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- Title
- The pious Mr. All-bone, taking leave of his directors previous to his departure for Europe
- Description
- Cartoon about the Panic of 1857 satirizing the dubious overseas departure of the Bank of Pennsylvania president Thomas Allibone preceding the failure of the financial institution in the fall of 1857. Allibone claimed he departed for Europe for health reasons with the support of the Board of Director. The board later charged he resigned while in debt $200,000 to the bank. Shows the Bank of Pennsylvania board wishing a teary-eye Allibone farewell at the "Steamer Europe Sail" wharf. The board stands on "Bank of Pennsylvania" charters and many sneer and hold handkerchiefs to their faces. To the rear of the group, a white woman "reduced to absolute want" from the bank failure, stands with her children, including a baby at her breast, and asks one of the board members "could you not through your influence, obtain me a situation as housekeeper or school teacher?" The member jeers that his influence is "for his friends" and she should get "some tickets for soup." At the front of the group, the wart-nosed, rotund head of the board, shakes Allibone's hand. He assures the departing president of the entire respect and sympathy for his "good care" of the funds of the "Board, and the Widows, and Orphans." He hopes Allibone will return with "renovated health and strength" as well as a purchased title that includes "Gentleman of the Grand Order of the Rag Mill and the Check Marked Good.", Allibone stands on several sheets of "stock" near his valises. He holds a handkerchief to his face, and carries the book of "Common Prayer" in his coat pocket. He responds that if "a liberal expenditure of THEIR money" restores his health that he will attempt to purchase a title. He also suggests that his well-wisher go to church regularly, keep out of jail, and keep his breeches buttoned up and he "will sail through this crisis with flying colors." In the right, an African American woman peddler holds her nose and states in the vernacular that it is because of the "bad odor of dis paper! won't git much fur dis." Beside her, a white boy fishing at the pier remarks to his wriggling, hooked worm that "yer bound to be catched at last." Also shows an African American man, attired in worn and torn clothing, seated and chewing a stick in front of an overturned barrel while a white cabman races his horse-drawn coach down the street of grocery stores in the background. The driver hollers "Stop him! He owes me 130 dollars for Cab-hire." Groceries advertised include onions, molasses, soft sawder (i.e., blarney), sugar, oil, and vinegar., Artist probably John L. Magee., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Weitenkampf incorrectly provides date of 1837., John L. Magee's print "The Dreadful Accident on the North Pennsylvania Railroad" (1856) lithographed on the verso. [7663.Fb], Purchase 1968., 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.
- Creator
- Magee, John L., artist
- Date
- [ca. 1857]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1857-Pious [7663.Fa]
- Title
- The black Republicans at their devotions
- Description
- Cartoon exploiting the stereotypes of the factions comprising the recently formed antislavery political party, the Republicans, before the Presidential Election of 1856. Depicts a meeting of the party members singing "Du da, du da." In the left is a white man, attired in a brimmed hat, a white collared shirt, a white waistcoat, and a black jacket and carrying a paper that reads, “Bobtail Hoss.” He represents a "puritanical bigot" abolitionist “who goes strongly in favor of stealing negroes.” In the center is a white man, attired in a white collared shirt, a black bowtie, a black waistcoat, and a black jacket, who is a "disciple of Free Love and Fremont" (i.e., John C. Fremont, the Republican presidential nominee). In the right, is a white man, wearing long hair and a beard and attired in spectacles, a ruffled, white collar shirt with a brooch, and a black jacket, who represents the "long bearded spiritualist." In the left foreground is an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, who remarks in the vernacular, “Mass mos’ as good as brudder Bones.” In the background, more people sing “Du da,” including a woman, attired in spectacles, and described as “a hooked nosed, masculine crocodile, who is descanting upon woman’s rights and niggers’ wrongs.” Also visible is a statue of a man holding a staff atop a pedestal labeled “Du da.”, Title from item., Date inferred from content., Text printed on recto, below image: “The Mustang colt is young and strong, Du da du da; His wind is good, his knees not sprung, Du da du da da!” The artist has given in this group a representative of nearly all the isms that go to make up the pie-bald conglomeration of which the Black Republican party is composed. Here is the long-bearded spiritualist, who, like his candidate, has more hair than brains; then we have the genuine Aminidab Sleek, or the true disciple of Free Love and Fremont; then there is the sour, morose, puritanical bigot, who goes strongly in favor of stealing negroes, because their services can be secured at a much lower rate than he would have to pay white men; the darkey, emerging from below, is grinning with ferocious delight at the ‘Du da du,’ which is to exalt niggers above “sassy white people;” there is a wide and foul-mouthed slang-monger, in the back-ground, who goes in for free discussion on one side; a hooked nosed, masculine crocodile, who is descanting upon woman’s rights and niggers’ wrongs, because he is too lazy to work. There is the picture—look at it. Du da du. Nero fiddled while Rome was burning. Black Republicans sing foolish songs while the glorious fabric which our fathers reared in peril and blood, is dissolving in the fires of fanaticism. They make no appeal to our reason, but to our imagination; the reason and the judgment is not addressed, only our passions and our prejudices. They cannot sing a mere political adventurer into the Presidential chair., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1856-Bla [5760.F.94]
- Title
- The great Republican reform party, calling on their candidate
- Description
- Cartoon lampooning the Republican Party's constituency of radicals and reformers who supported the first Republican presidential candidate, John C. Frémont, in 1856. In the right, Frémont receives his eclectic array of supporters and promises "You shall all have what you desire--and be sure that the glorious principles of popery, Fourier, ism, free love, womans rights, the Maine law, and above all the equality of our colored brethren, shall be maintained, if I get into the Presidential chair." In the left is a white man puritanical reformer calling for the prohibition of tobacco, meat, and alcohol; a white woman suffragist attired in bloomers, smoking a cigarette, and carrying a riding whip; a white man socialist, attired in worn and torn clothing and wanting “an equal division of property”; an older, white woman libertarian espousing free-love as a "Freemounter"; a white, Catholic priest promoting the Pope; and a racist caricature of an African American man, attired in a white collared, ruffled shirt, a black jacket with tails, black pants, and black shoes, carrying a cane who comments in the vernacular, "De poppylation ob color comes in first--arter dat, you may do wot you pleases.", Title from item., Artist and publication information supplied by Weitenkampf., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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., Maurer was a French-born painter and lithographer who worked for several years with the New York lithographic firm, Currier & Ives.
- Creator
- Maurer, Louis, 1832-1932, artist
- Date
- [1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1856-22 [5760.F.100]
- Title
- The meeting of the Friends. City Hall Park
- Description
- Cartoon portraying a distorted version of events surrounding New York Governor Horatio Seymour's "My Friend's" speech during the Draft Riots of 1863 when several African Americans were killed by working-class rioters. Portrays Seymour on the steps of City Hall in front of a riotous mob composed primarily of armed Irish-Americans who march past the building for "The Tribune," an anti-Seymour newspaper. Supporting Seymour from behind are a fool with a cap inscribed "Express" (i.e., a Pro-Seymour newspaper), and former Mayor Fernando Wood and Tammany boss Peter B. Sweeny, both "Copperhead" Democrats who advocated peaceful settlement with the South and who believed Republican philanthropy favored African Americans at the expense of working-class whites. Seymour placates the mob announcing that he is their friend and that he has ordered the President to stop the draft. At his feet is an African American with a noose around his neck. A white man holds the severed head of an African American man, and several more African Americans are seen hanging from trees in the background., Probably drawn by Henry L. Stephens., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Place of publication supplied by Reilly., Text printed below image: A friendly voice.—Governor, we want you to stay here. Horatio Seymour.—I am going to stay here, “My Friends.” Second Rioter.—Faith, and the Governor will stay by us. Horatio Seymour.—I am your “Friend,” and the “Friend” of your families. Third Rioter.—Arrah, Jemmy, and who said he cared about the “Dirty Nagurs”? Fourth Rioter.—How about the draft, Saymere? Governor.—I have ordered the President to stop the draft! Chorus.—Be Jabers, he’s a “Broth of a Boy.”, RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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.
