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Thomas Nast (; ; September 26, 1840December 7, 1902) was a German-born American
caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Al ...
and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was a critic of Democratic Representative "Boss" Tweed and the
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
Democratic party
political machine In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership co ...
. He created a modern version of
Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...
(based on the traditional German figures of Sankt Nikolaus and
Weihnachtsmann Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...
) and the political symbol of the elephant for the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...
(GOP). Contrary to popular belief, Nast did not create
Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...
(the male personification of the United States Federal Government),
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
(the female personification of American values), or the Democratic donkey, although he did popularize those symbols through his artwork. Nast was associated with the magazine ''
Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...
'' from 1859 to 1860 and from 1862 until 1886. Nast's influence was so widespread that
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
once said, "Thomas Nast was our best teacher."


Early life and education

Nast was born in military barracks in
Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...
, Bavaria, Germany (now in
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
), as his father was a trombonist in the Bavarian 9th regiment band. Nast was the last child of Appolonia (
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Abriss) and Joseph Thomas Nast. He had an older sister Andie; two other siblings had died before he was born. His father held political convictions that put him at odds with the Bavarian government, so in 1846, Joseph Nast left Landau, enlisting first on a French
man-of-war The man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a Royal Navy expression for a powerful warship or frigate from the 16th to the 19th century. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually reserved for a ship armed wi ...
and subsequently on an American ship. He sent his wife and children to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where they arrived in June 1846, and at the end of his enlistment in 1850, he joined them there. Nast attended school in New York City from the age of six to 14. He did poorly at his lessons, but his passion for drawing was apparent from an early age. In 1854, at the age of 14, he was enrolled for about a year of study with Alfred Fredericks and Theodore Kaufmann, and then at the school of the
National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the ...
.Bryant, Edward. "Nast, Thomas". In ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Retrieved October 7, 2012. In 1856, he started working as a draftsman for ''
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper ''Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper'', later renamed ''Leslie's Weekly'', was an American illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1855 and published until 1922. It was one of several magazines started by publisher and illustrator Frank ...
''. His drawings appeared for the first time in ''
Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...
'' on March 19, 1859, when he illustrated a report exposing police corruption; Nast was 18 years old at that point.


Career

In February 1860, he went to England for the ''
New York Illustrated News New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
'' to depict one of the major sporting events of the era, the prize fight between the American
John C. Heenan John Camel Heenan, also known as the Benicia Boy (2 May 1834 – 28 October 1873) was an American bare-knuckle prize fighter. Though highly regarded, he had only three formal fights in his career, losing two and drawing one. Heenan is best rem ...
and the English
Thomas Sayers Tom Sayers (15 or 25 May 18268 November 1865) was an English bare-knuckle prize fighter. There were no formal weight divisions at the time, and although Sayers was only five feet eight inches tall and never weighed much more than 150 pounds, ...
sponsored by George Wilkes, publisher of ''Wilkes' Spirit of the Times''. A few months later, as artist for ''
The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...
'', he joined
Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pat ...
in Italy. Nast's cartoons and articles about the Garibaldi
military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...
to unify Italy captured the popular imagination in the U.S. In February 1861, he arrived back in New York. In September of that year, he married Sarah Edwards, whom he had met two years earlier. He left the ''New York Illustrated News'' to work again, briefly, for ''Frank Leslie's Illustrated News''. In 1862, he became a staff illustrator for ''Harper's Weekly''. In his first years with ''Harper's'', Nast became known especially for compositions that appealed to the sentiment of the viewer. An example is "Christmas Eve" (1862), in which a wreath frames a scene of a soldier's praying wife and sleeping children at home; a second wreath frames the soldier seated by a campfire, gazing longingly at small pictures of his loved ones. One of his most celebrated cartoons was "Compromise with the South" (1864), directed against those in the North who opposed the prosecution of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
. He was known for drawing battlefields in
border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...
and southern states. These attracted great attention, and Nast was referred to by President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
as "our best recruiting sergeant". After the war, Nast strongly opposed the anti-
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
policy of President
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...
, whom he depicted in a series of trenchant cartoons that marked "Nast's great beginning in the field of caricature".


