Question

Although modern-day political parties have embraced their animal symbols, there were many instances of the symbols being used as a form of ridicule, especially by artists who created political cartoons. Conduct Internet research to find one historical political cartoon representation of the Democratic Party and one historical political cartoon representation of the Republican Party.

Answer 1

Thomas Nast was a cartoonist that made the donkey and the elephant very popular political cartoons. He wasn't the first one to use them, but through his work at Harper’s Magazine (1862-1886) he was the first to popularize them. Originally they were basically insults, since a donkey is not the smartest of animals and an elephant is not the fastest or most agile animal.