Thomas Nast drew this picture for Harper's Weekly, in 1865. It was typical of his work to illustrate an injustice and he was talented at finding just the right image to convey his feelings.

Nast was born in Landau, Germany, in 1840 and arrived in New York in 1846. At 14, he was studying art and at 15 was hired as a reportorial artist by Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. After additional experience and travel he went to work for Harper's Weekly in 1862. In August of that year he began visiting battlefields and sending back reportorial sketches to the magazine. He also produced his first cartoons and these were in total support of the Union cause and its prosecution of the war.

Thomas Nast was liberal, progressive, nationalistic, and a Radical Republican. His support of the Union cause was fierce and his cartoon, "Compromise with the South," published in Harper's Weekly on September 3, 1864 established his reputation. The image is said to have brought Nast "instant fame" and was reprinted widely by the Republicans in their effort to have Lincoln re-elected.

After the war he used his considerable talent to draw attention to the New York City administration of Tammany Hall Democrats led by the famous, William Magear "Boss" Tweed. Nast was so effective that Tweed is reported to have said, "Stop the damn pictures. I don't care what the paper writes about me. My constituents can't read. But, damn it, they can see the pictures." After the voters turned him out, Tweed went to jail from where he escaped and fled to Spain. Ironically, he was re-arrested by customs officials who had seen Nast's Harper's Weekly caricatures of Tweed.

Nast left Harper's Weekly in 1886 as a result of the changing focus of the magazine. As more people became literate, the cartoon played a less central role in daily reading and Harper's Weekly was anxious to produce material of a more general nature. Even the changes in printing technology changed the look and appeal of his work. Earlier techniques softened his deficiencies as an artist and the new photochemical methods brought them out.

He contracted yellow fever while serving as Counsel General in Equador and died in 1902

Following his death in 1902, Thomas Nast's obituary in Harper's Weekly stated, "He has been called, perhaps not with accuracy, but with substantial justice, the Father of American Caricature."

Medium : 1 print : wood engraving

Created/Published : Harper's Weekly, August 5, 1865

Creator : Thomas Nast, artist, 1840-1902

Housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

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Product #: cph3c02257