Style and themes

Nast's cartoons frequently had numerous sidebars and panels with intricate subplots to the main cartoon. A Sunday feature could provide hours of entertainment and highlight social causes. After 1870, Nast favored simpler compositions featuring a strong central image. He based his likenesses on photographs. In the early part of his career, Nast used a brush and ink wash technique to draw tonal renderings onto the wood blocks that would be carved into printing blocks by staff engravers. The bold
cross-hatching Hatching (french: hachure) is an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects by drawing (or painting or scribing) closely spaced parallel lines. (It is also used in monochromatic representations of heraldry to indicate what the ...
that characterized Nast's mature style resulted from a change in his method that began with a cartoon of June 26, 1869, which Nast drew onto the wood block using a pencil, so that the engraver was guided by Nast's linework. This change of style was influenced by the work of the English illustrator John Tenniel. A recurring theme in Nast's cartoons is anti-Catholicism. Nast was baptized a Catholic at the Saint Maria Catholic Church in Landau, and for a time received Catholic education in New York City. When Nast converted to Protestantism remains unclear, but his conversion was likely formalized upon his marriage in 1861. (The family were practicing Episcopalians at St. Peter's in Morristown.) Nast considered the Catholic Church to be a threat to American values. According to his biographer, Fiona Deans Halloran, Nast was "intensely opposed to the encroachment of Catholic ideas into public education". When Tammany Hall proposed a new tax to support parochial Catholic schools, he was outraged. His savage 1871 cartoon "The American River Ganges", depicts Catholic bishops, guided by Rome, as crocodiles moving in to attack American school children as Irish politicians prevent their escape. He portrayed public support for religious education as a threat to democratic government. The authoritarian papacy in Rome, ignorant Irish Americans, and corrupt politicians at Tammany Hall figured prominently in his work. Nast favored nonsectarian public education that mitigated differences of religion and ethnicity. However, in 1871 Nast and ''Harper's Weekly'' supported the Republican-dominated board of education in Long Island in requiring students to hear passages from the
King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of ...
, and his educational cartoons sought to raise anti-Catholic and anti-Irish fervor among Republicans and independents. Nast expressed
anti-Irish sentiment Anti-Irish sentiment includes oppression, persecution, discrimination, or hatred of Irish people as an ethnic group or a nation. It can be directed against the island of Ireland in general, or directed against Irish emigrants and their descendan ...
by depicting them as violent drunks. He used Irish people as a symbol of mob violence, machine politics, and the exploitation of immigrants by political bosses. Nast's emphasis on Irish violence may have originated in scenes he witnessed in his youth. Nast was physically small and had experienced bullying as a child.Halloran 2012, p. 35. In the neighborhood in which he grew up, acts of violence by the Irish against black Americans were commonplace. In 1863, he witnessed the New York City draft riots in which a mob composed mainly of Irish immigrants burned the
Colored Orphan Asylum The Colored Orphan Asylum was an institution in New York City, open from 1836 to 1946. It housed on average four hundred children annually and was mostly managed by women. Its first location was on Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets in M ...
to the ground. His experiences may explain his sympathy for black Americans and his "antipathy to what he perceived as the brutish, uncontrollable Irish thug". An 1876 Nast cartoon combined a caricature of Charles Francis Adams Sr with anti-Irish sentiment and anti-
Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood, secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicate ...
ship. In general, his political cartoons supported American Indians and
Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...
s. He advocated the abolition of slavery, opposed
racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...
, and deplored the violence of the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...
. In one of his more famous cartoons, the phrase "Worse than Slavery" is printed on a
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
depicting a despondent black family holding their dead child; in the background is a
lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
and a schoolhouse destroyed by arson. Two members of the Ku Klux Klan and
White League The White League, also known as the White Man's League, was a white paramilitary terrorist organization started in the Southern United States in 1874 to intimidate freedmen into not voting and prevent Republican Party political organizing. Its f ...
,
paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
insurgent groups in the Reconstruction-era South, shake hands in their mutually destructive work against black Americans. File:"This is a White Man's Government!" (September 1868), by Thomas Nast.jpg, September 1868 Nast cartoon "This is a White Man's Government!" depicting left to right a stereotyped Irishman (representing a Northern Democratic party member), an ex- Confederate soldier (
Nathan B. Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was a prominent Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth ...
, representing a Southern Democratic party member), and Democratic party chairman August Belmont "triumphing" over a prostrate USCT soldier File:TheUsualIrishWayofDoingThings.jpg, ''The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things'', a Nast cartoon depicting a drunken Irishman lighting a powder keg. Published in ''Harper's Weekly'', September 2, 1871 File:"Move on!" Has the Native American no rights that the naturalized American is bound to respect? - - Th. Nast. LCCN2001696066.tif, 1871 Nast cartoon: "Move on! Has the Native American no rights that the naturalized American is bound to respect?" (while naturalized foreigners had the vote, Native Americans had no vote, as they were not considered United States citizens, which was not remedied until 1924.) File:Every dog...has his day - Red gentleman (Indian) to yellow gentleman (Chinese) "Pale face 'fraid you crowd him out, as he did me." - Th. Nast. LCCN2002706054.jpg, 1879 Nast cartoon: "Red gentleman (Indian) to yellow gentleman (Chinese) "Pale face 'fraid you crowd him out, as he did me." In the left background an African American remarks "My day is coming". File:NastRepublicanElephant.jpg, Nast's cartoon "Third Term Panic". Inspired by the tale of The Ass in the Lion's Skin and a rumor of President Grant seeking a third term, the Democratic donkey (labeled "Caesarism") panics the other political animals, including a Republican Party
elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...
. File:The Union as It Was.jpg, October 24, 1874, Nast cartoon "The Union as it was...This is a White Mans Government.... the Lost cause...Worse than Slavery" File:Colored rule.jpg, "Colored Rule in a Reconstructed(?) State", ''Harper's Weekly'', March 14, 1874. By this point, Nast had given up on racial idealism and caricatured black legislators as incompetent buffoons.
Despite Nast's championing of minorities, Morton Keller writes that later in his career "racist stereotypy of blacks began to appear: comparable to those of the Irish—though in contrast with the presumably more highly civilized Chinese."Keller, Morton
"The World of Thomas Nast"
Retrieved February 24, 2018.
Nast introduced into American cartoons the practice of modernizing scenes from Shakespeare for a political purpose. Nast also brought his approach to bear on the usually prosaic almanac business, publishing an annual ''Nast's Illustrated Almanac'' from 1871 to 1875. '' The Green Bag'' republished all five of Nast's almanacs in the 2011 edition of its ''Almanac & Reader''.


