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Thomas Nast

Portrait from Harper's Weekly, 1867
Born September 27, 1840(1840-09-27)
Landau, Germany
Died December 7, 1902
Guayaquil, Ecuador

Thomas Nast (September 27, 1840 – December 7, 1902) was a famous German-American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist in the 19th century and is considered to be the father of American political cartooning. Events 489 - Odoacer attacks Theodoric at the Battle of Verona and is defeated again Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Landau or Landau in der Pfalz (pop 41821 is an autonomous ( kreisfrei) city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route" Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Guayaquil (waʝaˈkil officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest and the most populous City in Ecuador, as well as that nation's main port For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Ecuador topics. Events 489 - Odoacer attacks Theodoric at the Battle of Verona and is defeated again Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing Caricatures List of caricaturists Oguz Aral (1936-2004 William Auerback-Levy An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws Cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary

Contents

Youth and education

He was born in the barracks of Landau, Germany (in the Rhine Palatinate), the son of a trombonist in the 9th regiment Bavarian band. Landau or Landau in der Pfalz (pop 41821 is an autonomous ( kreisfrei) city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route" Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Palatinate (Pfalz Pfälzer dialect Palz) historically also Rhenish Palatinate (palatinatum Renensis Rheinpfalz is a region in south-western Germany The trombone is a Musical instrument in the brass family Like all brass instruments it is a lip-reed Aerophone: sound is produced when the player’s Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 The elder Nast's liberal political convictions put him at odds with the German government, and in 1846 he left Landau, enlisting first on a French man-of-war and subsequently on an American ship. A man-of-war (also man of war, man-o'-war or simply man) is an armed naval vessel [1] He sent his wife and children to New York City, and at the end of his enlistment in 1849 he joined them there. The City of New York Thomas Nast's passion for drawing was apparent from an early age, and he was enrolled for about a year of study with Alfred Fredericks and Theodore Kaufmann and at the school of the National Academy of Design. The National Academy of Design, in New York City, now called simply The National Academy is an honorary association of American Artists with a Museum After school (at the age of 15), he started working in 1855 as a draftsman for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper; three years afterwards for Harper's Weekly. Harper's Weekly ( A Journal of Civilization) was an American political Magazine based in New York City.

Career

Photograph of Nast taken between 1860 and 1875 by Mathew Brady or Levin Handy
Photograph of Nast taken between 1860 and 1875 by Mathew Brady or Levin Handy

Nast drew for Harper's Weekly from 1859 to 1860 and from 1862 until 1886. Note that Mathew B Brady spelled his first name with only one "t" Harper's Weekly ( A Journal of Civilization) was an American political Magazine based in New York City. In February 1860 he went to England for the New York Illustrated News to depict one of the major sporting events of the era, the prize fight between the American John C. Heenan and the English Thomas Sayers. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Boxing (sometimes also known as English boxing or pugilism) is a Combat sport in which two participants generally of similar weight, John Carmel Heenan ( May 2, 1833 &ndash October 28, 1873) was an American bare-knuckle fighter born in Troy Thomas Sayers, also known as Tom Sayers ( 25 May 1826 - 8 November 1865) was [2] A few months later, as artist for The Illustrated London News, he joined Garibaldi in Italy. The Illustrated London News was a Magazine founded by Herbert Ingram and his friend Mark Lemon, the editor of Punch Garibaldi redirects here for other meanings see Garibaldi (disambiguation. Nast's cartoons and articles about the Garibaldi military campaign to unify Italy captured the popular imagination in the U. Italian Unification ( Italian: il Risorgimento, or "The Resurgence" was the political and social movement that unified different states of the Italian S. In 1861, he married Sarah Edwards, whom he had met two years earlier.