- Date
- [1863]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1863-12 [P.2275.11]
- Title
- "I say Billy, do you know why I'm doing this? Cause, I'm going to run for Congress soon!"
- Description
- Satire belittling the increasing rights of African Americans following the Emancipation Proclamation and depicting a white shoe shine boy shining the shoes of an African American man, portrayed as a racist caricature of a Black dandy. On the street corner, the white boy shines the shoes of the African American man, attired in a top hat with a decorative band, a white collared shirt, a black bowtie, a plaid waistcoat, a checked jacket, striped pants, and black shoes. The shoe shiner speaks to another white boy, who is barefoot and attired in torn and worn clothes, "I say Billy, do you know why I'm doing this? Cause, I'm going to run for Congress soon!" In the left, a carriage passes by., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 1972, p. 63., Purchase 1972., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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.
- Creator
- Potomac, artist
- Date
- [1863?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1863-13W [8033.F.3]
- Title
- The nigger emperor of Nicuragua [sic] on his throne Attended by Chatfield & his Black guards witnessing the detention of the steamer Prometheus, by the English brig of war Express, at San Juan
- Description
- Racist political cartoon satirizing the fictitious "Nigger Emperor" of Nicaragua during the "Prometheus-Express" incident of November 1851, which threatened the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 between the United States and Britain to abstain from attempting dominion of Central America. Depicts the Emperor as a Black man, partially undressed, attired in a military uniform with epaulettes, a black plumed hat, a sword on his waistband, and black boots. He sits atop a barrel labeled “Jamaica Rum.” He has one boot off that exposes his sock. His trousers are off and draped over his right arm. He smiles with a cigar in his mouth and carries a bottle labeled “Brandy” in his left hand. He looks towards Frederick Chatfield, the United Kingdom’s consul in Central America from 1834 to 1852, standing in the right. Chatfield holds his hands up and says, “They shall pay the money or be blow to attoms for their temerity, let me again entreat your Majesty to condesend (sic) to draw your breeches over your imperial shins.” The Emperor gestures with his right hand to the two ships in the harbor and replies in the vernacular, “Nebber mine, Massa Chatfield, wedder to warm for wear beechum, Yankee hab to cum back and pay money to dis nigger, ya, ya, ya.” Behind the Emperor, several Black guards, attired in tall hats, smile and stand in formation. Also in the print is a small black dog sniffing the Emperor’s sock., The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 made Greytown, Nicaragua a free port, denying the British revenue. To circumvent this, the British charged harbor fees. On November 21, 1851, Cornelius Vanderbilt’s ship Prometheus refused to pay the British harbor fees. The British brig o’war Express fired three shots across the bow of the Prometheus. Vanderbilt then paid. However, when the ship arrived in New York he took his case to the U.S. government with the U.S. wanting Britain to withdraw from Central America. In early 1852, the Nicaraguan government sought to assert its authority over the Miskito kingdom. On April 30, 1852, Secretary of State Daniel Webster and British minister John Crampton negotiated a settlement that made Greytown a free city, protected the rights of the Miskito Indians, and established the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua along the San Juan River., Title from item., Erroneously dated 1839 by Weitenkampf., Appears in The old soldier, New York, February, 1852., Likely drawn by John L. Magee, who worked at 69 Nassau Street at this time., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Magee, John L., artist
- Date
- [1852]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1851-28 [5760.F.107]
- Title
- American sympathy and Irish blackguardism
- Description
- Cartoon depicting conflicting responses to the condemnation of slavery in the U.S. by Daniel O'Connell, an Irish abolitionist and leader of the movement for Irish independence (i.e. Irish Repeal Movement). Depicts O'Connell confronting President John Tyler as his son, Robert, an Irish repeal advocate introduces him. O'Connell, attired as an Irish thug, holds a club labeled "Agitation" and a bag labeled "Repale Rint." He condemns John Tyler for being an enslaver, "Arrah! give up your slaves I'd rather shake hands with a pick-pocket than wid a slaveholder, and if we get our repale we'll set em all free..." President Tyler, who was passively against slavery, greets O'Connell stating his support of repeal. Robert Tyler, dressed effeminately, and with "Ahasuerus" and the "Epitaph on Robert Emmett" (an earlier Irish patriot), the poems he authored in his pocket, confirms his father's support of repeal and proposes that the sale of his work could benefit the Irish cause. William Lloyd Garrison, who is to the right of O'Connell, states his support for O'Connell but not Irish repeal. An African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and speaking in the vernacular, overlooks the scene and says, "By jolly I wish Massa Harry Clay was here -- Dis dam low Irishman not dare talk to him dat way!", Title from item., Entered according to an act of Congress in the year 1843 by H.R.R. Robinson in the Clerk's Office in the District court for the Sc District of N.Y., Purchase 1958., 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., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, lithographer, and engraver.
- Creator
- Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
- Date
- 1843
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political cartoons - 1843-2 [6258.F]
- Title
- Not a drum was heard nor a funeral note as his corpse to the ramparts we hurried -- : Not a loco discharged his farewell shot o'er the ditch where our hero we buried
- Description
- Cartoon of a funeral procession portraying the erosion of Democratic support for presidential hopeful Martin Van Buren, the "Kinderhook Fox," during the election of 1844. Depicts President Tyler, instrumental in Van Buren's defeat, stating, "Thus do all our hopes end in Clay," as he steers a funeral cart carrying Van Buren, depicted as a dead fox; his son, poet Robert Tyler; and a bale of cabbages. The cart is pulled by Andrew Jackson, depicted as an old nag boasting about his part in Van Buren's death. Following the cart are the devil sobbing and bemoaning that he is Van Buren's only friend and a rotund man in a wide brimmed hat who rings a bell and calls, "Bring out your dead." In the right, two barefooted African American men gravediggers, portrayed in racism caricature and attired in torn and worn clothes, hold shovels as they stand over and comment about the open grave they have dug for Van Buren. "Here comes Pompey, we'll have this Fox earthed at last." A small cabin, with an emaciated white man in the doorway, and labeled "Loco Foco Hall" (Loco Focos were a radical branch of the Democrats who supported Van Buren) stands in the background., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1844 by James Baille in the Clerk's office of the Dist Court of the Southern District of N. York., Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1977., 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., Bucholzer was a New York cartoonist whose work was published by James Baillie from 1843 until 1847.
- Creator
- Bucholzer, H., lithographer
- Date
- 1844
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political cartoons - 1844-17 [8366.F.21]
- Title
- Pay day at the custom house, N.Y
- Description
- Cartoon depicting a crowd surrounding the New York City custom house where many upper class men scuffle or flee from tradespeople and shopkeepers demanding payment for bills owed. In the left, a white woman grabs a white man by the coat tails and exclaims, "Stop, you wagabone, & pay your washing-bill, you sarpint!" A rotund white man holds a bill and replies, "Hold on, good woman--Hold on til I get there. He owes me for his Grog score." In the center, a white man local official, attired in fine clothing and a top hat, is surrounded by creditors forming a long line holding bills and demanding payment, including for "five oyster suppers" and his "tailors-bill." A barefoot African American shoeshiner, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in torn and worn clothes asks in the vernacular, "Massa will you pay for brack de boots?" The official responds, "You black rascal, have you the impudence to present a bill to a man who has been chosen to office by the sober second thought of the people?" In the background, creditors chase the custom officials with their bills., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1847 by J. Baillie in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of N. York., Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1977., 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., Magee was a New York cartoonist and lithographer who eventually established his own lithographic firm in Philadelphia in 1850.
