Thomas Nast 1840–1902

Name ______Class ______Date ______Life at the Turn of the 20th Century Biography

WHY HE MADE HISTORY Thomas Nast has been called the father of modern American political cartooning. He is best known for his cartoons exposing the corruption of Boss Tweed’s political machine.

As you read the biography below, think about how Thomas Nast influenced public opinion.

How did he use images to communicate? CORBIS © By the late 1800s the governments of most major cities were run by political machines. These informal groups of professional politicians controlled local government. Often these politicians were corrupt and abused the public trust. Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist, exposed the corruption of one of the biggest political machines of his day. His drawings led to the downfall of Boss Tweed’s Tammany Hall political machine. Thomas Nast was born in Germany in 1840, the son of a musician. His family immigrated to the U.S. and settled in New York City when he was six years old. Nast studied art at the National Academy of Design. At the age of 15, he was hired as a staff artist for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. By the time he was 18, Nast was a freelance artist for Harper’s Weekly and the New York Illustrated News. In 1862 Harper’s Weekly hired Nast to draw images of the Civil War. His editors hoped he would draw realistic battle scenes. Instead, Nast drew images that supported the Union and opposed slavery. Nast distorted and exaggerated the physical traits of his subjects to convey strong social and political messages. Abraham Lincoln praised Nast’s ability to inspire support for the Union. General Ulysses S. Grant said that Nast “did as much as any man to preserve the Union and bring the war to an end.” Nast’s political drawings continued to influence public opinion throughout the 1800s. He is perhaps best known for his cartoons of William “Boss” Tweed and his New York City political machine. Using political pressure, bribes, kickbacks, and fraud, Tweed controlled New York City’s government and made himself rich. Nast’s cartoons attacked Tweed’s corruption week after week. As public opinion turned, Tweed tried to stop the cartoons, even offering to pay to send Nast on a European tour. In the end, Nast’s cartoons helped lead to Tweed’s downfall in 1874. The Boss was convicted on more than 200 charges and sentenced to prison.

When Tweed later escaped to Spain, officials there used Nast’s drawings to capture Tweed. Nast drew some of our most familiar and popular images. In 1862 he created the jolly, round-bellied Santa Claus we know today. In the 1870s he created the symbols used today for America’s major political parties—a donkey for Democrats and an elephant for Republicans. Nast changed the nature of political cartooning. Before the Civil War, cartoonists used words to convey meaning in their cartoons. Nast used images to convey his messages. While he did sometimes use short captions and symbols, his images told the story. Nast lost nearly all of his savings in the 1884 failure of a brokerage house. Two years later he left Harper’s Weekly. Attempts to establish his own weekly journal failed, and Nast turned to oil painting. In 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt named Nast U.S. consul general to Ecuador. Not long after he got there, Thomas Nast caught yellow fever and died.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN? 1. Explain How did Nast’s cartoons differ from the cartoons of pre-Civil War artists?

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______2. Draw a Conclusion What was Nast’s most important contribution to American society? Explain your answer.

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ACTIVITY From a collection of Nast’s cartoons, select one to study in more detail. What was Nast trying to communicate through the images he used? Write a paragraph that describes the meaning of the cartoon. Be sure to identify and explains any symbols used. Present your cartoon to the class and discuss its meaning.