness and greed? 

Extend

• You may use the following resources to extend your lesson on Boss Tweed. Below is a podcast and video to explore with students.  
  • Listen to the following podcast: Boss Tweed, New York City, and the Political Machine: https://bit.ly/46be4x4  
  • Watch the following video on Boss Tweed: https://bit.ly/3Cnerqn 

Sources & Further Reading  

• Explore the following list for additional sources and further reading on William “Boss” Tweed.  
  • Ackerman, Kenneth D. Boss Tweed: The Rise and Fall of the Corrupt Pol Who Conceived the Soul of Modern New York. New York: Carroll and Graf, 2005. 
  • Allswang, John M. Bosses, Machines, and Urban Votes. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986.  
  • Lynch, Dennis Tilden. Boss Tweed: The Story of a Grim Generation. New Brunswick: Transaction, 2002.  
  • Trachtenberg, Alan. The Incorporation of America: Culture and Society in the Gilded Age. New York: Hill and Wang, 1982.  

Virtue Across the Curriculum  

• Below are corresponding literature suggestions to help you teach about immoderation across the curriculum. Sample prompts have been provided for the key corresponding works. For the other suggested works, or others that are already part of your curriculum, create your own similar prompts.    
  • Batman Begins (2005), directed by Christopher Nolan  
    • Bruce Wayne is a billionaire orphan who is trained in martial arts and assumes the identity of Batman to fight crime. The city of Gotham is filled with corrupt city officials and police officers, overrun by vice and crime, and controlled by a crime boss. As Batman, Wayne joins forces with a single good officer, Jim Gordon, and his friend, assistant district attorney, Rachel Dawes, to fight the rampant greed and corruption that plagues Gotham and its city government. Wayne never loses faith in the citizens’ desire and ability to create a better Gotham.  
  • Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)  
    • Veruca Salt is a greedy and spoiled child who demands that her every wish be fulfilled. In this early scene in the book (and in two different versions of the movie), Veruca screams at her father to spend a fortune on candy bars that might hold a Golden Ticket to tour Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.  
    • Her greed will later get her into trouble and cause Mr. Wonka not to select her to inherit the factory.  
    • MR. SALT:  “As soon as my little girl told me that she simply had to have one of those Golden Tickets, I went out into the town and started buying up all the Wonka candy bars I could lay my hands on. Thousands of them, I must have bought. Hundreds of thousands! But three days went by, and we had no luck. Oh, it was terrible! My little Veruca got more and more upset each day, and every time I went home she would scream at me, ‘Where’s my Golden Ticket! I want my Golden Ticket!’ And she would lie for hours on the floor, kicking and yelling in the most disturbing way.”
  • OTHER WORKS
    • The Adventures of Robin Hood, by Roger Lancelyn Green  
    • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain  
    • The Gangs of New York, (2002) directed by Martin Scorsese  
    • “Midas—and Others” in Mythology by Edith Hamilton  
    • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, (1939) directed by Frank Capra  
    • The Untouchables, (1987) directed by Brian De Palma