Thomas+Nast

= __ Life of Thomas Nast __ =
 * born in Germany in 1840
 * moved to New York City where he began his career
 * after the age of 15 he worked as a draftsmen for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper and then Harper's Weekly
 * married Sarah Edwards in 1861 after going to Italy to capture Garibaldi's military attempt to unify Italy
 * first serious cartoons were during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods
 * The first was "Peace" which was directed towards the No [[image:1813193.jpg width="196" height="293" align="right"]] rtherners who didn't agree with the prosecution of the Civil War.
 * known for drawing battlefields in border and southern states
 * published in Harper's Weekly [[image:1010.jpg width="215" height="265" align="left"]]

__ **The Tweed Ring** __
 * His drawings were important to the downfall of Boss Tweed
 * Boss Tweed was the boss of the political machine Tammany Hall in New York during the 1860s and 1870s
 * he and his associates controlled the city government and a majority of the state legislature
 * they took millions from the city by inflating expenses paid to contractors that worked for the Ring
 * Nast published his cartoons of Tweed which Boss Tweed feared so he had someone offer a bribe to Nast who counter-offered and then refused the $500,000
 * The Tweed Ring was brought down in the election of 1871 and then Tweed was put in jail in 1873 for fraud
 * he escaped to Cuba but the officials were able to identify him using one of Thomas Nast's cartoons

=__ After the Fall of Boss Tweed __=
 * prejudice against Catholic and Irish immigrants in __ urban housing __ and neighborhoods
 * he believed they were a big part of Tweed's public support
 * he portrayed Catholic church leaders as crocodiles waiting to attack children in the cartoon of "The American River Ganges"
 * the Irish were portrayed as drunks usually with ape-like characteristics

=__ Political Works __=
 * strong Republican and shared these views with __ Mark Twain __
 * opposed inflation which he showed as rag-baby cartoons
 * appointed the United State's Consul General to Ecuador in South America
 * there was a fatal outbreak of yello fever but Nast stayed to help diplomatic missions and businesses escape the disease
 * died in 1902 of yellow fever at the age of 62

= = =__ Commonly Known Works  __=
 * Santa Claus
 * Nast drew him as the short and chubby Santa with a beard that we know today
 * published in Harper's Weekly in 1863
 * the earlier version was tall and skinny
 * Democratic party donkey
 * Republican party elephant
 * the Tammany Tiger which is the symbol of Boss Tweed's political machine
 * Nast also added the goatee to Uncle Sam which is a symbol of the US, originally drawn in the 1830s

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= Sources = [] images.google.com Amsco book = Extra external sites = [|Biography] [|more cartoons]