Campaign against the Tweed Ring

Nast's drawings were instrumental in the downfall of
Boss Tweed William Magear Tweed (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), often erroneously referred to as William "Marcy" Tweed (see below), and widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany ...
, the powerful
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
leader. As commissioner of public works for New York City, Tweed led a ring that by 1870 had gained total control of the city's government, and controlled "a working majority in the State Legislature". Tweed and his associates— Peter Barr Sweeny (park commissioner),
Richard B. Connolly Richard Barrett Connolly (1810 Dunmanway, County Cork, Ireland – May 30, 1880 Marseille, France) was an American politician from New York. Life He came to New York City in 1826, and worked first for auctioneers John Haggerty & Sons, and later ...
(controller of public expenditures), and Mayor
A. Oakey Hall Abraham Oakey Hall (July 26, 1826 – October 7, 1898) was an American politician, lawyer, and writer. He served as Mayor of New York from 1869 to 1872 as a Democrat. Hall, known as "Elegant Oakey", was a model of serenity and respectability. ...
—defrauded the city of many millions of dollars by grossly inflating expenses paid to contractors connected to the Ring. Nast, whose cartoons attacking Tammany corruption had appeared occasionally since 1867, intensified his focus on the four principal players in 1870 and especially in 1871. Tweed so feared Nast's campaign that he sent an emissary to offer the artist a bribe of $100,000, which was represented as a gift from a group of wealthy benefactors to enable Nast to study art in Europe. Feigning interest, Nast negotiated for more before finally refusing an offer of $500,000 with the words, "Well, I don't think I'll do it. I made up my mind not long ago to put some of those fellows behind the bars". Nast pressed his attack in the pages of ''Harper's'', and the Ring was removed from power in the election of November 7, 1871. Tweed was arrested in 1873 and convicted of fraud. When Tweed attempted to escape justice in December 1875 by fleeing to
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
and from there to
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, officials in
Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...
were able to identify the fugitive by using one of Nast's cartoons.