- Creator
- Magee, John L., artist
- Date
- 1847
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1847 - Pay [8366.F.26]
- Title
- Slavery as it exists in America : Slavery as it exists in England
- Description
- Racist, anti-abolition print challenging Northern abolitionists' view of slavery by favorably contrasting the living conditions of enslaved African American people in America with that of British industrial workers. First image depicts enslaved men, women, and children playing music, singing, and dancing during a hoe-down while Southerners and Northerners observe and comment about how the false reports to the North about the hardships of slavery will now be rectified. Second image portrays a British cloth factory where several emaciated white factory workers, attired in torn and worn clothes, have gathered, including a woman and her children referring to themselves as slaves; two workers discussing running away to an easier life in the coal mines; and workers commenting on their premature aging. A rotund priest and tax collector observe. Soldiers march in the background. Below the image is a small portrait of the "English Anti-slavery Agitator" George Thompson., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1850 by J. Haven in the clerk's office of the District Court of Mass., Manuscript note on verso: Deposited April 9, 1851, Recorded vol 26. pag, 145., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1967, p. 55., 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., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Date
- 1850
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1850-6 [P.9675]
- Title
- Sunday laws hanging the cat on Monday for killing the mouse on Sunday
- Description
- Cartoon mocking Philadelphia's Sunday Laws depicting the moment before "Thomas" the cat will be hanged for his murder of a mouse on the Sabbath. In the center, shows the gallows surrounded by a line of white policemen, attired in uniforms and caps. In the left, three white hangmen, attired in suits, hold onto the rope and pull on the unlooped end of the noose. Two of the men smile sinisterly, while the third man wipes his tears with a handkerchief as he says, “Alas poor Tom!” To the right, an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature with exaggerated features, carries the "Blood Tub." Under the noose, a white man, possibly Philadelphia Mayor Alexander Henry, stands holding an execution order that reads, “Mayor Public Execution Tom” and the cat by the scruff of its neck. Before him stands a minister, resembling John Chambers, a champion of the Sunday Laws. He holds the dead mouse in this right hand and an open book in his left hand as he sentences the cat to death for murder. Behind the minister, an elderly white man, attired in a suit with a white bowtie, stands slightly hunched down holding an ear trumpet to his right ear. He comments, “I can’t hear a word the minister says on account of them cars,” a reference to the contested Sunday Law against the running of streetcars. A black dog runs in the left foreground., Title from item., Date from manuscript note written on recto: Aug. 1859., Place of publication inferred from content., Text printed on recto, below image: In the Dark Ages, long ago, One Horne was flogged on Monday; What for? That’s what I want you to know, He danced a horn-pipe Sunday! That was all! He but danced a horn-pipe Sunday, But he danced to the horsewhip Monday. By the roundheads, too, when Cromwell reigned, We read there was a hung on Monday, A cat who “the Sabbath day (?) profaned” By cat-ching a mouse on Sunday? Understand: She played with him first on Sunday, ‘Twas for that she was hung on Monday! And by America’s Puritan men, Mrs. Hotchkiss was punished on Monday; Cotton Mather forbade her, but once and again, She had kissed her babe on Sunday; A blow for a kiss. For so many kisses on Sunday, She got so many blows on Monday. So, too, in Brooklyn, the other day, Meyerbeer was tried on Monday; The complaint against him thus did say “He has sold lager beer on Sunday” And he had! But the jury said, on Monday! A good drink might be sold Sunday! And in the West’s “Queen city,” too, One Rudolph’s just ‘quitted on Monday; He would drive his ‘bus the whole week through And accommodate people on Sunday: And the Court, Gave the very Pruden-t decision on Monday, That “there’s more than ‘one thing needful’ on Sunday:” And so the “good time” is “coming” boys When a thing that is good on Monday—A drink, or a drive, or a joyful noise—Will be thought not bad on Sunday! Everywhere When wrong will be wrong on Monday, And right will be right on Sunday!, Accessioned 1893., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [Philadelphia]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1859-Sun [5656.F.24a]
- Title
- "The irrepressible conflict" or the Republican barge in danger
- Description
- Cartoon predicting doom for the Republican Party whose moderate antislavery factions intentionally caused radical abolitionist William Seward to lose the presidential nomination at the National Convention in 1860. Depicts the "Republican Barge" with Lincoln at the helm being tossed on rough sea near a rocky shore. Within the boat Horace Greeley, Missouri Congressman Edward Bates, and Globe editor Francis Blair disparage Seward and the "Irrepressible Conflict" (a catchphrase from an 1858 Seward speech referring to the conflict within the Union over slavery) he has caused as they throw him overboard. The hoisted Seward warns that he alone can save the boat. An African American man, portrayed as a racist caricature and attired in a white collared shirt, a bowtie, a striped waistcoat, pants, and a "Discords Patent Life Preserver" wrapped around his chest, says in the vernacular, “if de boat and all hands sink, dis Nigger sure to swim, Yah! Yah!” Additional passengers, including Massachusetts Governor Nathaniel Banks and "Courier" editor James Webb, comment on the breakers ahead and the improbability of being saved. Brother Jonathan (predecessor to Uncle Sam) anxiously stands on the shore admonishing them not to throw out Seward but to “heave that tarnal Nigger out.”, Probably drawn by Louis Maurer., Verso stamped: L.A. De Vries., 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 Southern Distt of N.Y., Purchase 1960., 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.
- Creator
- Currier & Ives
- Date
- 1860
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1860 - 28 [6418.F]
- Title
- An heir to the throne, or the next Republican candidate
- 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.", 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.
- Creator
- Currier & Ives
- Date
- 1860
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1860-33R [7922.F]
- Title
- The dis-united states. Or the Southern Confederacy
- Description
- Cartoon mocking the inherent dissension within the newly formed Confederacy depicting the Confederate state leaders as conniving self-opportunists led by the Governor of the first state to secede, South Carolina's Francis Pickens. Pickens, armed with a whip and pistol, is astride the back of an enslaved African American man on all fours, and demands as a "file leader," obedience from Stephen R. Mallory of Florida, William Yancey of Alabama, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, Joseph Brown of Georgia, and an unidentified white man from Louisiana. The Confederates seated upon representations of their state interests (a wrecked hull, bales of cotton, and a barrel of sugar) ignore Pickens and demand acquiescence to their different state needs including coastal control, control of profits from the sale of cotton, and increased bonds and duties as compensation for separating from the Union., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Date of publication supplied by Reilly., Purchase 1964., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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.
- Creator
- Currier & Ives
- Date
- [1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1861-6R [6612.F]
- Title
- Jim Crow, the American mountebank performing at the Grand Theatre
- Description
- Full-length, caricatured portrait depicting Thomas D. Rice, known as the "father of American minstrelsy." Depicts Rice in Blackface as his African American racist shyster character of "Jim Crow" during his first performance in London. He is portrayed with exaggerated features and mannerisms. He dances and sings a version of the minstrel standard, "Jim Crow," in front of an audience of white British men, including the King. The song, which pokes fun at Americans, refers to William Blackstone and William Pitt Chatham, two influential English jurists, who wrote about early American law and politics. Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and remaining in American life through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of Black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humor and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes. Jim Crow (mid to late 19th century) was a Minstrel character representing enslaved/rural Black manhood as foolish, lazy, interested in shirking labor., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Text printed on the recto: I come from America a long time ago, Since which I larn to wheel about & jump Jim Crow, Him used to study Blackstone ebry morn & arter noon, Me charm de House where Chatham died & dance inde saloon. Wheel about & turn about & do jis so. Ebry time I wheel about I jumpt Jim Crow., Description of Blackface minstrelsy and minstrel characters from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021., Accessioned 1982., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1836 Jim [P.8738]
- Title
- Philadelphia fashions, 1837
- Description
- Racist cartoon depicting middle class African American Philadelphians used to arouse Northern anti-Black fears that well-to-do African Americans threatened the racial status quo. Depicts a physically attractive and elegantly dressed African American man and woman couple who have stopped during a stroll. The woman, attired in a large bonnet, elegant gown, and holding a parasol asks in the vernacular, "What you look at Mr. Frederick Augustus?" The man, attired in a suit, a top hat, and holding a walking cane in one hand and a monocle to his eye with the other answers, "I look at dat White loafer wot looks at me. I guess he from New York." The man and woman also each wear broaches depicting portraits. The couple are possibly prominent African American Philadelphians Frederick Augustus Hinton and Elizabeth Willson Hinton., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1837, by H.R. Robinson in the Clerk's Office of the Dist Court of the U.S. of the Southern District of N. York., Due to the similar content of this caricature to the prints from the series, "Life in Philadelphia," the lithograph has been catalogued as a part of the series., Purchase 1958., 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., E.W. Clay (1799-1857), born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, engraver, and lithographer who created the "Life in Philadelphia" series which racially lampooned middle-class African American Philadelphians of the late 1820s and early 1830s.