His first serious works in caricature was the cartoon "Peace," (made in 1862) directed against those in the North who opposed the prosecution of the American Civil War. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South This and his other cartoons during the Civil War and Reconstruction days were published in Harper's Weekly. He was known for drawing battlefields in border and southern states. These attracted great attention, and Nast was called by President Abraham Lincoln "our best recruiting sergeant". Abraham Lincoln (February 12 1809 &ndash April 15 1865 the sixteenth President of the United States, successfully led his country through its greatest internal [3] Later, Nast strongly opposed President Andrew Johnson and his Reconstruction policy. Andrew Johnson (December 29 1808 – July 31 1875 was the seventeenth President of the United States (1865-69 succeeding to the Presidency upon the assassination

The "Brains"The Boss. "Well, what are you going to do about it?"by Thomas NastWood engraving published in Harper's Weekly newspaperOctober 21, 1871
The "Brains"
The Boss. "Well, what are you going to do about it?"
by Thomas Nast
Wood engraving published in Harper's Weekly newspaper
October 21, 1871

Campaign against the Tweed Ring

Nast's drawings were instrumental in the downfall of Boss Tweed, who so feared Nast's campaign that an emissary was sent to offer Thomas Nast a $500,000 bribe to "drop this Ring business" and take a trip abroad. William M Tweed ( April 3, 1823 &ndash April 12, 1878) sometimes informally called Boss Tweed, was an American Politician [4] Declining the offer, Nast pressed his attack, and Tweed was arrested in 1873 and convicted of fraud. When Tweed attempted to escape justice in December 1875 by fleeing to Cuba and from there to Spain, officials in Vigo, Spain were able to identify the fugitive by using one of Nast's cartoons. For other meanings see Vigo (disambiguation Vigo is the largest city in Galicia, Spain, in terms of population Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. [5]

Nast believed that the well-organized Irish immigrant communities in New York had provided the basis for Tweed's popular support. Because of this—along with Nast's Anti-Catholic and Nativist beliefs—Nast often portrayed the Irish immigrant community, and Catholic Church leaders, with extreme prejudice. Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for Discrimination, hostility or Prejudice directed at the Roman Catholic Church or its followers Nativism is an Opposition to immigration which originated in United States politics with roots in the country's historic role as a Melting pot. In 1875, one of his works, titled "The American River Ganges", Nast famously portrayed Catholic Bishops as crocodiles waiting to attack American families. A crocodile is any Species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the Subfamily Crocodylinae)

Famous 1876 editorial cartoon by Thomas Nast showing bishops attacking public schools, with connivance of Irish Catholic politicians
Famous 1876 editorial cartoon by Thomas Nast showing bishops attacking public schools, with connivance of Irish Catholic politicians

In general, his political cartoons supported American Indians, Chinese Americans and advocated abolition of slavery. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States Chinese Americans ( Chinese: 华裔美国人 are Americans of Chinese descent Abolitionism was a political movement of the 18th and 19th century which sought to make Slavery illegal particularly in the United States and British West Indies Nast also dealt with segregation and the violence of the Ku Klux Klan, which was detailed in one of his more famous cartoons called "Worse than Slavery", which showed a despondent black family having their house destroyed by arson, and two members of the Ku Klux Klan and White League are shaking hands in their mutually destructive work against black Americans. Ku Klux Klan ( KKK) is the name of several past and present secret domestic terrorist organizations in the United States, generally in the southern states that are His 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. His signature "Tammany Tiger" has been emulated by many cartoonists over the years, and he introduced into American cartoons the practice of modernizing scenes from Shakespeare for a political purpose.

A Group of Vultures Waiting for the Storm to "Blow Over"--"Let Us Prey."by Thomas NastWood engraving published in Harper's Weekly newspaperSeptember 23, 1871
A Group of Vultures Waiting for the Storm to "Blow Over"--"Let Us Prey. "
by Thomas Nast
Wood engraving published in Harper's Weekly newspaper
September 23, 1871

Party politics

Harper's Weekly, and Nast, played an important role in the election of Ulysses Grant in 1868 and 1872; in the latter campaign, Nast's ridicule of Horace Greeley's candidacy was especially merciless. Ulysses S Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant (April 27 1822 &ndash July 23 1885 was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States Horace Greeley ( February 3, 1811 &ndash November 29, 1872) was an American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder Nast became a close friend of President Grant and the two families shared regular dinners until Grant's death. Nast encouraged the former president's efforts in writing his autobiography while battling cancer.

He moved to Morristown, New Jersey in 1872 and lived there for many years. This article is about the Town of Morristown in New Jersey Other places in New Jersey with similar names are Morris Township, Morris Plains, and Moorestown In 1873, Nast toured the United States as lecturer and sketch-artist, as he would do again in 1885 and 1887.