Party politics

Nast was the first journalist who did not own his newspaper to play a major role in shaping public opinion. His cartoons were influential in deciding five Presidential elections:
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
(1864);
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
(1868 and 1872); Rutherford B. Hayes (1876); — all Republicans — and Democrat
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
(1884). His biting cartoons ridiculed the losers: George B. McClellan (1864); Horatio Seymour (1868);
Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and editor of the '' New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressman from New York ...
(1872); Samuel J. Tilden (1876); and
James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representati ...
(1884). Nast effectively sat out the 1880 election because he distrusted Republican James A. Garfield (who won) and admired Democrat
Winfield Scott Hancock Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a United States Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service ...
, a Civil War hero and Nast’s personal friend. In addition to his talent, creativity and the repetitive impact of his cartoons, Nast benefited from his lack of meaningful competition before '' Puck'' arrived in 1877, and from the financial strength, editorial consistency and reach of '' Harper’s Weekly''. America’s leading illustrated newspaper’s circulation was about 120,000 during the Civil War, 200,000 during subsequent Presidential elections, and almost 300,000 during the height of the Tweed campaign. With passalong readership, Nast’s audience reached 500,000 to more than a million viewers. The single most important and influential cartoon that Nast ever drew appeared in '' Harper’s Weekly'' on August 24, 1864 (post-dated September 3) as the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well ...
was assembling in Chicago to nominate McClellan (whom Lincoln had fired as his top Union general two years earlier) for President. “Compromise with the South — Dedicated to the Chicago Convention” captured the very crux of the existential emotional and political stake at issue in the forthcoming election. Nast’s scathing caricature featured an arrogant, exultant
Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as ...
shaking hands with a crippled Union soldier who — with his head bowed and his only leg shackled to a ball and chain — humbly accepted it. Columbia, representing the Union and modeled by Nast’s wife Sallie, wept at the gravestone marked “In Memory of Our Union Heroes Who Fell in a Useless War.” As Davis’s boot stomped on a Union grave and broke the sword of Northern Power, the cat-o’-nine-tails in his left hand was ready to flog his vanquished enemies. A Black family in chains despaired behind Davis. The Union flag, upside down in distress, recited it successes, including emancipation, on its stripes; the Confederate flag detailed a list of atrocities. On October 16 — almost eight weeks after Nast’s cartoon appeared — the ''Richmond Enquirer'' published some more extreme demands which were not in the Democratic platform. Lincoln’s reelection managers took Nast’s cartoon, added “The Rebel Terms of Peace,” and made more than a million copies as campaign posters. In combination with General William T. Sherman’s capture of Atlanta on September 1 and General Phil Sheridan’s victory in the Shenandoah Valley on October 19, “A Traitor’s Peace” probably was the single most effective visual campaign advertisement in any American Presidential election before or since. Nast played an important role during the presidential election in 1868, and Ulysses S. Grant attributed his victory to "the sword of Sheridan and the pencil of Thomas Nast." In the 1872 presidential campaign, Nast's ridicule of
Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and editor of the '' New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressman from New York ...
's candidacy was especially merciless. After Grant's victory in 1872,
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has pr ...
wrote the artist a letter saying: "Nast, you more than any other man have won a prodigious victory for Grant—I mean, rather, for Civilization and Progress." Nast became a close friend of President Grant and the two families shared regular dinners until Grant's death in 1885. Nast and his wife moved to
Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...
of the
currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...
, notably with his famous rag-baby cartoons, and he played an important part in securing Rutherford B. Hayes' ultimate victory in the presidential election in 1876. Hayes later remarked that Nast was "the most powerful, single-handed aid ehad", but Nast quickly became disillusioned with President Hayes, whose lenient policy towards the South in removing federal troops he opposed. The death of the ''Weekly''s publisher,
Fletcher Harper Fletcher Harper (January 31, 1806 – May 29, 1877) was an American publisher in the early-to-mid 19th century. Fletcher Harper was born January 31, 1806, in Newtown, New York. He was the youngest of four sons born to Joseph Henry Harper, (1750� ...
, in 1877 resulted in a changed relationship between Nast and his editor
George William Curtis George William Curtis (February 24, 1824 – August 31, 1892) was an American writer and public speaker born in Providence, Rhode Island. An early Republican, he spoke in favor of African-American equality and civil rights both before and after ...
. His cartoons appeared less frequently, and he was not given free rein to criticize Hayes or his policies. Beginning in the late 1860s, Nast and Curtis had frequently differed on political matters and particularly on the role of cartoons in political discourse.Halloran 2012, p. 228. Curtis believed that the powerful weapon of caricature should be reserved for "the Ku-Klux Democracy" of the opposition party, and did not approve of Nast's cartoons assailing Republicans such as
Carl Schurz Carl Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He immigrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent member of the new ...
and Charles Sumner who opposed policies of the Grant administration. Nast said of Curtis: "When he attacks a man with his pen it seems as if he were apologizing for the act. I try to hit the enemy between the eyes and knock him down." Fletcher Harper consistently supported Nast in his disputes with Curtis. After his death, his nephews, Joseph W. Harper Jr. and John Henry Harper, assumed control of the magazine and were more sympathetic to Curtis's arguments for rejecting cartoons that contradicted his editorial positions. Between 1877 and 1884, Nast's work appeared only sporadically in ''Harper's'', which began publishing the milder political cartoons of William Allen Rogers. Although his sphere of influence was diminishing, from this period date dozens of his pro-Chinese immigration drawings, often implicating the Irish as instigators. Nast blamed U.S. Senator
James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representati ...
(R-Maine) for his support of the Chinese Exclusion Act and depicted Blaine with the same zeal used against Tweed. Nast was one of the few editorial artists who took up for the cause of the Chinese in America. During the presidential election of 1880, Nast felt that he could not support the Republican candidate, James A. Garfield, because of Garfield's involvement in the
Crédit Mobilier scandal The Crédit Mobilier scandal () was a two-part fraud conducted from 1864 to 1867 by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Crédit Mobilier of America construction company in the building of the eastern portion of the First transcontinental railroad ...
; and did not wish to attack the Democratic candidate,
Winfield Scott Hancock Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a United States Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service ...
, his personal friend and a Union general whose integrity commanded respect. As a result, "Nast's commentary on the 1880 campaign lacked passion", according to Halloran. He submitted no cartoons to ''Harper's'' between the end of March 1883 and March 1, 1884, partly because of illness. In 1884, Curtis and Nast agreed that they could not support the Republican candidate
James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representati ...
, a proponent of high tariffs and the spoils system whom they perceived as personally corrupt. Instead, they became Mugwumps by supporting the Democratic candidate,
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
, whose platform of
civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
reform appealed to them. Nast's cartoons helped Cleveland become the first Democrat to be elected President since 1856. In the words of the artist's grandson, Thomas Nast St Hill, "it was generally conceded that Nast's support won Cleveland the small margin by which he was elected. In this his last national political campaign, Nast had, in fact, 'made a president'." Nast's tenure at ''Harper's Weekly'' ended with his Christmas illustration of December 1886. It was said by the journalist Henry Watterson that "in quitting ''Harper's Weekly'', Nast lost his forum: in losing him, ''Harper's Weekly'' lost its political importance." Fiona Deans Halloran says "the former is true to a certain extent, the latter unlikely." Nast lost most of his fortune in 1884 after investing in a banking and brokerage firm operated by the swindler Ferdinand Ward. In need of income, Nast returned to the lecture circuit in 1884 and 1887. Although these tours were successful, they were less remunerative than the lecture series of 1873.