- Creator
- Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
- Date
- 1837
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1837 - Phi [6281.F]
- Title
- The times
- Description
- Satire depicting the economic depression and social misery of the working class following the Panic of 1837. Depicts a figure symbolizing President Jackson composed of a hat, spectacles, and pipe called "Glory" overlooking a city street. Lining the street is a hotel for sale; a Custom House doing no business; "The Mechanics Bank" during a run; the pawn shop of "Shylock Graspall"; a liquor store in front of which an African American shoe shiner greets another African American man; the Sheriff's office doing an active business; and attorney "Peter Pillage" being collected by his horse drawn carriage. In the foreground peaches and flour are for sale at exorbitant prices; several white men laborers sit and stand idle including a mason, sailor, carpenter, and driver; a widowed white mother and child beg a banker for money; and reminiscent of Hogarth's "Gin Lane," a white woman and a child lay on a straw mat next to a white man drunkard and seated militiaman. Visible in the background are an almshouse, "Bridewell" Debtor Prison, an idle wharf, and a deflating balloon marked "Safety Fund" symbolizing Van Buren's failed New Bank insurance program., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1837, by H.R. Robinson in the clerk's office of the District Court of the United States of the Southern District of New York., LCP exhibition catalogue: Made in America #52., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, engraver, and lithographer.
- Creator
- Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
- Date
- 1837
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1837-8 [5760.F.75]
- Title
- The smokers
- Description
- Cartoon concerning smoking as a vice depicting a crowd scene where everyone smokes, including women and children. In the foreground, a white man sits on a wooden chair holding a pipe in hand, refers to his "illustrious predecessor," Andrew Jackson. Two white boys light their cigars together. A finely dressed white woman carrying a parasol is horrified and says, "Oh! The monsters, I'm half blinded and suffocated" as she holds her nose. An elegantly dressed African American woman holds her hand to her nose and exclaims, "What a nasty practice, it's enough to make a dog sick." In the right, a white man street peddler carries a tray of plaster busts, including a pipe smoking Jackson. "Jack Downing," cigar in hand, states he picked up the habit in France and that his lighter was made from Jackson's spectacles but thinks a loco-foco (a faction of the Democrats who were named after a type of match) would go quicker. An African American chimney sweep and an African American shoe shiner shake hands with cigars in their mouths. They are portrayed in racist caricature and speak in the vernacular about smoking. "I say Josh, wot you smoke dem long nines for, why don't you smoke Half Spanish like a gen'leman." "Cause I've called in my Shin Plasters, and suspended Specie payments!!", Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress, in the Year 1837, by H.R. Robinson, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the U.S. of the Southern Dist. of New York., Text printed on recto: Tobacco is a stinking weed, It was the Devil sow'd the seed, It drains the purse & fouls the clothes, And makes a chimney of the nose., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, engraver, and lithographer.
- Creator
- Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
- Date
- 1837
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1837-25W [5656.F.3]
- Title
- The Great Rohan & the cattle market
- Description
- Cartoon depicting a pasture with a tree at the center that shows a white man growing from it. The man holds a paper entitled, "Coal is coal," and states that he needs his roots covered. On one of the branches, perches a figure with the body of a bird and the head of a man who states, "The rascally Whigs killed poor Cilley," a reference to the death of Maine Congressman Jonathan Cilley in a duel with Kentucky Congressman William J. Graves. Surrounding this figure are white men and cattle. In the right, a man attired in a long coat and top hat states that the cattle will not feed on "Rohans" and “if we could whip in the miserable conservatives, it would be really ‘contholing.’” Two other men scrounge on the ground, one labeled "Green Pear" who asks to be let up the "Rohan," and the other, who bemoans being overshadowed by the image of a bloody hand. In the left, an African American man portrayed in racist caricature speaks in the vernacular, “Hold on Massa Gineral, it be oh no use to go to dat market,” as he tries to reign in cattle with human heads that are labeled "Hampton Bull." In the right background, an onlooker warns a cattle driver who is being trampled that he can not drive them., Purchase 1987., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1838]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1838-19 [P.9192.3]
- Title
- Johnny Q., introducing the Haytien Ambassador to the ladies of Lynn, Mass. Respectfully inscribed to Miss Caroline Augusta Chase, & the 500 ladies of Lynn who wish to marry Black husbands
- Description
- Anti-abolition print satirizing the Lynn Female Anti-Slavery Society which was successful in its petition to the state legislature to abolish race-proscriptive laws, including a ban on interracial marriage. Depicts a parlor where the Society's members, composed of unattractive white women and African American men, have gathered to be introduced to the fictitious Haitian Ambassador, General Marmalade, by John Quincy Adams. The ambassador, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in an uniform and powdered wig, takes his hat off and bows as he holds a monocle up. He lasciviously addresses the women in the crowd in broken French and vernacular, "Mesdames votre trés humble serviteur! me no speak much Anglish-En regardant ces charmants bontons de rose de Lynn l’eau vient dans la bouche! Excuse bot de charming rose buds ob Lynn make vater in my mouse." The women await their introduction and remark about the ambassador's "lovely" and "beautiful" features, as well as his overall attractiveness. African American men, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in elegant suits, stand behind the women and comment in the vernacular about the ambassador, "Demd fine specimen of a man! pon honor." In the right background, a white man servant and a white woman servant enter the room carrying trays of food and drinks., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1839, by John Childs, in the clerk's office, in the District Court for the Southern District of New York., Caroline Augusta Chase headed the Lynn Female Anti-Slavery Society., Purchase 1959., 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., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, engraver, and lithographer who created the "Life in Philadelphia" series which satirized middle-class African Americans of the late 1820's and early 1830's.
- Creator
- Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
- Date
- 1839
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1839-25w [6333.F]
- Title
- Practical amalgamation
- Description
- Racist print promoting anti-abolitionists' fears of multiracial personal relationships. Depicts a parlor scene where two interracial couples court on a couch. In the left, an attractive white women sits on the lap of an African American man. The man, depicted in racist caricature with grotesque facial features, holds a guitar in his right hand as she engages him in a kiss. In the right, a rotund African American woman holds a fan in her right hand as she is wooed by a slender white man on his knees who kisses her left hand. Portraits of abolitionists Arthur Tappan, Daniel O'Connell (a radical Irish abolitionist), and John Quincy Adams are hung on the wall behind the couch. A white and black dog are in the left corner., Title from item., First of a series of five., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2015, p. 41., Purchase 1957., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, engraver, and lithographer who created the "Life in Philadelphia" series which satirized middle-class African-Americans of the late 1820s and early 1830s.
