The Democratic Party was founded by Thomas Jefferson and other influential Anti-Federalists in 1792, and championed The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The most common symbol for the party is the donkey. The origins of this symbol are unknown, but several theories have been proposed. According to one theory, in its original form, the jackass was born in the intense mudslinging that occurred during the presidential race of 1828 in which Andrew Jackson was sometimes called a jackass by his opponents. A political cartoon depicting Jackson riding and directing a donkey (representing the Democratic Party) was published in 1837. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast in an 1870 edition of Harper's Weekly revived the donkey as a symbol for the Democratic Party.
