As the ever-changing media landscape continues to evolve so does its content and in turn how that content is received. Central to the heart of American media are politics. American political ideology has been played out over the decades in conventional forms consisting of essays and written publications. Just as important to that ideology is American political opinion construed through drawings. Political cartoons have seen the scope of changing media in both content and delivery. They represent vivid, imaginative insight into politics and popular opinion. Today's political cartoons represent a fusion of pop culture and politics; and can be seen in a mired of ways. The web has become a new outlet for political cartooning. News and media today are certainly a far cry from the birth of quintessential political cartoons.

To comprehend the origin of the political cartoon, the term must be accurately defined, i.e. what is a political cartoon? According to Dan Backer's A Brief History of Cartoons website explains how a political cartoon is the melding of two elements. The first element is the caricature and the allusion. The second element is context, i.e. the subject matter is something widely known. In other words the subject matter portrayed by cartoons is something recognizable. The caricature will parody the individual and the allusion will create context. So political cartoons will exaggerate individuals' features and bring out that individuals "inner self' creating satire. Initially these caricatures and allusions were merely "curiosity" and not "viable artistic productions." The earliest would be political cartoons were not meant for public viewing (Backer).

Public viewing and "public consciousness" began to appear with the Protestant Reformation in Germany. "Visual propaganda" was used in the pursuit of religious reforms. The context of religious reform was something widely known and familiar thus these early political cartoons were an effective means to make the public aware (Backer). The success of cartoons of the eighteenth century helped to sustain cartooning as a medium. Cartoons were more than just comedy and humor; they took on an air of satire and seriousness. They presented serious issues in an acceptable manner specifically
designed to influence and affect popular opinion. As political cartooning became effective, "graphic satire" was utilized in the western culture (Backer).

Th. Nast

American history could be essentially documented by great cartoonists: cartoons became effective because all audiences could become influenced. The visual images contained simplicity and brevity, which were important. Also contributing the success of cartoons was the high illiteracy rate. With many Americans being able to read traditional print media, cartoons became a new outlet for information and new way to spark debate.

The tradition of visual satire continued into the Civil War where Thomas Nast is most notable known for his cartoons in Harper's Weekly. Nast is known for his graphic social commentary on the Civil War, which was quite often intensely clear. Political cartoonists like Nast analyzed serious and complex issues and made them humorous. Boss Tweed once blamed his decline the "damned pictures" (Iziren). Nast's work is another example of the impact of political cartoons on American society.