He was born in the barracks of Landau Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous (kreisfrei) city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990), a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the, Germany Germany (pronounced /ˈdʒɜrməni/ ), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south (in the Rhine Palatinate), the son of a trombonist The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate. The trombone is usually characterised by a telescopic slide with which the player varies the length of the tube to change pitches, although the valve in the 9th regiment Bavarian Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ.ʃtaːt ˈbaɪ.ɐn] ; Alemannic German: Freistaat Bayre; Austro-Bavarian: Freistoot Boarn) is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of the country. With an area of 70,548 square kilometres (27,200 sq mi) and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, it is the band. The elder Nast's socialist political convictions put him at odds with the German government, and in 1846 he left Landau, enlisting first on a French man-of-war The man-of-war was the most powerful type of armed ship from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The term often refers to a ship armed with cannon and propelled primarily by sails, as opposed to a galley which is propelled primarily by oars. The man-of-war was developed in England in the early 1600s from earlier roundships with the addition of a and subsequently on an American ship.[2] He sent his wife and children to New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over global commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment. As host of the United Nations headquarters, it is also, and at the end of his enlistment in 1849 he joined them there. 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 Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design—known simply as the "National Academy"—is an honorary association of American artists, with a museum and a school of fine arts. After school (at the age of 15), he started working in 1855 as a draftsman for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper Frank Leslie's Weekly, later often known in short as Leslie's Weekly, was an American illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1852 and continuing publication well into the 20th century. As implied by its name, it was published weekly, on Tuesdays. Its first editor was John Y. Foster. In 1897, its circulation was estimated at 65,000,; three years afterwards for Harper's Weekly Harper's Weekly 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. During its most influential period it was the forum of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast.

Career

Photograph of Nast taken between 1860 and 1875 by Mathew Brady Mathew B. Brady was one of the most celebrated 19th century American photographers, best known for his portraits of celebrities and the documentation of the American Civil War. He is credited with being the father of photojournalism or Levin Handy

Nast drew for Harper's Weekly from 1859 to 1860 and from 1862 until 1886. 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 Boxing is a combat sport in which two people, male or female, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win. Victory is achieved if the opponent is knocked out and unable to between the American John C. Heenan and the English Thomas Sayers.[3] A few months later, as artist for The Illustrated London News Printer and newsagent Herbert Ingram moved from Nottingham to London in early 1842. Inspired by how the Weekly Chronicle always sold more copies when it featured illustrations, he had the idea of publishing a weekly newspaper which would contain pictures in every edition. He originally considered having it concentrate on crime, as per the later, he joined Garibaldi Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and had to flee Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and afterwards returned to Italy as a commander in the in Italy. Nast's cartoons and articles about the Garibaldi military campaign to unify Italy Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century. Despite a lack of consensus on the exact dates for the beginning and end of this period, many scholars agree that the process began in 1815 with the Congress of Vienna and the end captured the popular imagination in the U.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 The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States as well as several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America (the Confederacy). Led by Jefferson Davis, they fought against the United States. This and his other cartoons during the Civil War and Reconstruction In the history of the United States, the Reconstruction era has two definitions: the first in reference to the entire nation in the period 1865-1877 following the Civil War, and the second to the transformation of the Southern United States from 1863 to 1877, with the reconstruction of state and society in the former Confederacy and the addition days were published in Harper's Weekly. He was known for drawing battlefields in border In the context of the American Civil War, the term border states refers to the five slave states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and West Virginia, which bordered a free state and were aligned with the Union. All but Delaware share borders with states that joined the Confederacy. In Kentucky and Missouri, there were both pro-Confederate and southern states The Confederate States of America was the government set up from 1861 to 1865 by eleven southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S. The CSA's de facto control over its claimed territory varied during the course of the American Civil War, depending on the success of its military in battle. These attracted great attention, and Nast was called by President Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery. Before his election in 1860 as the first Republican president, Lincoln had been a country "our best recruiting sergeant".[4] Later, Nast strongly opposed President Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States (1865–1869). Following the assassination of President Lincoln, Johnson presided over the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War and his Reconstruction policy.