- Creator
- Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
- Date
- 1839
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1839-Pra 1 [6207.F]
- Title
- [Scraps for the year 1830]
- Description
- Plate three from the 1830 edition of "Scraps," Johnston's popular satirical series of societal caricatures published between 1828 and 1840, and in 1849. Depicts a montage of nine scenes lampooning contemporary society titled: Practitioners of the Bar Lamenting the Failure of the United States Mint; Putting the Best Leg Foremost; Fixed Air; Erudition; A Discharge of Filth; Improvement in Bathing; Conjugal Affection; Making Up a Party of Pleasure; and Hot Corn. Scenes depict: white men commodities brokers bemoaning the "winter" market at a tavern; white women shoppers lamenting a lost butter firkin and questioning the quality of a leg of meat including an African American man carrying a basket of food; two white men in a bed chamber with a closed window discussing the unhealthiness of "fixed air"; a white man quibbling over the omission of the word "physician" in the dictionary; the chastisement of a Boston drunkard near his overturned cart pulled by his drunk "haus"; a white man shower-bathing with an umbrella; the fattening of a dying white man to be purchased as a cadaver ; a working class, white Boston family reminding a destitute woman of the pleasure in witnessing a hanging; and a discussion of the processing of "hot corn" between a African American waiter and two white men patrons. Includes two African American characters, a servant and a waiter, portrayed in racist caricature and speaking in the vernacular., Title supplied by cataloger., Inscribed upper right corner: Pl 3., Published in D. C. Johnston's Scraps for the year 1830 (Boston: D.C. Johnston, 1830), pl. 3. (LCP Am 1830 Joh, 7021.F.3)., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Accessioned 1979., 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.
- Creator
- Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865
- Date
- [1830]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - [1830]-Scr [P.2275.25]
- Title
- A case of infectious fever (from "84 South Street, 4 doors from Callowhill Street," Philadelphia) before the New York Board of Health
- Description
- Cartoon criticizing the New York Board of Health's handling of the 1820 yellow fever epidemic based upon August 1820 newspaper accounts about "John C. Williams," a drunk man falsely claiming to be from Philadelphia who was misdiagnosed with the fever. Depicts several doctors and officials from the Board, with handkerchiefs over their mouths, surrounding and discussing the condition of the bed-ridden Williams who is vomiting into a bucket and exclaiming, "drunk, drunk, oh lord." Despite the protestation of the African American housekeeper who holds a tankard and states that he is drunk from "de toast and toddy," the various doctors, including prominent physicians Felix Pascalis, Samuel Latham Mitchill, and President of the Board, David Hosack, discuss his symptoms of "black vomit," "delerium," "a red nose," and "difficulty of speech," as evidence of "yellow fever." Others including New York Post editor William Coleman and Marine Hospital attending physician Joseph Bayley discuss treatments and his being sent to quarantine., Date and place of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., LCP exhibition catalogue: Made in America, p. 24., Accessioned 1979., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1820]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - [1820] - 1W [P.2275.24]
- Title
- The follies of the age, vive la humbug!!
- Description
- Critique of the social climate of the year of 1855 mocking several of the year's fads, social movements, and major events, many specific to the city of Philadelphia. Depicts several individual scenes occurring on an active street lined by businesses near a river. Depictions include: a scene representing the case of Jane Johnson, an African American woman freedom seeker aided by abolitionist Passmore Williamson; a group of ragged and armed white men filibusters holding the banner "Sam" rushing off to free Central America from European control; a stand where one is "allowed to drink 48 glasses of Lager Beer" where a white man police officer tries to stop a white man drunkard; a group of white women Mormons on a cart headed to "Salt Lake City"; a white man hugging two white women as his angry wife looks on and calls them "Ceresco free-lovers" after the Utopian society that lasted until 1855; two motley groups of local militias drilling; a caricature of the popular French actress Rachel who had an inauspicious debut in Philadelphia; and groups of individuals partaking of "water cures" and "sea baths." In the background the Camden Amboy train crash of 1855 is depicted as well as the destruction by fire of the Philadelphia steamer "John Stevens.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., Accessioned 1998., 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.
- Date
- [1855?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1855-Fol [P.9624]
- Title
- "No higher law."
- Description
- Antislavery print denouncing the immorality of the Fugitive Slave Law by exploiting abolitionist Senator William H. Seward's famous quote that "a higher law" than the Constitution should exist regarding slavery. Shows "King Slavery," depicted as a bearded, bare-chested, white man, attired in a crown made of finger bones and armed with pistols in his waistband. The King sits and leans upon the arm of his throne composed of the "Fugitive Slave Bill," the Bible, and human skulls as he defiantly holds a whip of chains above his head. An American flag on a pole billows behind the throne. Below the throne, Seward, depicted as a priest, looks up and raises his left hand toward the King. He stands before a cat-faced altar inscribed "Sacred to Slavery," which rests upon a book of "Law" and pours oil from a container onto the altar fire, generating clouds of smoke. In the right, three enslaved men squat with their heads bowed. Senator Daniel Webster gestures toward them and holds a paper supporting the Fugitive Slave Bill "to the fullest extent." Near them, "Freedom," depicted as a bearded, white man and attired in a robe, displays his sense of defeat by removing his crown and lowering his liberty pole. In the left, an African American man freedom seeker fends off dogs attacking him. An African American woman freedom seeker and two children flee from two white men mercenaries on horseback and run toward a white woman with outstretched arms in front of a house. In the right background, the figure of Liberty falls from her pedestal., Title from item., Place of publication inferred from the residence of the distributor., Weitenkampf suggests date of publication as 1851., Text printed on recto: Price $3 A Hundred And Six Cents Single Copy., William Harned was an abolitionist printer in New York who also published the pamphlet, "The Fugitive Slave Bill:...." in 1850. (LCP Am 1850 Fug 16809.D.1)., A.B. Maurice and F.T. Cooper's The History of the 19th century in caricature (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1904), p. 156., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2000, p. 40-2., Purchase 1999., 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.
- Date
- [1851]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1851 - 2W [P.9739]
- Title
- The Rail candidate
- Description
- Political cartoon questioning candidate Abraham Lincoln's ability to succeed in the presidential election of 1860 with the controversial antislavery plank as a part of the Republican Party’s platform. Depicts Lincoln with an expression of discomfort on his face and straddling a wooden rail labeled, "Republican Platform." He complains, "it is true I have split Rails, but I begin to feel as if this Rail would split me, it's the hardest stick I ever straddled." Carrying the front end of the rail is an African American man, portrayed as a racist caricature, who says in the vernacular, "Dis Nigger strong and willin, but it's awful hard work to carry Old Massa Abe on nothing but dis ere rail!!" The back end of the rail is carried by New York Tribune editor, abolitionist, and Lincoln supporter, Horace Greeley, who ensures that they will prove Lincoln can split rails and be elected President., 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 Southern Distc. of N.Y., Probably drawn by Louis Maurer., Stamp on verso: L.A. DeVries., Purchase 1960., 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.
- Creator
- Currier & Ives
- Date
- 1860
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1860-31R [6419.F]
- Title
- "The Nigger" in the woodpile
- Description
- Racist political cartoon satirizing the Republican Party platform during the 1860 presidential election. In the right, shows Abraham Lincoln saying, “Little did I think when I split these rails, that they would be the means of elevating me to my present position" as he sits on top of a woodpile labeled, “Republican Platform.” An enslaved African American man, portrayed as a racist caricature with exaggerated features, sits within the intertwined rails of the platform. In the left, New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley is confronted by "Young America," depicted as a white man, who represents the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Greeley reassures him, "...you can safely vote our ticket, for we have no connection with the Abolitionist party, but our Platform is composed entirely of rails split by our candidate." "Young America" protests "It's no use old fellow! You can't pull that wool over my eyes, for I can see 'the Nigger' peeping through the rails," and he points his finger to the African American man in the woodpile., Title from item., Date from the 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 Southern Distt. of N.Y., Library Company, Annual report, 1967, p. 53., Accessioned 1999., 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.
- Creator
- Currier & Ives
- Date
- 1860
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1860-30R [P.9677]
- Title
- Arms of ye confederacie
- Description
- Civil War print using the allegory of a coat of arms to criticize slavery and Southern culture. Depicts the shield adorned with symbolic Southern imagery, including a mint julep, pistol, whip and manacles, and enslaved African Americans, including a woman with a baby, working in the field. The shield is flanked by a white man plantation owner, attired in spurs and smoking a pipe, and a bare-chested, barefooted, enslaved African American man in manacles. Above the shield stands a rooster between the Confederate flag and a flag with a skull, cross-bones, and the number 290. Above the rooster is a streamer inscribed "Servitudo Esto Perpetua." In the background, white men plantation owners play cards, two white men duel, and an auction of enslaved people is in progress., Title from item., Possible date of publication supplied by Reilly., RVCDC, Accessioned 1979., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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.
