The use of caricatures changed as the world started to gain its freedom from constrictive monarchies. The modern political cartoon was born as artists and journalists found their freedoms expanding in the 17th and 18th centuries. My constituents can t read. But, damn it, they can see pictures. Tweed s quote accurately sums up the amazing ability of political cartoons to reach people of all classes, no matter what their educational background might be.
Political cartoons are, in essence, manifestos for the common man.
A great problem in the early democratic governments was to include all eligible parties in the voting process, informing them of the issues and hearing expressions of their opinions. Early American leaders like Alexander Hamilton tried to make the vote a purely elitist experience. Political cartoons, however, informed the lower class citizens of current issues, inspired them to take matters into their own hands, and to cast their votes despite the obstacles in the way. These cartoons gave the illiterate a source of updates on recent political news so that their votes could be cast based on the candidate s credentials and not out of ignorance. The 19th century led to a widespread use of political cartoons by politicians.