Where did the symbols of the donkey and elephant for the two political parties of the US originate?
Donkey and Elephant Symbols
The Republican elephant was created by cartoonist Thomas Nast and appeared in _Harper's Weekly_, Nov. 7, 1874. Before then, an 1860 issue of _Railsplitter_ and an 1872 _Harper's Weekly_ also had cartoons connecting Republicans with elephants.In New York, in 1874, there was a story written as a hoax by the _New York Herald_ saying that the animals of the Central Park Zoo had broken loose and were running wild in Central Park. The same Thomas Nast used the jackass in a cartoon using it to depict the _Herald_. This ultimately shifted to represent the Democratic party and the name changed to donkey.
MrV
Just corrected the reference to the initial appearance of the Thomas Nast cartoon in Harper's Weekly - Nov. 7, 1874, not 1974.
From Yahoo:
We've always thought it a little strange that our nation's most prominent political parties are represented by two less-than-majestic animals. There must be a good reason why the Republicans use a pachyderm and the Democrats use an ass so we set out to find it.
We started our search by typing "republican elephant" into the search field. Although we didn't receive any Yahoo! category matches, we did receive 4,710 relevant web pages.
The first search result took us to "Origin Of The Republican Elephant," a web page on the Republican National Committee web site.
According to the site, the symbol of the party was born in the imagination of cartoonist Thomas Nast and first appeared in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874. The entire explanation is rather convoluted, but the whole story is outlined in the article.
Interestingly, Nast is also the person credited with gaining wide-spread acceptance of the donkey as a symbol for the Democratic party, although he was not the first to use the symbol.
The Republican National Committee web site provided a stellar answer, so we decided to use its counterpart, The Democratic National Committee web site to find the origin of the donkey. When we arrived at the site, we immediately searched for "donkey" and were presented with a number of pages. We clicked on the first document listed, "The Democratic Donkey," and found some interesting history behind its use.
- When Andrew Jackson ran for president in 1828, his opponents tried to label him a "jackass" for his populist views and his slogan, "Let the people rule." Jackson turned it to his advantage by using the donkey on his campaign posters.
- In 1837, the donkey was used in a political cartoon for the first time to represent the Democratic party, again in conjunction with Jackson. Jackson was retired, but still considered himself the party's leader. The cartoon, titled "A Modern Baalim and his Ass," showed Jackson trying to get the donkey to go where he wanted it to go.
- Twice in the early 1870s, Thomas Nast used the donkey to represent the Democrats. He first used the animal in an 1870 Harper's Weekly cartoon to represent the "Copperhead Press" kicking a dead lion. He later used the donkey to portray what he called "Caesarism" showing the alleged Democratic uneasiness over a possible third term for Ulysses S. Grant. This later cartoon also marked the first use of the Republican elephant.
The donkey and the elephant have become the accepted symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties, even though the Democrats have never officially adopted the donkey as a party symbol. The Republicans, however, have actually adopted the elephant as their official symbol.
What does the elephant and donkey mean?
The elephant and donkey are symbols of the Republican and Democratic political parties, respectively. The Democratic donkey was first used as a negative comparison against the party, but Democrats used the animal as a strong-willed creature. The Republican elephant is the product of a political cartoon from the 1800s.
What are the two main political parties of the United States and the animal symbols for the parties?
Republican and democrat. Despite the fact that our country is governed by democracy, republicans still hold positions of political power. Republicans are generally percieved as more conservative, while democrats make changes more often. They often represent 2 different views on political issues, and rarely agree.The animal symbol for the Democrat is the donkey and for the Republican is the elephant.
Is Obama a donkey or an elephant?
I think you are asking what political party he belongs to, and what is the symbol of that party (these symbols were popularized by political cartoonist Thomas Nast, way back in the 1870s). President Obama is a Democrat, and the symbol of that party is the donkey. Republicans use the elephant as their party's symbol.
What two animals have something to do with politics and why?
Political cartoonists have, for many decades, used the donkey to represent the Democratic party and the elephant to represent the Republican party. The reason for these choices is not obvious, however, in some sense the Democratic party is seen as being more prone to populism or even demagoguery, hinted at by the foolish braying of the donkey, and the Republican party has the intimidating quality of a gigantic elephant, a creature which because of its…
Why are the donkey and elephant political symbols?
During the mid term elections way back in 1874, Democrats tried to scare voters into thinking President Grant would seek to run for an unprecedented third term. Thomas Nast, a cartoonist for Harper's Weekly, depicted a Democratic jackass trying to scare a Republican elephant - and both symbols stuck.
What is the origin of the donkey and elephant as the symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties?
There was a cartoon made by Thomas Nast who made the symbol as an elephant as Ulysses S. Grant was running for a third term and he made a cartoon to show that the elephant was unmovable when calm, but destructible when excited. The donkey came from when Andrew Jackson was in office, they made a donkey to represent him because they thought of him as a "jackass". Presidential candidate Andrew Jackson was the first…
What are the majior political parties in the US and what are their symbols?
Major US Political Parties: Source Wikipedia Party Name Date Founded Founder(s) Associated Ideologies Symbols Democratic Party 1792 / 1820s Thomas Jefferson / Andrew Jackson American Liberalism, American Progressivism, Social Liberalism Donkey Republican Party 1854 Alvan E. Bovay Conservatism, Economic Liberalism, Neoconservatism, Social Conservatism Elephant Libertarian Party 1971 David Nolan Libertarianism, Economic libertarianism, Classical Liberalism Lady Liberty Green Party 1984 Howie Hawkins John Rensenbrink Green Politics, American Liberalism, American Progressivism Sunflower Constitution Party 1992 Howard Phillips…
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How did the democrats and republicans get their symbols?
The symbols came from a famous political cartoonist named Thomas Nast, who first portrayed Republicans with the elephant symbol in a cartoon for Harper's magazine in 1874. At that time, he meant to imply that the elephant was loyal and strong, but if you got it upset, it could stampede and cause harm. Later, the symbol came to represent only the positive aspects of loyalty and strength. The idea of the donkey had been used…
What form of government does a political ideology completely control he political social and economic aspects of life in a country?
Many political parties base their political action and election program on an ideology. In social studies, a political ideology is a certain ethical set of ideals, principles, doctrines, myths or symbols of a social movements, institutions, classesor large group that explains how society should work, and offers some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order. A political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate powerand to what ends it should be used…
What is the function of election commission of India?
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