- Creator
- Tilley, H. H., engraver
- Date
- [1862?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1862-13R [P.2275.9]
- Title
- The ( Fort) Monroe doctrine
- Description
- Abolitionist cartoon depicting enslaved African Americans fleeing to Fort Monroe, which was occupied by Union General Benjamin F. Butler who had declared freedom seekers to be "contraband" of war. In the right, a white man Virginia enslaver brandishes a whip and says, "come back you black rascal." A bare-chested, barefooted, African American man attired in white shorts, responds in the vernacular, "can't come back nohow massa Dis chile's contraban." To the right of the enslaver, a barefooted African American man, attired in a brimmed hat, a white collared shirt, and striped pants with the cuffs rolled up, watches as he leans on a hoe. A number of other African American freedom seekers run toward the Fort, including a woman with a child., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., During the Civil War, the U.S. government declared African American freedom seekers as “contraband of war.”, Purchase 1986., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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.
- Date
- [1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1861-3W [P.9127]
- Title
- Oh! Massa Jeff. dis sesesh fever will kill de nigger
- Description
- Cartoon depicting the ill effect of secession on enslaved people. In the dwelling of the enslaved African American men, Jefferson Davis, attired in a broad-brim hat and with the Union flag hanging from his pocket, checks the pulse of an emaciated, bedridden African American man with "Bond Plasters" on his chest. An angst-ridden enslaved African American man stands behind the bed and weeps as he holds a bottle of medicine. On the wall behind him are three posters advertising various medicines: "Dr. Jeffy's Celebrated Bond Plasters ...," "The Great Southern Remedies," "Dr. Jeffy's Celebrated Lettres du Marque A Radical Remedy for all Constitutional Afflictions.", Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1861 in the Clerks Office of the District Court of the Southern District of Ohio., Purchase 1961., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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.
- Date
- 1861
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1861-22W [6449.F]
- Title
- John Bull makes a discovery
- Description
- Racist cartoon reflecting the Northern fear that Britain's economic ties with Southern cotton growers would cause the British government to relinquish its abolitionist stance in order to support the Confederacy. Depicts a plump John Bull, representing Great Britain, centered between a kneeling enslaved African American man and a bale of cotton in a storage shed. Bull touches the hair of the African American man with his right hand and holds a piece of the cotton from the bale in the other. He declares, "it is certain that Cotton is more useful to me than Wool!!" In the left background, two African American men stand and cry. In the right background, a Southern white man plantation owner looks on and smiles., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Possible publisher supplied by Murrell., McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., 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.
- Creator
- Currier & Ives
- Date
- [1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1861-40R [5780.Fa]
- Title
- The disappointed abolitionists
- Description
- Anti-abolition print distortedly portraying the events of the New York freedom seeker episode, "The Darg Case." The case involved a freedom seeker of enslaver John Darg who stole $7000 from him, fled, and was harbored and assisted by African American abolitionist and writer David Ruggle, Quaker arbitrator Barney Corse, and Quaker abolitionist Isaac T. Hopper. Corse had arbitrated a deal with Darg that in exchange for the return of Darg's stolen money, the enslaved man's freedom would be granted, and a small stipend would be paid to Corse. The arbitration was discovered and annulled by the New York police who then arrested Ruggles and Corse. Depicts Darg's sitting room where Hopper is requesting a reward. Ruggles says, "I don't like the looks of this affair. I'm afraid my pickings will not amount to much!" Corse replies, "Yea verily I was but thy instrument Brother Hopper as Brother Ruggles here knoweth!" They are threatened by Darg with a chair to whom they have returned "$6908" of his stolen money, and who bitterly exclaims that they deserve prison., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entd accordd to Act of Congress in the year 1838 by H.R. Robinson, in the Clerk's office of the Distt Court of the U. States, for the southern District of New York., Purchase 1968., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, lithographer, and engraver who created the "Life in Philadelphia" series which satirized middle-class African American Philadelphians in the late 1820s and early 1830s.
- Creator
- Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
- Date
- 1838
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1838-40W [7779.F]
- Title
- Senate chamber U.S.A. Conclusion of Clay's speech in defense of slavery
- Description
- Cartoon satirizing an 1839 anti-abolition speech by the congressional orator Henry Clay focusing on his conflicting views on the abolition of slavery. Clay, despite deploring the institution of slavery, was an enslaver who was against immediate national abolition. Depicts Clay, in front of the Mason-Dixon line, coming to an agreement with John Calhoun, his chief congressional rival and leading senatorial supporter of slavery, about the issue of slavery. They both stand on past abolitionist resolutions and a prostrate enslaved African American man who quotes a verse from the Bible's book of Micah 7:8 that he will "arise." Clay's remarks "North" of the line reflect his abolitionist rhetoric; those "South" of the line refer to him being an enslaver. Calhoun states his pleasure in Clay's awakening to the societal benefits of slavery., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Accessioned 1979., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1839]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1839-24w [P.2275.18]
- Title
- Handicap race presidential stakes 1844
- Description
- Satire of the presidential election of 1844 depicting the potential candidates; Whig Henry Clay, and Democrats Martin Van Buren, Lewis Cass, John Calhoun, Richard M. Johnson, and John Tyler on various mounts racing for the White House. Clay riding a racoon leads the pack claiming that no one can overtake him. Van Buren follows riding a fox and holding a weather vane labeled "N" (North) and "S" (South) with the slogans "Free Trade Texas" and "Abolition Oregon" attached. He acknowledges that Lewis Cass is closing in. Cass on his hound gloats that he has finally overtaken the "old fox." Calhoun, positioned fourth, rides a lion with an enslaved African American man and child, portrayed in racist caricature, on his shoulders and bemoans his extra weight. Johnson, on foot and holding a hook, follows Calhoun stating he will "hook on" to whomever gets in. Last is Tyler, who switched political parties, trying to ride the two mounts of the "Loco Foco" (radical Democrats) donkey and the "Whig" horse., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in year 1844 by J. Childs in the Clerk's Office in the District Court of the Southern District of N.Y., Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1977., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1977, p. 51-52., 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., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, engraver, and lithographer who created the "Life in Philadelphia" series which satirized middle-class African Americans of the late 1820s and early 1830s.
- Creator
- Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
- Date
- 1844
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political cartoons - 1844-55W [8366.F.36]
- Title
- The slavery question. Great prize-fight of the American eagle against the wolf and the alligator
- Description
- Cartoon portraying the extension of slavery as dependent upon the United States' successful annexation of California and Texas. Depicts the American eagle on a mound protecting her nest of hatchlings labeled "Texas" and "California" from a wolf and an alligator. The wolf dressed as a sheep is being restrained by John Bull who represents England and states, "I bet Canada" (a proposed U.S. annexation). The alligator is being restrained by Don Quixote who represents Spain and states, "I bet Cuba!" (another proposed U.S. annexation). In front of the nest sits a barefooted enslaved African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in torn and worn clothes. He holds his head in hands with the unbroken pot of slavery on his left and the broken pot of liberty, under the foot of John Bull, on his right. Behind the nest stands a bowery B'hoy figure holding a banner inscribed, "The Union Forever" and George Washington stating, "Go it, my boy you will beat them all.", Title from item., Publication date supplied by Weitenkampf., Inscribed: Pl. 4., Purchase 1975., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1844]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political cartoons - 1844-75W [8138.F]
- Title
- The Clay compromise - a settler
- Description
- Racist cartoon satirizing the Clay Compromise of 1850 concerning the extension of slavery to the territories. Depicts a prostrate enslaved African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, who is being pulled by ropes from each end by a Northerner and Southerner. The Northerner states, "We are content with the Compromise," and the Southerner states, "An equal division is fair." Standing over the enslaved man is Henry Clay, who is poised with a sword to cut him in two. William Lloyd Garrison rushes to stop Clay, stating "let the Union go; but spare the man!" A Quaker man confers with a minister about the compromise, saying "Well I'm very glad that Friend Clay has interfered." The minister responds that he hopes the question is settled because his parishioners have been quarreling so long that they almost forgot to pay him. A white man overseer about to whip a group of enslaved men, attired in yellow sarongs, exclaims, "Damn the niggers! Their hides are so used to the whip that they mind it no more than a horse.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., RVCDC, Purchase 1991., 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.
