Boss Tweed Political Cartoon Meaning
This political cartoon under the thumb was published by thomas nast the scourge of tweed and the tammany hall machine.
Boss tweed political cartoon meaning. In the cartoon we see the tweed has the city under his thumb meaning he is in complete control. Even today when most political cartoons from a century ago seem bland and quaint nast s still have plenty of sting to them. In a famous duo of cartoons published on august 19 1871 nast made a mockery of tweed s probably defense. The tammany ring run by a man named william boss tweed bribed officials rigged elections and stole money from city coffers.
And if effectiveness is a gauge of political cartooning. This cartoon depicts new york under the thumb of tweed who is the boss there. The first american master of the political cartoon an illustrator named thomas nast used his work to shed light on the corruption that ran rampant in tammany hall in new york city. Tweed s downfall began in april 1870 when he refused to authorize the orange parade an annual protestant celebration.
Cartoon appeared in 1871 tweed s imperium was dissolving and the cartoonists had done a great deal to propel the boss toward destruction. In a series of cartoons for harper s weekly nast helped bring tweed down. While still in his teens. William magear tweed his middle name is often referred incorrectly as marcy was born in 1823 in new york the son of a chair maker.
He was a critic of democratic representative boss tweed and the tammany hall democratic party political machine. Political cartoon by thomas nast depicting boss tweed with a money bag for a head entitled the brains that achieved the tammany victory at the rochester democratic convention credit. Kean collection getty images tweed and his cronies seemed untouchable in the years after the civil war. That someone had stolen the public s money but no one could tell who that was.