After ''Harper's Weekly''

In 1890, Nast published ''Thomas Nast's Christmas Drawings for the Human Race''. He contributed cartoons in various publications, notably the ''
Illustrated American ''The Illustrated American'' was a weekly American periodical published from 1890 until 1900. It primarily covered current events (with illustrations), but also contained other miscellaneous content and some fiction.
'', but was unable to regain his earlier popularity. His mode of cartooning had come to be seen as outdated, and a more relaxed style exemplified by the work of Joseph Keppler was in vogue. Health problems, which included pain in his hands which had troubled him since the 1870s, affected his ability to work. In 1892, he took control of a failing magazine, the ''New York Gazette'', and renamed it ''Nast's Weekly''. Now returned to the Republican fold, Nast used the ''Weekly'' as a vehicle for his cartoons supporting
Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
for president. The magazine had little impact and ceased publication seven months after it began, shortly after Harrison's defeat. The failure of ''Nast's Weekly'' left Nast with few financial resources. He received a few commissions for oil paintings and drew book illustrations. In 1902, he applied for a job in the State Department, hoping to secure a consular position in western Europe. Although no such position was available, President
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
was an admirer of the artist and offered him an appointment as the United States' Consul General to
Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...
,
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
in
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
.Halloran 2012, p. 278. Nast accepted the position and traveled to Ecuador on July 1, 1902. During a subsequent
yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...
outbreak, Nast remained on the job, helping numerous diplomatic missions and businesses escape the contagion. He contracted the disease and died on December 7 of that year. His body was returned to the United States, where he was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in
The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.