Campaign against the Tweed Ring

The "Brains" Boss Tweed depicted by Thomas Nast in a wood engraving published in Harper's Weekly, October 21, 1871 A Group of Vultures Waiting for the Storm to "Blow Over" – "Let Us Prey." The Tweed Ring depicted by Nast in a wood engraving published in Harper's Weekly, September 23, 1871

Nast's drawings were instrumental in the downfall of Boss Tweed William Magear Tweed , sometimes erroneously named William Marcy Tweed, known as "Boss Tweed," was an American politician most famous for his leadership of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th century New York. At the height of his influence, Tweed was the third-largest, the powerful Tammany Hall Tammany Hall , was the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in controlling New York City politics and helping immigrants (most notably the Irish) rise up in American politics from the 1790s to the 1960s. It usually controlled Democratic Party nominations and patronage in Manhattan from the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 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".[5] Tweed and his associates—Peter Barr Sweeny (park commissioner), Richard B. Connolly (controller of public expenditures), and Mayor A. Oakey Hall—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 an emissary was sent to offer Thomas Nast a large bribe, which was represented as a gift from a group of wealthy benefactors to enable Nast to study art in Europe.[6] Feigning interest, Nast bid the initial offer of $100,000 dollars up to $500,000 before declaring, "I don't think I'll do it".[7] Nast pressed his attack, and an indignant public rose against the Ring, which 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 and from there to Spain, officials in Vigo Vigo is the largest city in Galicia, Spain, located in the province of Pontevedra, Spain Spain (pronounced /ˈspeɪn/ spayn; Spanish: España, pronounced [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.[note 6] Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small were able to identify the fugitive by using one of Nast's cartoons.[8]

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 Nativism favors the interests of certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. It may also include the re-establishment or perpetuation of such individuals or their culture beliefs—Nast often portrayed the Irish The Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years (according to archaeological studies), with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded have legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha Dé immigrant community, and Catholic Church leaders, with extreme prejudice. In 1871, one of his works, titled "The American River Ganges The Ganges (pronounced /ˈɡændʒiːz/; Hindi: गंगा Gaṅgā, IPA: [ˈɡəŋɡaː] , as in most Indian languages) is one of the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, flowing east through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh. The 2,510 km (1,560 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state of India,", infamously portrayed Catholic bishops A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the Anglican churches, bishops claim Apostolic as crocodiles A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all members of the order Crocodilia: i.e. the true crocodiles, the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae) and the gharials (family Gavialidae), or even the Crocodylomorpha which includes prehistoric crocodile relatives and waiting to attack American school children. Nast's anti-Irish sentiment Crime of apartheid · CERD · CEDAW · CDE · ILO C111 · ILO C100 · ILO C169 · Protocol No. 12 ECHR is apparent in his characteristic depiction of the Irish as violent drunks, often with ape-like features.

The American River Ganges, a cartoon by Thomas Nast showing bishops attacking public schools, with connivance of Boss Tweed and his associates. Published in Harper's Weekly, September 30, 1871. The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things, a cartoon by Thomas Nast depicting a drunken Irishman lighting a powder keg. Published in Harper's Weekly Harper's Weekly 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. During its most influential period it was the forum of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast, September 2, 1871.

In general, his political cartoons supported American Indians Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as intact political communities. There has, Chinese Americans Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam and advocated abolition of slavery Abolitionism was a movement in western Europe and the Americas to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical religious groups condemned it as un-Christian. Nast also dealt with segregation Crime of apartheid · CERD · CEDAW · CDE · ILO C111 · ILO C100 · ILO C169 · Protocol No. 12 ECHR and the violence of the Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as The Klan, is the name of several past and present far right hate groups in the United States whose avowed purpose is to protect the rights and further the interests of white Americans by violence and intimidation. The first such organizations originated in the Southern states and, 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 Arson is the crime of intentionally and maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires. The study of the causes is the subject of fire investigation. Arson usually describes fires deliberately set to the property of another or to one's own, and two members of the Ku Klux Klan and White League are shaking hands in their mutually destructive work against black Americans. 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.

The Tammany Tiger Loose—"What are you going to do about it?", published in Harper's Weekly in November 1871, just before election day

Party politics

Harper's Weekly, and Nast, played an important role in the election of Ulysses Grant Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was general-in-chief of the Union Army from 1864 to 1865 during the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877 in 1868 and 1872; in the latter campaign, Nast's ridicule of Horace Greeley Horace Greeley was an American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, and a politician. His New York Tribune was America's most influential newspaper from the 1840s to the 1870s and "established Greeley's reputation as the greatest editor of his day." Greeley used it to promote the Whig and's candidacy was especially merciless. 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 Morristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 18,544. Its estimated population in 2004 was 18,842. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in in 1872 and lived there for many years. In 1873, Nast toured the United States as a lecturer and a sketch-artist, as he would do again in 1885 and 1887.

