DONKEY APPEARS FOR THE 1ST TIME AS SYMBOL OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY
New York City (JFK+50) On January 15, 1870, a donkey was used for the first time to represent the Democratic Party in Harper's Weekly.
The donkey appeared in a cartoon drawn by Thomas Nast* titled 'A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion.'
The animal is tagged 'Copperhead Papers' in reference to Democratic newspapers of the South while the dead lion represents Lincoln's Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
An eagle perched on a rock in the cartoon represented federal control in the South in the post-Civil War era.
JFK+50 NOTE
Copperheads were Northern 'peace' Democrats who opposed the war against the Southern states & were seen as traitors by Republicans.
*Thomas Nast (1840-1902) was born in Landau, Germany & became known as "the father of the American cartoon." While he did not create the donkey as the symbol of the Democratic Party, he popularized the symbol in his work.
SOURCE
"First appearance of the Democratic Party donkey," March 2, 2010, www.history.com/