Legacy

Nast's depictions of iconic characters, such as
Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...
and Uncle Sam, are widely credited as forming the basis of popular depictions used today. Additional contributions by Nast include: *
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...
elephant * Democratic Party donkey (although the donkey was associated with the Democrats as early as 1837, Nast popularized the representation) * Tammany Hall tiger, a symbol of
Boss Tweed William Magear Tweed (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), often erroneously referred to as William "Marcy" Tweed (see below), and widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany ...
's
political machine In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership co ...
*
Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...
, a lanky avuncular personification of the United States (first drawn in the 1830s; Nast and John Tenniel added the goatee) * John Confucius, a variation of John Chinaman, a traditional caricature of a Chinese immigrant * The Fight at Dame Europa's School, 1871 * ''Peace In Union'', a by oil painting which depicts the surrender of General
Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nor ...
to General
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
at Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865. The painting was a commission from Herman Kohlsaat in 1894. Upon its completion in 1895 it was presented as a gift to the citizens of Galena, Illinois. In December 2011, a proposal to include Nast in the
New Jersey Hall of Fame The New Jersey Hall of Fame is an organization that honors individuals from the U.S. state of New Jersey who have made contributions to society and the world beyond. The Hall of Fame is a designated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, overseen by ...
in 2012 caused controversy. ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported that because of his stereotypical cartoons of the Irish, a number of objections were raised about Nast's work. For example, "The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things" portrays an Irishman as being sub-human, drunk, and violent.


Thomas Nast Award

The Thomas Nast Award has been presented each year since 1968 by the
Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...
Overseas Press Club of American website. Accessed Sept. 7, 2015. to an editorial cartoonist for the "best cartoons on international affairs." Past winners include
Signe Wilkinson Signe Wilkinson (born July 25, 1950, in Wichita Falls, Texas) is an editorial cartoonist best known for her work at the ''Philadelphia Daily News''. Her work is described as having a "unique style and famous irreverence." Wilkinson is the only f ...
, Kevin (KAL) Kallaugher, Mike Peters, Clay Bennett,
Mike Luckovich Michael Edward Luckovich ( ; born January 28, 1960) is a liberal editorial cartoonist who has worked for ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' since 1989. He is the 2005 winner of the Reuben, the National Cartoonists Society's top award for cart ...
,
Tom Toles Thomas Gregory Toles (born October 22, 1951) is a retired American political cartoonist. He is the winner of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. His cartoons typically presented progressive viewpoints. Similar to Oliphant's use o ...
,
Herbert Block Herbert Lawrence Block, commonly known as Herblock (October13, 1909October7, 2001), was an American editorial cartoonist and author best known for his commentaries on national domestic and foreign policy. During the course of a career stretchi ...
, Tony Auth, Jeff MacNelly, Dick Locher, Jim Morin, Warren King, Tom Darcy, Don Wright and
Patrick Chappatte Patrick Chappatte (known simply as Chappatte) (b. February 22, 1967, in Karachi, Pakistan) is a Lebanese-Swiss cartoonist known for his work for ''Le Temps'', '' NZZ am Sonntag'' , the German news magazine ''Der Spiegel'', ''The New York Times In ...
. In December 2018, The OPC Board of Governors decided to remove Nast's name from the award noting that Nast "exhibited an ugly bias against immigrants, the Irish and Catholics". OPC President Pancho Bernasconi stated "Once we became aware of how some groups and ethnicities were portrayed in a manner that is not consistent with how journalists work and view their role today, we voted to remove his name from the award."