- Date
- [1850]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1850 - Cla [P.9314.3]
- Title
- 'Conquering prejudice,' or 'fulfilling a constitutional duty with alacrity.'
- Description
- Antislavery print depicting the pursuit of a freedom seeker in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Shows a barefooted, enslaved African American woman, portrayed with exaggerated features, and attired in a head kerchief and a short-sleeved dress. She runs holding her child and screams for help, "My God! My child! Will no one help! Is there no mercy!" Chasing her are Daniel Webster admiring himself for performing a "disagreeable duty," a marshal holding a gun and handcuffs and exclaiming a sense of relief over Webster's interpretation of the Constitution, and two dogs. In the background is a church and courthouse., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 1978, p. 54-5., Purchase 1978., 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., Kramer was a German born painter and lithographer who worked with the Rosenthals, a prominent Philadelphia family of lithographers from 1850 and through the early 1850s.
- Creator
- Kramer, Peter, 1823-1907, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1851]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1851- Con [8433.F]
- Title
- Practical illustration of the fugitive slave law
- Description
- Antislavery print depicting a fight between Northern abolitionists and supporters of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. In the left, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and an African American man both raise guns to protect an enslaved African American woman who is attired in a head kerchief, earrings, a short-sleeved dress, and shoes. She raises both arms in the air and clutches a handkerchief in her right hand and exclaims “Oh Massa Garrison protect me!!!” Garrison wraps his right arm around her and says, “Don’t be alarmed, Susanna, you’re safe enough.” In the right, the white man mercenary, attired in a top hat with a star on it, who may represent the federal marshals or commissioners authorized by the act (and paid) to apprehend freedom seekers, carries a noose and shackles. He sits astride Secretary of State Daniel Webster, who is on his hands and knees clutching the Constitution and bemoaning, "This, though constitutional, is extremely disagreeable." Behind them a white man, possibly John C. Calhoun, declares "We will give these fellows a touch of Old South Carolina" and carries two volumes labeled "Law and Gospel." Another white man carries a quill and ledger and says "I goes in for Law & Order." In the background, a number of men on both sides fight. A white man lies on the ground on his back. An African American man grabs a white man enslaver by the head and holds a whip while saying “It’s my turn now Old Slave Driver.” A "Temple of Liberty" stands in the background with two flags flying which read, "A day, an hour, of virtuous Liberty is worth an age of Servitude," and "All men are created free and equal.", Title from item., Probable place and date of publication supplied by Reilly., Weitenkampf attributed this cartoon to the New York artist Edward Williams Clay, but Reilly refutes this attribution on the grounds that the draftsmanship, signature, and political opinions are atypical of Clay., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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.
- Date
- [1850 or 1851]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1851-6 [5760.F.104]
- Title
- A grand slave hunt, or trial of speed for the presidency, between celebrated nags Black Dan, Lewis Cass, and Haynau
- Description
- Cartoon criticizing presidential candidates Daniel Webster (i.e., Black Dan) and Lewis Cass's avid support for the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law during the election of 1852. Shows Webster, carrying a copy of the Fugitive Slave Law and a flag, leading a group of white men, including the lagging Michigan Senator Lewis Cass; the infamously cruel Hungarian General Baron Haynau with a pitcher of "Barclay Best" on his head (a symbolic reference to the brewery workers who attacked him in England); and President Millard Fillmore holding a Fugitive Slave Bill. They pursue an enslaved African American woman who runs clutching a baby in her arms and holding the hand of her young son. Additional figures in the background include Horace Mann, Massachusetts Congressman and opponent of the Compromise of 1850; an orator resembling Webster bombasting Mann before a group of kneeling white men admirers; a preaching white man minister with Bible in hand; and an African American woman freedom seeker with her child being tugged between a yelling man and a white man mercenary carrying handcuffs., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., Purchase 1967., 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.
- Date
- [1852]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1852-7W [P.9676]
- Title
- The Cincinnati platform, or the way to make a new state in 1856
- Description
- Antislavery cartoon criticizing presidential nominees James Buchanan and John C. Breckenridge's support of pro-slavery forces over freesoilers in the violent political struggle in "Bleeding Kansas" during the Democratic Convention of 1856 in Cincinnati. Depicts a pro-slavery militia, carrying a flag labeled "Kansas and Liberty," that has marshalled a group of shackled, enslaved African American men who wear loin-cloths. Several of them clasp their hands together and look with pleading expressions at the white militiaman, behind them, and who carries a whip in his left hand and drives them forward. They march toward a settlement, which has a "Free Soil and Fremont" flag where homes burn and settlers and cattle lay wounded or dead. In the right is the corpse of an assaulted, white mother, who lies on the ground with her breasts exposed. Her naked, dead baby lies face down over her left arm. In the upper left, Buchanan and Breckenridge, standing in front of seated convention delegates on a platform, oversee the violence and comment about the freesoilers being a curse to the country who would surely leave if forced to work for "10 cents a day.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., Copyright statement printed on recto: Entered in according to act of congress in the Clerk’s Office of the district Court for the Eastern District of Penna. By I. [sic.] Childs., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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.
- Date
- [1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1856-10W [5760.F.95]
- Title
- The great presidential race of 1856
- Description
- Cartoon ridiculing the Democratic and American (Know-Nothings) Party presidential candidates James Buchanan and Millard Fillmore by depicting them in a race to win the election of 1856. Depicts Buchanan having crashed his mount (i.e, running mate John C. Breckenridge depicted as a buck) into a rickety platform marked "Democratic Platform," Slavery," and "Cuba." An enslaved African American man, portrayed with racistly caricaturized features, and wearing shackles on his ankles and worn and torn clothes, shoes, and a hat, stands upon and ridicules the "Democratic Platform." Buchanan angrily replies, "You infernal Black Scoundrel, if it had not been for you and that cursed Slavery Plank that Scared and upset my Buck, I should have won this race certain." Following Buchanan is Fillmore using his running mate Andrew Jackson Donelson, depicted as a goose, as his mount. Fillmore, the American Party candidate, carries a "Know-Nothing" lamp and fears his loss will dissolve the Union. In the distance, the Republican candidate John C. Fremont pulls ahead to the cheers of many of the spectators. Brother Jonathan, (predecessor of Uncle Sam), stands on an observation or judging deck and carries a timer’s watch. Additional spectators include white men belittling Fillmore as "spineless" and a "goose," and a white boy holding a sign inscribed, "We Po'ked Em in 44; We Pierced Em in 52; and We'll 'Buck Em' in 56." He is being hoisted by two African American men, portrayed with racistly caricaturized features, upon the back of a gruff and annoyed-looking, bearded, white man asking him if he's a "Fre'mounter.", Title from item., Artist and publication information supplied by Reilly., Political cartoon Horse sassengers! A free lunch lithographed on recto. (political cartoons - 1858 Hor, P.2275.18b)., Accessioned 1979., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Magee was a New York cartoonist and lithographer who eventually established his own lithographic firm in Philadelphia in 1850.
