Skip to Main Content

Handout C: Thomas Nast Cartoons on Boss Tweed

Thomas Nast Cartoons on Boss Tweed

Directions: Discuss the meaning of the political cartoons of Thomas Nast, using the discussion questions below as a guide.

Note: For a clear and detailed digitized image, search Princeton University Digital Library (www. pudl.princeton.edu) for the title and/or date of each cartoon.

Cartoon of “Boss” Tweed from “Harper's Weekly,” October 21, 1871 - Illustration History

Thomas Nast, Harper’s Weekly, October 21, 1871.

NEW YORK UNDER THE THUMB OF BOSS WILLIAM TWEED PUBLIC SCHOOLS NEW JERSEY NAST | eBay

“Under the Thumb,” Thomas Nast, Harper’s Weekly, June 1871.

Thomas Nast, "The New Board of Education," Harper's Weekly, May 13,... | Download Scientific Diagram

“The New Board of Education,” Thomas Nast, Harper’s Weekly, May 13, 1871.

File:Nast-Tammany.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

“The Tammany Tiger Loose,” Thomas Nast, Harper’s Weekly, November 11, 1871.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

  1. How does Thomas Nast portray Boss Tweed as a corrupt and greedy politician?
  2. How do the political cartoons demonstrate that Boss Tweed has an unfair grip over politics in New York?
  3. What threat does Boss Tweed represent to constitutional principles and a healthy civil society as portrayed by Thomas Nast?
  4. What is the role of a free press in questioning the actions of the government in the American constitutional republic?