THe Father of

American
Cartoon

Thomas Nast. Digital image.Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2016.

By DAnthony Crenshaw

Authors Note
This book was written to inform young people about an important man during the Reconstruction Era. I am
writing this because not many people know about Thomas Nast and what hes done to help America. Thomas
Nast is an important person to know from Reconstruction because of his contributions he made through his
cartoons. This story is about a man telling stories about the through his political cartoons. I am a 8th grade
student at Citizens Leadership Academy, and I chose to tell a story of Thomas Nast recognizing his
accomplishments and impact during the Reconstruction Era.

Thomas Nast was born on September 7,1840 in Landau, Germany. He moved to New York City with his
mother and sister around the time he 6. His dad joined the family years later. Since he was young, he
showed an Interest in Drawing. He was proved to be a poor student and dropped out of school around 13
years old and studied at National Academy of Art. His family was no longer to afford him going to school and
later he landed a job at Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper in 1885.

Wife of President and Kids. Digital image.Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2016.

He joined Harpers Weekly in 1862 and worked there for about 25 years. Thomas earned praise for his
illustrations of the Civil War. While at Harpers Weekly, he created the popular images of the Democratic
Donkey and the Republican Elephant. His cartoons also encouraged people to join the Union (Army).

Republican Elephant. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2016.

His cartoons were mostly political cartoons. They told stories of the civil war and also told stories during the
Reconstruction Era. During Reconstruction some of his pictures like Of Course he votes the Democratic
ticket shows how the Blacks were treated in the South. They were threatened and sometimes even forced
to do what they didnt want to even though they were free.

Reconstruction Era. Digital image.Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2016.

Thomas Nast cartoons have helped in ways. He was able to take down tweed through his drawings. Tweed
was politically corrupted because of these drawings. They showed of illegal dealings that Tweed was
involved in. Tweed offered a bribe of $500,000 for him to leave town, but he refused and kept drawing,
leading to Tweed fleeing instead.

Boss Tweed. Digital image.Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2016.

Thomas helped influence America in a way. His politically drawn cartoons helped improve society by
showing The Reconstruction Era and what was going on then and some cartoons even showed how Blacks
were mistreated sometimes in his cartoons. This helped change many things wrong that happened at this
time and raised awareness of some problems would not have gotten out if it wasnt for his political drawings.

The Color Line is Broken. Digital image.Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2016.

In one of his cartoons, Worse Than Slavery, is showing how Blacks were treated during the Reconstruction
Era. The White League and the K.K.K were working to destroy Blacks. If you look closer in the picture, they
burned down schools, killed people, and frightened people(as shown by the people in the middle). Also at the
top of the picture it states, This is a white man's government, showing that whites would do what they had to
in order to take back control.

Worse Than Slavery. Digital image. Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2016.

Thomass drawings began to become washed up. Also his investments were failing leaving him and his
family in need. Theodore Roosevelt, an old friend of his, tried to help him by giving him a position as U.S
Counsel General for Ecuador. Hoping that this would help Thomas took the position. When he arrived in
July, Yellow fever had just started to spread. Thomas caught this disease and soon died on December 7,
1902.

Yellow Fever. Digital image.Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2016.

Thomas left a legacy of his own. His political cartoons helped this part of history shape itself. Also characters
he created such as Santa Claus and Uncle Sam.Also the Republican Elephant and Democratic Donkey, The
Tammany Hall Tiger and more.

Santa Claus/ Uncle Sam. Digital image. Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2016.

Bibliography
Biography.com Editors. "Thomas Nast Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-nast-9420600>
"Thomas Nast." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nast>.