Thomas Nast Cartoon - What do you need to know to make sense of this cartoon?

U.S. citizens today are all familiar with "greenbacks," the paper money we use to conduct daily business. We're even comfortable with electronic money! But in the late 19th century, not everyone was ready to accept greenbacks, originally issued during the Civil War, as "real" money.
Michael O'Malley analyzes an 1876 editorial cartoon by Thomas Nast that criticized greenbacks and "greenbackers." How did Nast use symbols in his cartoon? What context was he working in?
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