TOW #19- Thomas Nast "The Tammany Tiger Loose" (Argument)

In 1871 during the Gilded Age in America, Thomas Nast created a series of cartoons attacking Boss Tweed in Harper's Weekly and the New York Times.  The Tammany Hall tiger shown in this cartoon represents the New York City political organization that was charged for corruption as it was led by leaders such as William Tweed.  Nast created such cartoons in order to warn the public of Tweed's power because he was causing corruption in the economy in this time period.  Tammany Hall's original purpose was to help the poor and New York City's immigrants, however this did not occur that way.  Thomas Nast portrays Tammany Hall as a tiger, mauling a citizen, representing the population of New York City.  The tiger has destroyed her sword and shield, which represent the ballot and the freedom of voting.  Tweed and the other leaders of Tammany Hall would give baskets of food or assist the poor who could not afford it.  Then, those who received that assistance would have have to show their gratitude at the polls.  The corruption of Tammany Hall led to a corrupt vote and elections that did not accurately portray the votes of Americans.  Another way that Nast gets his point across is by showing the spectators just watching and enjoying the show.  Nast is helping his audience understand that the public is just sitting around witnessing the corruption and doing nothing about it.  This gives the audience something to feel guilty about.  As spectators, they are seeing the destruction of the freedom of the public and the freedom of the vote.  After seeing this cartoon, Nast hopes to inspire them to start taking action against this corruption.  After learning about Tweed's schemes of the Gilded Age in history, I would agree with Nast's point of view.  The image that Tammany Hall portrays is that it helps the poor and gives opportunity to immigrants.  While this was true for some, many suffered because of Tweed's corruption.  The tiger is an accurate depiction of Tweed's power structure because of it's strength and relentless aggression.  The citizens can not escape Tammany Hall's power because they were in need of economic support, but in the long run, all that this did was hurt them.  His depiction of the public's helplessness in this cartoon is also accurate.  They had nowhere else to run, just as this person was stuck in the arena with the Tammany Hall Tiger.  Thankfully, the cartoons that were published in Harper's Weekly and the New York Times did inspire change.  Nast's effective cartoon's eventually led to the downfall of Tweed and Tammany Hall.