He shared political views with his friend Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens , well-known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), which has been called "the Great American Novel", and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). He is extensively quoted. Twain was a friend to presidents, artists, and was for many years a staunch Republican. Nast opposed inflation In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation is also an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a loss of real value in the internal medium of exchange and unit of the currency In economics, the term currency can refer either to a particular currency, for example the US dollar, or to the coins and banknotes of a particular currency, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply. The other part of a nation's money supply consists of money deposited in banks , ownership of which can be transferred by means, notably with his famous rag-baby cartoons, and he played an important part in securing Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes was an American politician, lawyer, military leader and the 19th President of the United States (1877–1881). Hayes was elected President by one electoral vote after the highly disputed election of 1876. Losing the popular vote to his opponent, Samuel Tilden, Hayes was the only president whose election was decided by a’ presidential election in 1876. Hayes later remarked that Nast was "the most powerful, single-handed aid [he] had",[9] 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.[citation needed]

Interior Secretary Schurz Carl Schurz was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army General in the American Civil War. He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and noted orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate cleaning house, Harper's Weekly, January 26, 1878

In 1884, his advocacy of civil service A civil servant or public servant is a civilian public sector employee working for a government department or agency. The term explicitly excludes the armed services, although civilian officials will work at "Defence Ministry" headquarters. The term always includes the state's employees; whether regional, or sub-state, or even municipal reform and his distrust of James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine was a U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time United States Secretary of State, and champion of the Half-Breeds. He was a dominant Republican leader of the post-Civil War period, obtaining the 1884 Republican nomination, but losing to Democrat Grover, the Republican presidential candidate, forced him to become a Mugwump The Mugwumps were Republican political activists who supported Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884. They switched parties because they rejected the financial corruption associated with Republican candidate James G. Blaine. In a close election, the Mugwumps supposedly made the difference in New, whose support of Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897) and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents. He was the winner of the popular vote for president three times—in 1884, 1888, helped him to win election as the first Democratic 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.'"[10] 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."[11]

portrait of Thomas Nast from Harpers Weekly, 1867

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 Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States, serving one term from 1889 to 1893. Harrison was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at the age of 21, where he became a prominent state politician. During the American Civil War Harrison served as a Brigadier General in the XX Corps of the Army of the for president, but the magazine had little impact and ceased publication shortly after Harrison's defeat.[12]

In 1902 Theodore Roosevelt appointed him as the United States' Consul General to Guayaquil, Ecuador in South America. During a deadly yellow fever outbreak, Nast 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. His body was returned to the United States where he was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.

Notable works

Nast's Santa Claus on the cover of the January 3, 1863, issue of Harper's Weekly.

Nast's depiction of iconic characters, such as Santa Claus and Uncle Sam, are widely credited with giving us the recognized versions we see today.

Supposed origins of the word "Nasty"

There is a misconception among some that the word "nasty" originated from Thomas Nast's name, due to the tone of his cartoons.[13] However, the word "nasty" has origins hundreds of years before Thomas Nast was born.[14]

Notes

  1. ^ "The Historic Elephant and Donkey; It Was Thomas Nast "Father of the American Cartoon," Who Brought Them Into Politics." (PDF). New York Times. 08/02/1908. p. SM9. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D07EFDB113EE033A25751C0A96E9C946997D6CF&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  2. ^ Paine 1974, p. 7.
  3. ^ Paine 1974, p. 36.
  4. ^ Paine 1974, p.69.
  5. ^ Paine 1974, p. 140.
  6. ^ Paine 1974, p. 181.
  7. ^ Paine 1974, pp. 181–182.
  8. ^ Paine 1974, pp. 336–337.
  9. ^ Paine 1974, p. 349.
  10. ^ Nast & St. Hill 1974, p. 33.
  11. ^ Paine 1974, p. 528.
  12. ^ Paine 1974, p. 540.
  13. ^ About.com
  14. ^ Harper, Douglas (November 2001). "nasty etymology". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nasty. Retrieved 2009-02-01.

References

Thomas Nast asks pardon for his sketches.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Thomas Nast

Categories: American caricaturists | American editorial cartoonists | American political writers | American satirists | People of the American Civil War | People of New York in the American Civil War | Anti-Catholicism in the United States | German immigrants to the United States | American people of German descent | German-American artists | Naturalized citizens of the United States | People from Morristown, New Jersey | Deaths from yellow fever | Infectious disease deaths in Ecuador | 1840 births | 1902 deaths

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers]
This page was last archived by our server on Mon Mar 15 21:15:43 2010. [ refresh local cache ]
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.

[Hide]▼
[Hide]▲