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Thomas Nast and the 19th-Century Influence Thomas Nast is one of the most influential cartoonists in American history and is often called the "Father of the American Cartoon." Born in Germany, he immigrated to the United States at the age of 6; by age 15, he had begun drawing for Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Today, Nast is best remembered for creating the modern image of Santa Claus and the Republican elephant, and popularizing the Democratic donkey through his iconic illustrations.
Nast also drew a score of political cartoons, the most famous of which were published in Harper's Weekly and exposed the illegal dealings of Tammany Hall, a political machine in New York City headed by politician William M. Tweed. Using his connections as a member of boards and commissions in New York City, Tweed exerted enormous control over the city through the creation of city-related projects and jobs. The Nast vs. Tweed campaign began in 1870 with sporadic cartoons satirizing Tammany Hall and Tweed's campaign for the New York State Senate during the 1871 November elections. By August 1871, the cartoons came on a weekly basis, and each cartoon was more pointed than the previous one.
Readers in New York followed the campaign closely, especially as economic conditions deteriorated. In 1871, city workers were denied their wages because the city did not have enough money to pay salaries. On September 30, 1871, there was a strike and a riot. In October of 1871, Nast used the escalating economic tensions to critique the Tammany Hall ringleaders, suggesting that they were responsible for stealing the workers' wages. The cartoon's caption pointedly asks voters, "What are you going to do about it?"
Thomas Nast (1840-1902)
The City Treasury
Published October 14, 1871 in Harper's Weekly
Despite Nast's campaign against Tweed and the Tammany Hall ring, Tweed was re-elected to the New York State Senate. There were enough opposition candidates (from both parties), however, than an effective investigation of Tweed could be accomplished, ultimately resulting in a conviction.
Tweed appealed the conviction, and in June of 1875 it was overturned. Tweed was released from Blackwell’s Island Penitentiary on June 21 at midnight. He had dinner at Delmonico’s Steakhouse. Then he was remanded to the Ludlow Street Jail to face more charges that were filed against him. At the time that this cartoon was published, Tweed was still in jail facing numerous civil suits.
Nast suggests that even though Tweed was in jail, he was not treated the same as the less connected prisoners. While he stands around, well-fed and smoking cigars, other inmates are immobilized and denied necessities. The refrain, “What are you going to do about it?” is a taunt that originated with Tweed when he was at the height of his power as the head of Tammany Hall and was openly stealing from the public treasury. Nast includes the refrain in many of his cartoons satirizing Tweed.
Thomas Nast (1840-1902)
The Elective System, Or, Master and Slave
Published November 13, 1875 in Harper's Weekly
Excerpt -"Thomas Nast is one of the most influential cartoonists in American history and is often called the "Father of the American Cartoon.""
Response - I think this is 100% accurate I think he was extremely influential and he did great things in American History. He can be referred to as the father he did start it and he was one of the first to really influence people through his art.
Significance- The significance of this article is it talks about how influential Thomas Nast was and they great Things he did in American History. For example his stand on the political machine headed by William M. Tweed. Mr. Nast took such a strong and aggressive stand against tweed and he got a lot of people to join his views and go against what Tweed was doing. Nast was very influential and he had the ability to get people through his cartoons to share the same views as him and make them fight for what he believed in. Thomas Nast had a great influence on American society and he definitely influenced it and made a difference in the 19th century.
Current Article - 21st century technologies: a future of promise An exciting period of technological change lies ahead. But how will these new breakthroughs affect economy and society as a whole and what are their implications for policy? Wolfgang Michalski Director, International Futures Programmer The interaction between the evolution of technology and the development of economy and society has always been an important dimension of human history. This applies to the Iron and Bronze Ages as well as to modern times. The transition from the agricultural society towards the industrial society provides the most pertinent illustration of the profound implications which the full diffusion of new technologies can have on family structures, work relations, settlement patterns, economic and political power configurations, and also on behavior patterns and value systems. The relationship between technology on the one hand and economy and society on the other is not uni-directional. Not only does technological progress result in the continuous change of economic and social structures, but the latter, including the evolution of attitudes and values, has at the same time a major impact on the direction and the speed of technology development. The industrial society of today, characterized by mass production, mass consumption and mass government, is in many ways a complex incarnation of the technologies of the 20th century. But there is no doubt that the profound change in political, economic and social structures has provided the conditions to enable the transition to a new paradigm.
Breakthroughs will drive change
Looking at technology developments at the turn of the 21st century, there seems to be once again a broad range of new technical breakthroughs in reach. Further rapid progress is expected in information technology, new materials, genetics technology, environment protection and energy technologies, to name just a few. New possible combinations and interactions of the various technologies will also be of major importance. Prominent examples include information technology and telecommunications as well as energy and environment technologies. However, only a few of these technologies appear to be pervasive enough or to provide mankind with new basic capacities for them to have a major impact on society.
In a thirty-year perspective, genetics technology as well as energy and environment technologies could hold this potential. But looking ahead towards the next ten years or so, the main driving force for economic and social change will be information technology. After a quarter of a century of gradual development and diffusion, many believe that information technology is on the verge of a new take-off. This is partly due to genuine technology evolution; however, it is also partly the result of changing economic and social structures. These are increasingly adapting to the new organizational and institutional patterns required for the full and most effective use of the new technology, thereby contributing now to the push for further technological progress.
Summary - Technology is changing society both positively and negatively. Technology is changing how American society interact with one another and how they act all together. In some case technology is bringing great breakthroughs but in other ways it is turns society against it self and causing many problems that are difficult to solve.
In the late 19th century the American society were influenced by different things such as Thomas Nast cartoons. Now the American society is influenced by what is said about someone on social media. Also society today compared to the 19th century is advancing a lot faster than it did in the 19th century. Things are very different then it was in the 19th century there was no internet in the 19th century so it took a little bit longer for word to get around. Some things are still the same though industry is still a very big part of American society and it continues to influence it today.