Thomas Nast Prize

The Thomas Nast Prize for editorial cartooning has been awarded by the Thomas Nast Foundation (located in Nast's birthplace of
Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
) since 1978 when it was first given to Jeff MacNelly. The prize is awarded periodically to one German cartoonist and one North American cartoonist. Winners receive 1,300 Euros, a trip to Landau, and the Thomas Nast medal. The American advisory committee includes Nast's descendant Thomas Nast III of
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...
. Other winners of the Thomas Nast Prize include Jim Borgman, Paul Szep, Pat Oliphant,
David Levine David Levine (December 20, 1926 – December 29, 2009) was an American artist and illustrator best known for his caricatures in ''The New York Review of Books''. Jules Feiffer has called him "the greatest caricaturist of the last half of th ...
, Jim Morin, and Tony Auth.


"Nasty" does not come from Nast

The word " nasty" is erroneously thought to originate from Nast's name, due to the tone of many of his cartoons. In reality, the word's origins are unclear, but it is ancient, with written evidence that dates to the 1400s.


Notes


References and further reading

* Adler, John, and Draper Hill. ''Doomed by Cartoon: How Cartoonist Thomas Nast and the New York Times Brought Down Boss Tweed and His Ring of Thieves'' (Morgan James Publishing, 2008
online
* Barrett, Ross. "On Forgetting: Thomas Nast, the Middle Class, and the Visual Culture of the Draft Riots." ''Prospects.'' 29 (2005): 25-55
online
* Boime, Albert. "Thomas Nast and French Art," ''American Art Journal.'' 4#1 (1972), pp. 43–6
in JSTOR
* * Dewey, Donald. ''The Art of Ill Will: The Story of American Political Cartoons''. (NYU Press, 2007).
online
* Halloran, Fiona Deans (2012). ''Thomas Nast: The Father of Modern Political Cartoons''. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press. . Scholarly biograph
online
** Orr, Brooke Speer. "Crusading Cartoonist: Thomas Nast,'' ''Reviews in American History'' (2014) 42#2 pp 292–95; review of Halloran (2012) * Jarman, Baird. "The Graphic Art of Thomas Nast: Politics and Propriety in Postbellum Publishing." ''American Periodicals'' 20.2 (2010): 156-189
online
* Pflueger, Lynda. ''Thomas Nast: political cartoonist'' (2000), for middle school
online
* Vinson, John Chalmers. ''Thomas Nast: political cartoonist'' (University of Georgia Press, 2014). * Wilde, Lukas RA, and Shane Denson. "Historicizing and Theorizing Pre-Narrative Figures—Who is Uncle Sam?." ''Narrative'' 30.2 (2022): 152-168
online
* Worth, Richard. ''Thomas Nast : honesty in the pursuit of corruption'' (1998
online
for secondary schools


Primary sources

* Nast, T., & St. Hill, T. N. (1974). ''Thomas Nast: Cartoons and Illustrations''. (New York: Dover Publications)
online
*
online


External links

*
Thomas Nast collection at Princeton University Library
600 of Nast's original drawings and published wood engravings
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State U.

National History Day Project about Thomas Nast

Elections 1860-1912
as covered by ''Harper's Weekly''; news, editorials, cartoons (many by Nast) *
Nast cartoons from Ohio State University



Nast cartoons focused on Chinese Exclusion. "Illustrating Chinese Exclusion"




* * * ttp://cdm16100.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15387coll2 The Thomas Nast Collection--Morristown & Morris Township Public Library, NJ
Thomas Nast on
History Buff.
"Emancipation,"
a work by Thomas Nast from 1865 via the
World Digital Library The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress. The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume ...

Thomas Nast takes down Tammany: A cartoonist's crusade against a political boss
from th
Museum of the City of New York Collections blog

The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum: Thomas Nast
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nast, Thomas 1840 births 1902 deaths Activists for African-American civil rights American caricaturists American editorial cartoonists American satirists American wood engravers Anti-Irish sentiment Anti-Catholic activists American anti-corruption activists William M. Tweed Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Converts to Protestantism from Catholicism Critics of the Catholic Church Deaths from yellow fever Former Roman Catholics German emigrants to the United States German Protestants New York (state) Republicans New Jersey Republicans Infectious disease deaths in Ecuador People of the American Civil War People of New York (state) in the American Civil War People from Landau People from Morristown, New Jersey People from the Palatinate (region) Civil rights in the United States