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- Title
- Negroes and religion. Disciplina et regula ordinis flagellantium [Discipline of the order of flagellants] The Episcopal Church at the South. To the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America
- Description
- Copy photograph of an abolitionist satire containing a montage of scenes mocking the pro-slavery dioceses from the seceded Southern states absent from the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New York in 1862. Probably related to an earlier pamphlet of the same title satirically "promoting" the policy that the church's African American communicants be treated as the South treats the enslaved people. A devilish figure with wings inscribed with the names of Confederate states, holding a "Testimonial" scroll under his arm, thumbs his nose and unlocks the door of the "House of Bishops" at the "General Convention." Figures pray at an altar near an animated preacher while stating, "We welcome our friends." A white man whips a bare-chested and bare-footed African American enslaved man, who kneels with his hands bound to a post. Two white women watch the events from the side of their dilapidated wooden house. During the Civil War, the Southern dioceses became the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America., Title from item., Date inferred from content., See related pamphlet Negroes and religion: The church at the South. Memorial to the general convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. (United States : s.n., 1856?). (LCP Am 1856 Neg 18399.O.9)., Originally part of a McAllister Civil War scrapbook of humorous prints and photographs. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886 [5780.F.52h]. Purchase 1999 [P.9758.3]., 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
- [ca. 1862?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv - misc. - Civil War - Caricatures and cartoons [5780.F.52h; P.9758.3]
- Title
- First meeting of Uncle Tom and Eva
- Description
- Print of a scene from Stowe's popular, anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," originally published in 1851. Depicts "Uncle Tom," an enslaved African American man, and Evangeline St. Claire, the white daughter of a Louisiana enslaver, meeting on the steamship that is taking him to auction. On the deck, Tom, barefoot and attired in a red shirt, blue pants, and with shackles on his wrists, sits on a crate with a Bible in his lap. He talks to an attentive Eva, with her brown hair in ringlets and attired in a pink dress and black shoes, who is seated on a bundle of goods. Three bare-chested, enslaved African American men stand in the background behind a bundle and look on., Title from item., Purchase 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Strong, Thomas W., lithographer
- Date
- [ca. 1853]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Fictional characters [7869.F]
- Title
- Uncle Tom and Little Eva
- Description
- Print of a scene from Stowe's popular, anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," originally published in 1851. Depicts Little Eva, the "angelic" young, white daughter of a Louisiana enslaver informing "Uncle Tom," the African American man enslaved by her father, of her impending death. Eva, with her blonde hair in ringlets and attired in a white dress, white stockings, and black shoes, points to heaven with her right hand and to the Bible in her lap with her left. She sits next to a barefooted, slightly hunched over Tom, attired in a red shirt with an open neck and blue pants, on a grassy mound in the woods. Also includes a cabin visible in the left background., Title from item., The Kellogg's firm, brothers Edmund Burke and Elijah Chapman, was a prolific New England lithographic firm that nearly rivaled Currier & Ives in the production of popular prints., Reaccessioned as P.9179.10., Purchase 1969., 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
- [ca. 1853]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC-Fictional Characters [7807.F]
- 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
- 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 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
- "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
- 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
- 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
- Abolition Hall The evening before the conflagraton at the time more than 50,000 persons were glorifying in its destruction at Philadelphia May - 1838
- Description
- Photographic reproduction of a racist anti-abolition cartoon depicting a busy street scene with the hall being used as an interracial brothel by the second Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women on May 16, 1838. The convention, held during the week of interracial ceremonies and services celebrating the opening of the building, fulminated the racist fears of the local citizens, and on May 17th, a mob set the hall aflame, razing the building. Depicts well-dressed interracial couples, including a pair of children, strolling, kissing, and cavorting in the street and near the windows of the building. Among the couples, a Black man frolics upon a broadside referring to abolitionist David Paul Brown, a Philadelphia lawyer who spoke on May 14th, the day of dedication of the hall., Title from item., Date inferred from photographic medium and content., Illustrated in Jean Fagan Yellin and John C. Van Horne, eds. The Abolitionist sisterhood (Ithaca: Cornell University Press in cooperation with The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1994), p. 228., 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., McAllister Collection, gift, 1884., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Date
