Political cartoon, a drawing (often including caricature) made for the purpose of conveying editorial commentary on politics, politicians, and current events. Such cartoons play a role in the political discourse of a society that provides for freedom of speech and of the press.

The political cartoon is not a news story and not an oil portrait. With only one shot a day, cartoons are generally drawn about officials we feel are not serving the public interest. And we usually support the “good guys” by directing our efforts at their opponents.

Thomas Nast (/næst/; German: [nast]; September 27, 1840 – December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the “Father of the American Cartoon”. He was a critic of Democratic Representative “Boss” Tweed and the Tammany Hall Democratic party political machine.

A primary source is any original source – an image, text, newspaper article, political cartoon, map, deed, letter, diary, or artifact; and the list goes on – that comments on, testifies, or bears witness to the time period of its own production. In this respect, primary sources are the raw material of history.

Secondary Source Documents: Political cartoons can be tricky because they can be considered either primary or secondary. Articles, books, or other documents discussing research that was not conducted by the writer(s) are secondary sources in the sciences.

Primary sources are documents, images or artifacts that provide firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning an historical topic under research investigation. Primary sources are original documents created or experienced contemporaneously with the event being researched.

The audience of a source is the person, or group of people, who were originally intended to see or use it. Based upon what you know about the time the source was created and who created it, you need to identify for whom the source was originally created.

A primary source gives you direct access to the subject of your research. Secondary sources provide second-hand information and commentary from other researchers. Examples include journal articles, reviews, and academic books. A secondary source describes, interprets, or synthesizes primary sources.

Primary sources help students relate in a personal way to events of the past and promote a deeper understanding of history as a series of human events. Because primary sources are incomplete snippets of history, each one represents a mystery that students can only explore further by finding new pieces of evidence.

How to Analyze a Primary Source

1. Look at the physical nature of your source.
2. Think about the purpose of the source.
3. How does the author try to get the message across?
4. What do you know about the author?
5. Who constituted the intended audience?
6. What can a careful reading of the text (even if it is an object) tell you?