Final answer:
The cartoon “Andrew Johnson kicking the Freedmen’s Bureau” by Thomas Nast targeted President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction policies, criticizing their negative impact on African American rights post-Civil War. Nast's cartoons serve as historical commentary on the violence and political struggles of the Reconstruction era.
Step-by-step explanation:
The subject about the cartoon “Andrew Johnson kicking the Freedmen’s Bureau” by Thomas Nast is a critique of President Andrew Johnson's policies regarding Reconstruction and the treatment of African Americans after the Civil War.
Specifically, Nast was criticizing how Johnson's leniency towards the South and his opposition to the Freedmen's Bureau—which was established to help former slaves transition to freedom and citizenship—were detrimental to African American rights and progress.
The cartoons illustrate broader themes of racial violence and the struggles during the Reconstruction era, such as the rise of the White Leagues and the Ku Klux Klan, and the political turmoil that defined the period.
Thomas Nast, a cartoonist for Harper's Weekly, was known for his political commentary and for popularizing the symbols of the donkey and the elephant for the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively. His work often addressed contentious political issues, providing visual critique and propaganda.
Nast's cartoons, including those lampooning Horace Greeley, Andrew Johnson, and depicting the violence against African Americans, serve as historical documents that offer insight into the political and social dynamics of the time.