Political Cartoons in the History Classroom

Abstract

FOR A LONG TIME we history teachers considered art and architecture somewhat outside our province; the few works that appeared in our textbooks usually served simply a decorative function as visual aids, without being integrated into the body of the narrative. In recent years, however, there has been an encouraging trend among textbook writers and history teachers to use the works of artists and architects as evidence equally as worthy of our attention as official documents, letters, diaries, and other print materials.1 Perhaps the least explored art form for serious historical analysis is the political cartoon. The cartoon first flourished in the nineteenth century with the advent of the mass press and improved printing technology, especially graphic reproduction. Politicians everywhere soon felt the power of political art in the penny press; French officials winced at Honor6 Daumier's lithographs and sent him to jail for six months in the 1830's for a cartoon ridiculing Louis Philippe. In the early 1870's New York's Boss Tweed is said to have feared Thomas Nast's stinging caricatures in Harper's Weekly more than any attack