| Creator |
Currier & Ives. |
| Title |
An heir to the throne, or the next Republican candidate [graphic]. |
| Publisher |
New York : Published by Currier & Ives, 152 Nassau St |
| Publisher |
PA. Philadelphia. 1860 |
| Date |
1860 |
| Physical Description |
1 print : lithograph ; sheet 33 x 35 cm (13 x 13.5 in.) |
| Description |
Racist cartoon using African American side-show performer William Henry Johnson to lampoon the extent to which the Republican
party supported the rights of African Americans as a part of their Election Platform of 1860. In the left, depicts editor
of the Tribune, Horace Greeley, who says, "Gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you, this illustrious individual in whom you
will find combined, all the graces, and virtues of Black Republicanism, and whom we propose to run as our next Candidate for
the Presidency." In the center, Johnson, depicted with a bald and tapered head and attired in a long-sleeved shirt, shorts,
and black shoes, leans on the spear that he holds in both hands and asks in the vernacular, "What, can dey be?" In the right,
candidate Abraham Lincoln leans on a rail and says, "How fortunate! that this intellectual and noble creature should have
been discovered just at this time, to prove to the world the superiority of the Colored over the Anglo Saxon race, he will
be a worthy successor to carry out the policy which I shall inaugurate." In the background is a poster that reads, "Barnum’s
What is it. Now exhibiting." William Henry Johnson was born in Liberty Corners, New Jersey to William and Mahalia Johnson,
who were formerly enslaved. As Johnson’s head was smaller and sloped, agents from van Emburgh's Circus in New Jersey exhibited
him with a story that he was caught in Africa and was a "missing link." P.T. Barnum then exhibited him with the names "Zip
the Pinhead" and "What is it."
|
| Is referenced by |
Weitenkampf, p.122 |
|
Reilly, 1860-33 |
| Notes |
Probably drawn by Louis Maurer. |
|
Title from item. |
|
Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1860, by Currier & Ives, in the Clerk's office
of the District Court for the Southn Distt of N.Y.
|
|
Accessioned 1970. |
|
RVCDC |
|
Description revised 2021. |
|
Access points revised 2021. |
|
Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the
Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom
Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
|
| Subject |
Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891. |
|
Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872 -- Caricatures and cartoons. |
|
Johnson, William Henry, 1857-1926 -- Caricatures and cartoons. |
|
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Caricatures and cartoons. |
|
Zip, 1857-1926 -- Caricatures and cartoons. |
|
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) |
|
African American men -- Caricatures and cartoons. |
|
Human curiosities. |
|
People with disabilities -- United States. |
|
Presidential candidates -- United States -- Caricatures and cartoons. |
|
Presidents -- United States -- Election -- 1860. |
|
Racism in popular culture. |
| Genre |
Anti-abolition prints -- United States -- 1860-1870. |
|
Lithographs -- 1860-1870. |
|
Political cartoons -- 18560-1870. |
| Location |
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Political Cartoons - 1860-33R [7922.F] |
| Accession number |
7922.F |
