U.S.-History-Sourcebook---Basic

http://www.ck12.org Chapter 5. A Nation Divided: The American Civil War and Reconstruction

5.4 The Political Cartoons of Thomas Nast

Thomas Nast is perhaps the most famous political cartoonist in American history. He worked for the New York-
based weekly magazineHarper’s Weekly. Nast andHarper’ssupported the North in the Civil War, taking a liberal
and somewhat elitist Republican position. Both of the cartoons below feature a white female character called
’Liberty’common symbol of the period. What does the symbol remind you of? Note the dates of the cartoons
and the similarities and differences between them.

Franchise –Thomas Nast

Source: A political cartoon drawn by Nast in 1865.(Figure 5.2).

Vocabulary

franchise

The right to vote

Questions:

1.Sourcing:Who drew these cartoons? What magazine were his cartoons published in? What do you know

about this magazine?

2.Contextualization:When were the two cartoons drawn? What do you know about this time period?

3.Sourcing: Think back to the differences between Andrew Johnson and the Radical Republicans. Before

looking at the cartoons, do you predict this cartoonist would be in favor of Radical Reconstruction? Why or

why not?

4. Describe the African American man in this cartoon. Why do you think he’s on crutches?


5. What is Liberty asking for?


6. What is the message of this cartoon?

Colored Rule in a Reconstructed (?) State - Nast

Source: A political cartoon drawn by Nast in 1874.(Figure 5.3).

Section Questions:

1. In what ways are these cartoons similar?


2. In what ways are these cartoons different?


3. Why might the cartoons have different messages?


4. What do these cartoons tell us about the how the North felt about freedmen during Reconstruction?