[Civil War drawings and cartes de visite reproductions of drawings by Henry Louis Stephens] [graphic].
Title
[Civil War drawings and cartes de visite reproductions of drawings by Henry Louis Stephens]
Description
Series of caricatures predominately satirizing the effects of the presidential policies of Abraham Lincoln on his re-election and the candidacy of Democratic nominee and former Commander of the U.S. Army, George McClellan, in the presidential election of 1864. Lincoln caricatures depict racist scenes and themes of election loss and show the president as a comic stage performer; a feeding open-mouthed tool of the abolitionists; as a defeated Robin Hood with his "Band of Brothers," (i.e. cabinet members Edwin Stanton, William Seward, and Gideon Welles); as weighed down by the "Old Keystone", a visual metaphor for the large number of Pennsylvania soldiers lost in the war; as a buffoon tripped up by his large boots of "military necessity"; as patronizing a miniature McClellan propped up on the "Chicago Platform"; as McClellan's puppeteer; and as "loved little and long" for his emancipation of the enslaved. McClellan caricatures primarily use the themes of McClellan, known as "The Young Napoleon," as a "MacNapoleon" and his contradictory personal and party platforms in relation to the war. Caricatures show "MacNapoleon" searching for the White House, childishly whining about his quest for the White house, and singing a "doleful ditty" about himself. Platform caricatures show McClellan as a squeeze doll who speaks two words - war and peace, and in a "Quandary" to choose between a ballerina representing war and another representing peace. Collection also contains caricatures of Edward Stanton making a "Soliloquy" as an allusion to a Republican loss in the presidential election; of Peace Democrat Clement Vallandigham satirizing his sentence of banishment to the South for anti-war sentiments as well as a racist caricature of the "The American Eagle.1864. A likely young bird" showing an eagle with the head of an African American resting on the American shield marked "E. Pluribus. U-No-Um.", Title supplied by cataloger., Date from copyright., Created postfreeze., Originally part of McAllister scrapbooks of materials related to Abraham Lincoln and of humorous caricatures and photographs. McAlister Collection, gift, 1886., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator
Stephens, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1824-1882
Date
1864
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Henry Louis Stephens Collection [(11)1540.F.20a; 5780.F.52m; 5792.F.4d&e; 97a-c &f; 98a,b,d, e-i; 99a-h; P.2282.50; P.8686.1-2; P.2005.2.12a-e; P.2006.1.25a&b]
"No higher law." [graphic] /
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]