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Casting Ballots |
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"The Elephant Walk Around" |
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Cartoonist: Thomas Nast |
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Source: Harper's Weekly |
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Date:
October 28, 1876, p. 868
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Click to see a large version of this cartoon |
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Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
The association of the elephant with the Republican party occurred originally in
an 1860 issue of Railsplitter and an 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly. It was,
however, Thomas Nast's elephantine caricatures that caught the attention of
other cartoonists and the public, thereby leading to the elephant becoming the
official symbol of the Republican party. Nast's first two images of the
Republican Elephant appear in 1874 in which the partisan pachyderm falls into a
trap after the Democrats win control of the House of Representatives.
By contrast, this cartoon, which appeared only a couple of weeks before the 1876
presidential election, shows a powerful, methodical Republican Elephant crushing
and strangling the two-headed Democratic Tiger of Tilden (r) and Hendricks (l).
Uncle Sam looks down approvingly, even gleefully, from the driver's seat atop
the beast. Behind him, the passenger box is filled with delighted public
schoolchildren, cheering and waving the American flag. On the ground, political
boss John Morrissey reveals with his empty pockets that he has no more money to
buy votes for the Democrats. |
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Warning
1860