He shared political views with his friend Mark Twain and was for many years a staunch Republican. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30 1835 – April 21 1910 better known by the Pen name Mark Twain, was an American Humorist, satirist Nast opposed inflation of the currency, notably with his famous rag-baby cartoons, and he played an important part in securing Rutherford B. Hayes’ presidential election in 1876. In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of Goods and/or services It is one form of Money, where money is Rutherford Birchard Hayes (October 4 1822 January 17 1893 was an American politician, lawyer, military leader and the nineteenth Hayes later remarked that Nast was "the most powerful, single-handed aid [he] had",[6] but Nast quickly became disillusioned with President Hayes, whose policy of Southern pacification he opposed. He was not given free rein to attack Hayes in Harper's, however; with the death of Fletcher Harper in 1877, Nast lost an important champion at the journal, and his contributions became less frequent. He focused on oil paintings and book illustrations, but these are comparatively unimportant.

In 1884, his advocacy of civil service reform and his distrust of James G. Blaine, the Republican presidential candidate, forced him to become a Mugwump, whose support of Grover Cleveland helped him to win election as the first Democratic president since 1856. See also Bureaucrat The term civil service has two distinct meanings Branch of governmental service in which individuals are hired on the basis James Gillespie Blaine ( January 31, 1830 &ndash January 27, 1893) was a U The Mugwumps were Republican political activists who supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18 1837 June 24 1908 was both the twenty-second and twenty-fourth President of the United States. 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. '"[7] Nevertheless, Nast's tenure at Harper's Weekly ended with his Christmas illustration of December 1886. In the words of journalist Henry Watterson, "in quitting Harper's Weekly, Nast lost his forum: in losing him, Harper's Weekly lost its political importance. Henry Watterson ( February 16 1840 &ndash December 22 1921) was a United States Journalist who founded the "[8]

Self-portrait of American political cartoonist Thomas Nast.
Self-portrait of American political cartoonist Thomas Nast.

In 1890, he published Thomas Nast's Christmas Drawings for the Human Race. He contributed cartoons in various publications, notably the Illustrated American, but with the advent of new methods and younger blood his vogue was passed. 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 for president, but the magazine had little impact and ceased publication shortly after Harrison's defeat. Benjamin Harrison (August 20 1833 &ndash March 13 1901 was the twenty-third President of the United States, serving one term from 1889 to 1893 [9]

In 1902 Theodore Roosevelt appointed him as United States' Consul General to Guayaquil, Ecuador in South America. Guayaquil (waʝaˈkil officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest and the most populous City in Ecuador, as well as that nation's main port For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Ecuador topics. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a During a deadly yellow fever outbreak, Nast heroically stayed to the end helping numerous diplomatic missions and businesses escape the contagion. At age 62, in 1902, he died of yellow fever contracted there. Yellow fever (also called yellow jack, black vomit or sometimes American Plague) is an acute viral disease His body was returned to the United States where he was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. This article refers to the Woodlawn Cemetery in the New York City borough of The Bronx New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous

Notable works

Nast's Santa Claus on the cover of the January 3, 1863, issue of Harper's Weekly.
Nast's Santa Claus on the cover of the January 3, 1863, issue of Harper's Weekly. Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 1863 ( MDCCCLXIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Harper's Weekly ( A Journal of Civilization) was an American political Magazine based in New York City.

References in other media

In December 2006 Nast was featured in the Discovery Channel special "Christmas and the Civil War. Discovery Channel is an American Satellite and Cable TV channel (also delivered via IPTV, Terrestrial television and "

Notes

  1. ^ Paine, 1974, p. 7
  2. ^ Paine, 1974, p. 36
  3. ^ Paine, 1974, p. 69
  4. ^ Paine, 1974, pp. 181-182
  5. ^ Paine, 1974, pp. 336-337
  6. ^ Paine, 1974, p. 349
  7. ^ Nast & St. Hill, 1974, p. 33.
  8. ^ Paine, 1974, p. 528
  9. ^ Paine, 1974, p. 540

References

External links

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