- Creator
- Magee, John L., artist
- Date
- [1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1858 Hor (verso) [P.2275.18a]
- Title
- The Democratic platform
- Description
- Cartoon satirizing politicians' support of James Buchanan and the Democratic platform of 1856. Depicts Buchanan as "the platform" of his party prostrate across the backs of the kneeling antislavery advocate Senator Thomas Benton ("Old Bullion"), President Franklin Pierce ("Franklin the last"), and son of Martin Van Buren, John Van Buren ("Prince John"). An enslaved African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, sits atop Buchanan’s legs with his arms crossed. Sitting opposite him atop Buchanan’s chest is a white man enslaver, armed with a whip, knives, and a pistol, who declares, “I don’t care anything about the Supporters of the platform as long as the platform supports me and my Nigger.” Underneath Buchanan, Benton replies to Pierce's question of how he can be against his administration yet for "this platform" by stating that he supports Buchanan because his motto is "Men - not principles." (This is a reversal of the Democratic motto: "Principles, not men.") Simultaneously, Van Buren talks with his father "Martin the first," depicted as a fox in his "Kinderhook" burrow, about the changing policies of the great Democratic Party and the plunder to be had. Standing in the left, "Brother Jonathan" (predecessor of Uncle Sam) notes the unreliability of the "platform supporters.", Title from item., Date supplied by Weitenkampf., Purchase 1971., 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.
- Date
- [1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1856-16W [7996.F]
- Title
- The chivalry at the English court
- Description
- Cartoon mocking Southern secessionists who sought foreign aid for the Southern Confederacy by depicting white men emissaries from the "Gentlemen colony of South Carolina" asking Queen Victoria if she can spare a King. The South Carolinians stand before the throne and present bales of “Cotton” to the Queen. Behind them a contingent of enslaved African American children, portrayed as racist caricatures, carry an umbrella, a fan, a serving tray of “julips,” and hold the tail of the emissary’s jacket. In the right, Queen Victoria sits on her throne surrounded by white boys and flanked by a lion and a unicorn. She responds that her family is small but possibly a "Coburg" relation may satisfy their needs., Title from item., Publication date supplied by Weitenkampf., Text printed below image: May it please Your Majesty, We, the Republicans of the Gentlemen Colony of South Carolina are desirous of having a Royal Master; would You graciously please to spare us a King out of your illustrious house? Her Majesty. Thank you Gentlemen, but my Family is small, you know; -- perhaps one of my Coburg Relations may accommodate you, I can recommend them, they give Satisfaction in every Place., Accessioned 1899., 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.
- Date
- [1860]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1860-6W [5780.F]
- Title
- Immediate emancipation illustrated
- Description
- Critical satire of the American Anti-Slavery Society, which was founded on the principle of immediate abolition by Arthur Tappan and William Lloyd Garrison, who are depicted discussing the society's principles with an unnamed abolitionist, possibly Lewis Tappan. Above their heads is the banner "Anti Slavery Society Founded Anno Domini MDCCCXXXIII." The seated Garrison comments on the origin of the bundle of Italian linen at his feet, which is to be used for his newspaper "the Emancipator." In the right, the figure of a leopard rests upon a pedestal marked "Fanaticism. Brought the Inquisition upon Spain. Beggary upon Italy. And may drench America in blood!!" (an allusion to the idiom a leopard cannot change its spots and to the Spain and the Iberian War, 1807-1814). In the left, a Black man, labeled "Emancipated Slave," is portrayed in racist caricature and is naked except for a leaves wrapped around his waist. He chases an insect calling, "Food," while carrying a knife. In the background, a scene labeled "Insurection (sic) in St. Domingo! Cruelty, Lust, and blood!" depicts Black people using swords and axes to kill white people, including a white woman on the ground. A building burns behind them., Title from item., Date supplied by Weitenkampf., Probably the "A Caricature" cited in the Emancipator (New York, N.Y.), October 19, 1833 and Liberator (Boston, Mass.), November 2, 1833., The "Emancipated Slave" figure is similar to the figure depicted in the lithograph by Alfred Ducôte, "An Emancipated Negro" ([London]: Thomas McLean, 1833). Copies in the collections of National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London., Purchase 1986., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1833 - 27W [P.9140]
- Title
- The happy negro
- Description
- Satiric print depicting a "happy" enslaved family in a tropical setting, probably the West Indies. Shows an enslaved man strumming his banjo seated next to his wife and child near palm trees and a flower bush. A dog sleeps near its bowl at their feet and grass-roofed huts are visible in the background. Also contains prose below the image comparing and contrasting the white man's and enslaved person's joys and cares. The white man "full of care, has heart no light, he great deal want, he little get, he sorry, so he fret" whereas the negro 'hub no care, heart is light, me tink not what tomorrow bring, me happy so me sing.", Holland published a series of cartoons critical of the decadence of the West Indies plantation society of the early 19th century., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2005, p. 62-65., Purchase 2005., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., RVCDC
- Date
- [August] 1 1810
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1808-Hap [P.2005.28.3]
- Title
- West India fashionables On a visit in style. Taking a ride
- Description
- Satiric print mocking the decadent state of West Indian plantation society containing two views depicting enslaved people performing gratuitous tasks for traveling white enslavers. "On a Visit in Style" shows an enslaver, his wife, and her white lady's maid seated in the cab and rear of a horse-drawn gig. The gig displays a crest comprised of a goblet and whips. One enslaved man guides and another steers the horse that is adorned in netting to protect it from flies. An enslaved man and woman follow the carriage. They carry the enslaver's trunks on their heads. Also shows a windmill and sugar refinery in the background. "Taking a Ride" shows a white couple riding on horses, which are adorned with protective netting, past a sugar refinery and enslaved men and women working in a field. The white woman wears a huge bonnet obscuring her face. An enslaved man guides her horse while another holds its tail and uses a branch to fend off flies. The white man who wears an extremely wide-brimmed hat also has an enslaved man fending away flies from his horse's tail. George suggests that the enslaved people are to be assumed as the progeny of the enslaver as they all have the same unusually shaped nose., Publisher's advertisement printed below image: Of Mr. Holland may be had the following West India Prints, Johnny Newcome in the Island of Jamaica_ A Grand Jamaica Ball_ Martial Law in Jamaica_The Blessings of Jamaica_and a Segar Smoking Society in Jamaica. 5s each_A large portrait of Rachel Pringle of Barbadoes 7s. 6_Likewise Gillray's sale of English Beauties in the East Indies 7s 6d., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Purchase 2005., RVCDC., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2005, p. 62-65.
- Date
- November 1, 1807
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1807-Wes [P.2005.28.2]
- Title
- A West India sportsman Make haste with the sangaree Quashie and tell Quaco to drive the birds up to me - I'm ready
- Description
- Satiric print mocking the decadent state of West Indian plantation society showing enslaved people catering to a white enslaver on a hunting trip. Shows the white man, seated under an umbrella, his feet up, his gun in his hand, as he is fanned by a long-sleeved shirt and sarong-clad enslaved man behind him. Other enslaved people (a woman, young men, and a child) keep flies away from platters of meat displayed on a table and a basket of tropical fruit; butler a large glass of sangaree; and drive birds from a field. Also shows jugs of liquor, including royal punch, sangaree, and rum, lined near the grinning "sportsman." The rum jug has toppled over near empty bottles strewn on the ground near a broken jug of water. In the distance, another white enslaver holds a gun and lies on a settee while an enslaved woman holds an umbrella over him. All the figures are depicted with exaggerated features., Publisher's advertisement printed below image: Of Mr. Holland may be had the following West India Prints, Johnny Newcome in the Island of Jamaica_ A Grand Jamaica Ball_ Martial Law in Jamaica_The Blessings of Jamaica_and a Segar Smoking Society in Jamaica. 5s each_A large portrait of Rachel Pringle of Barbadoes 7s. 6_Likewise Gillray's sale of English Beauties in the East Indies 7s 6d., Title from item., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., RVCDC., Purchase 2005., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2005, p. 62-65., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Date
- November 1, 1807
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1807- Wes [P.2005.28.1]