Post by pmullane on Oct 2, 2013 1:49:13 GMT
In this political cartoon there is a bunch of men in suits, top hats and multiple people smoking cigars. The way the people are dressed suggest that they are probably very wealthy because in 1871 I find it hard to believe that new immigrants getting over worked in the factories would be seen in that clothing. The men in the political cartoon are all lined up in a circle pointing to the person to the right of them. This gesture is in response to the question asked in the bottom of the cartoon, "Who Stole the People's Money?" to the right of the question is an answer "'Twas him." the people in the ring are probably the people involved in the political machine Tammany Hall. This is because around the circle is written Tammany Ring. Ill of these men in some sort of fashion are politicians that work in New York and were Appointed by Boss Tweed. It is hard to recognize who each individual person is but William "Boss" Tweed is probably the overweight man in the front left part of the cartoon.
From this Political cartoon it is easy to see that the Illustrator is not fond of Tammany Hall. He believes that they are all a bunch of rich old men who have received there wealth from the people. That is why in the cartoon when it is asked who stole the peoples money, all of the men in the ring are all pointing to one another. This shows that they all had some part in taking the hard workers money, but also that they are so quick to put the blame on anyone else but them. The author also portrays the men as ugly weird looking people to show that on the inside that they are ugly and that they only care about themselves. It is clear that the illustrator has a strong dislike towards the Tammany Hall Politicians. He thinks that they are thieves and bad people.