Presentation Transcript

1. Thomas Nast’s Crusade

   By: Alex Dennee and Katie Holloway
2. Thesis Thomas Nast’s purpose in drawing his political cartoons in the late 1860’s was to arouse public outrage against the Tammany Hall’s graft and the corrupt “Boss Tweed.”
3. “Boss Tweed” His real name was William M. Tweed. Became head of Tammany Hall in 1868, which was New York City’s powerful Democratic political machine. Between 1869 and 1871 he led the Tweed Ring which was a group of corrupt politicians that wanted to defraud the city. For example, the project cost of the New York County Courthouse was $3 million but he tricked the taxpayers into paying $13 million. He put the excess money into his pocket. An estimated $75 to $200 million were swindled from the city between 1865 and 1871.
4. Thomas Nast Nast was born in Landau, Germany in 1840 and died on December 7, 1920 from yellow fever. Thomas Nast was a political cartoonist and started illustrating in 1862. Nast had a long-lasting influence on America and created symbols like the Democratic donkey, the Republican elephant, and Santa Claus. His most influential cartoons during this time were “The Tammany Tiger,” “Let Us Prey,” and “Boss Tweed.”
5. “The Tammany Tiger Loose”What are you going to do about it? Published in November 1871 just before election day. Nast created the Tammany Tiger to symbolize the Tweed Ring but also the Democratic Party. It showed how controlling and unjust the government was. The Tammany Tiger mauled the Republican Party. The way he drew the tiger indicated that the reader would be the next victim.
6. “Let Us Prey” Nast is showing Tweed and his cohorts as vultures. This cartoon also represents Tweed and his cronies sitting high above New York City. They are waiting for the “storm to blow over.” It also shows bones picked clean labeled the city treasury, law, justice, liberty and rent.
7. The “Brains” Nast created a negative image of Tweed to show his corruption and greed. Tweed tried to bribe Nast to take extended European vacations and offered him up to $500,000 so he could stop the pictures. "Stop them pictures. I don't care what the papers write about me. My constituents can't read. But they can see the pictures.“- Tweed
8. “Who Stole the People’s Money?” Shows members of the government denying the blame and pointing their fingers to the next person. According to Nast it shows the four main leaders in front: Tweed, Sweeny, Connolly, and Hall.
9. “Wholesale and Retail” Nast shows Tweed robbing a bank and being welcomed and saluted by the guards. The bottom picture shows a man stealing from a bakery and getting beaten by the police.
10. Conclusion Due to Thomas Nast’s cartoons, Boss Tweed was arrested on 120 accounts of fraud and sentenced to 12 years in jail. The Tweed Ring was finally broken in 1871.
11. Sources Danzer, Gerald A., et al. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005. Print. http://cartoons.osu.edu/nast/ http://www.sonofthesouth.net/Thomas_Nast.htm http://www.printsoldandrare.com/thomasnast/ http://illustration.suite101.com/article.cfm/thomas_nast http://www.albany.edu/~dkw42/tweed.html