Political Cartoon History-Political Cartoons Can Change Our World

Political Cartoon History

Political Cartoons Can Change Our World

Did political cartoons have an impact on history? Some would answer with a big “YES!” Starting with Ben Franklin’s first political cartoon, political cartoon history was made. On May 9, 1754, The Pennsylvania Gazette printed the very first known American political cartoon called “Join or Die.” The woodcut cartoon was a social commentary by Franklin on the need for unity against the British. Back then the belief was if a snake was rejoined after cut in two it could come back to life. The cartoon played off this myth calling for the colonies to reunite and become one against the British to win freedom.


Since 1754, the history of political cartooning has only become richer. The medium that combines political satire with artistic journalism became more and more popular in newspapers in America. Political cartoonists have shaped history and social opinion with their sharp imagery and sometimes-scholarly symbolism and caricature. They often help people understand politics in a way in which most people outside Washington would not ever get exposed to. The political cartoonist canvas has no limits; it often goes beyond the boundaries of even free speech. And is why some say is more powerful than words alone.

Slavery

In the mid 1800s the dividing issues of slavery between the North and the South were depicted in political cartoons. Political cartoonist would use religious, moral, and economic arguments in their imagery to move viewers one way or the other. Some cartoons would show slaves treated better than workers in England while others would show them beaten and tortured.

Thomas Nast

Thomas Nast, some say from where the word “Nasty” comes from, was one of the most famous cartoonist of the 19th century. He was credited with creating the Donkey and the Elephant mascots for the Democratic and Republican parties. He is also famous for the political cartoon history of the 1870 William Tweed Scandal.

William “Boss” Tweed and his cronies where involved in a scandal of some 200 million dollars of taxpayers money missing. Nast started a cartoon series called the “Tammany Ring” that exposed Tweed and his gang. Nast’s cartoons outraged the public so bad against Tweed he was imprisoned. Tweed later said, “it was those damned pictures.”



Nast cartoons supported Chinese Americans, American Indians, and ending slavery. He portrayed the evils of racism and slavery in one cartoon called “Worse Than Slavery.” It showed a young black family having their house burned to the ground and the Ku Klux Klan and White League members shaking hands in the mutually evil work against black Americans.

Thomas Nast changed politics with his pen alone. With that he also earned a permanent spot for cartoonist on the editorial page in the future of every newspaper in the United States (almost). We now have Thomas Nast Award from the Overseas Press Club for Cartooning excellence given out each year in remembrance.

Gilded-Age

The cartoonist went on through the civil war and into the Gilded-Age to tackled key issues such as gender, ethnicity, religion, and social status. Irish immigrants saw much stereotyping as ape-like, easily corruptible. And the African American had it even worse. Cartoons that today would be deemed racist were mainstream. But those were reflections of the times too. The country was in turmoil and women and minorities were fighting for their right to be heard and the powers that be were fighting back.

Prohibition

In the 1920s came Rollin Kirby, Jay "Ding" Darling, Daniel Fitzpatrick and John McCutcheon. The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which granted Women the Right to Vote brought on many political history cartoons. But nothing compared to the onslaught of cartoons to hit the newspapers after the 18th Amendment, which was the prohibition of the manufacturing, distributing, and sale of alcohol. Political cartoons may have not caused prohibition to fail by themselves but as history as shown they had a lot of social impact.

The New Deal

In the 1930s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the American vote but the “Big” guys paying the cartoonists at the newspapers and magazines, the Republicans, did not vote for him. And they did not like the “New Deal” social programs such as Agricultural Adjustment Administration. So most political cartoonists followed suit maybe by pressure. As depicted in this Washington Star 1938 political cartoon “The Fuehrer Wallace” which shows Sec. of Agriculture Henry Wallace as Adolf Hitler saluting American farmers marching as Nazis. The New Deal became very unpopular in political cartoons and in social sentiment.



McCarthyism

In the early 1950s, the term “McCarthyism” was coined by Herblock. Herblock was a famous political cartoonist for the Washington Post and publicly questioned Senator McCarthy’s communist witch hunt through cartoons.

The 60s

Racial tensions, war, drugs, music, generation gap, political activist, riots, all were a part of the 1960s. All were expressed in political cartoons. In July 1963 “Sorry But You Have An Incurable Skin Condition” shown how in many areas black doctors were excluded from practicing medicine in certain facilities. This prevented patients of patients of all races of having the opportunity of having the best care possible.

Watergate

In 1972, Herblock, exposed President Nixon’s tax evasion with his famous cartoon “I’m not a Crook.” He then used it the again in another cartoon when Nixon was caught with the secret tapes. Herblock drew Nixon in several more damaging scandals before his resignation. What a powerful pen.

Big Teeth

Stumbling Presidents? Peanut Farmers and issues of education, poverty, energy crisis. Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran and the hostages, U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympics are just a few topics political cartoonists got to cover.

Greed is good?

Wall Street is legislating Congress. Insider trading and junk bonds are making more people rich faster than ever before. And the middle class is shrinking. God, Gun control, abortion is politicized. President Reagan makes deals with terrorists in the Middle East to fight other terrorists. Guns and weapons are sold on a massive scale. In 1989, a Chinese teenage protestor is killed, by soldier’s tank, in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. All this is editorialized in the pictures of cartoons. In Herblock’s political cartoon “The Gods are Angry” depicted the fat wealthy being protected while God zapped the Poor weak small helpless social programs.

Hummers For Free

A “hummer” in the White House? Even cartoonist thinks that is too much. Did he inhale? LOL. The 90s brought an end to Reagomics. And American’s became more concerned with insurance costs for health care, gays in the army, gun control, and smoking. Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton gave cartoonist plenty to work with. “No new taxes. Read my lips.” Bubba. Endless cartoons.

2000 and Beyond

Stealing an election anyone? What the hell is a chad? Why does President George W Bush have a Texas accent when he wasn’t born nor raised there? The bailouts. The tea parties. The rich social security as in the AIG Bailouts?

The Future?

The future is endless for the political cartoonist. And we barely touched the American political cartoon history. But what is scary today is the state of the newspapers. Is the career Political Cartoonist a dying breed? Will it become a hobby of artist with a message that hit the Internet because they believe strongly about something and have server space? I doubt that. But the profession is changing. No longer can so many papers hold full time cartoonists on their payroll as they could only a decade ago. The new political cartoonist will be a new media guru; the new guy will be an Internet designer and political cartoonist that maybe even knows animation. America needs the political cartoonist. Why? Well because often we need people to tell us how to feel. Not that we are dumb. But Americans are so entangled in gizmos and high speed life often they don’t slow down enough to know how they feel. And a good honest political cartoon can help them synapse and go “Yea! That is RIGHT!” And who knows maybe get them to call their Congressperson or go vote. Its not the person didn’t feel it. It’s that they didn’t allow themselves to feel it. The cartoon allows that feeling to take