- [ca. 1850]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Theaters & Halls - Pennsylvania Hall [(6)1332.F.113b]
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- [Deborah Passmore Gillingham scrapbook of prints, drawings, and specimens]
- Description
- Scrapbook of chiefly engravings, drawings, and specimens compiled starting in 1847 by Quaker amateur artist Deborah P. Gillingham. Contains several circa 1810s-1850s book and periodical illustrations, including from "Godey’s Lady’s Book," the "Union Magazine", and the "Literary Souvenir" (London), that depict genre, sentimental, historical, European, and literary scenes and views, as well as portraits of prominent American and European literary, religious, and political figures, particularly abolitionists. Titles of illustrations include "Cinderella"; "Harvest Wagon"; "Bolton Abbey, Wharfdale"; "Lockport, Erie Canal"; "Bit"; "The Sisters Clio"; "Steps to Ruin"; "The Rescue"; "Warming the Mitten"; "Going to School"; "Queen Henrietta Interceding for the King"; "France, Lyon"; and "Fall of Terni." Many of the "Union Magazine" illustrations are after the work of artist Tompkins H. Matteson and depict scenes with children, women, families and/or couples. Illustrations also include the 1848 comic plate "The Lost Glove" depicting an African American servant and a dandy ("Union Magazine," April 1848) and an 1838? portrait of "Joanna," the enslaved woman with whom British–Dutch colonial soldier and author of "The Narrative of a Five Years Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam" (1796, reprinted 1838) John Gabriel Stedman had a relationship. Portrait sitters include Lucretia Mott, Gerrit Smith, Elias Hicks, Thomas Clarkson, Thomas Moore, Daniel O’Connell, Alice B. Neale, and Benjamin Lundy. Illustrations also depict Philadelphia landmarks, including Franklin Institute, Schuylkill Water Works, and Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane. Philadelphia views also include a separately-issued lithograph depicting Clermont Academy printed by Childs & Inman after George Lehman., A number of pencil works and ink drawings comprise the scrapbook with many captioned and depicting dwelling, landscape, and landmark views of Switzerland and Great Britain. Includes pencil sketch "from memory" of "Jungfrau, Switzerland" (Alps) by "E.B.E"; pencil drawing "The House in which Shakespeare was born. Henley Street. Strafford Upon Avon"; gouache and watercolors of "Chinese Fish"; pencil drawings with Chinese white captioned "Austin's Farm at Supiston Suffolk. The early residence of Robert Bloomfield" and "Mill at Bannockburn in which James 3rd was killed"; a pencil drawing of Friends Bank Meeting House inscribed "Mary Young"; pencil drawing of "Residence of George Fox" inscribed "John Young"; and two landscape watercolors by English Quaker social reformer and anti-slavery activist Elizabeth Heyrick., Scrapbook also contains several labeled botanical and material specimens from historical, Biblical, literary, and cultural landmarks and sites, as well as "Specimens of sea moss (i.e. algae) from Cape May May 1848" (one arranged in the letters "D.G.") and the hair of "E.M. Chandler." Often placed in folded sheets of paper with inscribed labels, specimens include "From the scene of Grays Elegy by Mantle Tower That Yew Tree shade"; "From the grave of Cromwell"; "Waterloo"; "Piece of South Sea Island Cloth"; "Mummy cloth unrolled by Gliddon 1851"(Egyptologist George Robbins Gliddon publically unwrapped mummies as performances in Boston and Philadelphia, 1851-1852); and "Pompei.", Additional items of note include a pencil sketch by Gillingham of "East Mount. The residence of John Pease England"; etchings depicting Suffolk landmarks by Henry Davy; the anti-slavery manuscript poem "America" signed and dated by British Quaker novelist, poet, and abolitionist Amelia Opie (Norwich 1846); the anti-slavery manuscript poem "Do as thou wouldst be done by"… signed and dated by British Quaker poet Bernard Barton (Woodbridge September 19, 1846); and circa 1847 calling cards by Chinese writing specialist Tsow Chaoong (Philadelphia 1847-1849) handwritten in English and Chinese characters “D.P. Gillingham” and "Y. M. Gillingham." A small number of circa 1900s clippings and photomechanical prints of portraits and landscapes also comprise the contents., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Inscribed on p. [1]: Deborah P. Gillingham 10 mo 20. 1847., Marbled paper binding., Several pages contain tissue paper overlays., Incomplete pencil sketch of dwellings on verso of drawing of "The River Side of Earlham" on p. [10]., Various artists, engravers, printers, and publishers include Childs & Inman; John Collins; Henry Davy; A. L. Dick; George Lehman; Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green; Tompkins H. Matteson; Henry Sadd; John Sartain; and Thomas Sinclair., RVCDC, Access points revised 2022., Housed in phase box., Number of items missing or removed from pages., Page numbers added by cataloger lower right corner., Loose pages and inserts of gold paper removed, placed in enclosure, and housed with scrapbook in phase book., Deborah Passmore Gillingham (1820-1877), cousin of professional botanical illustrator Deborah Griscom Passmore (1840-1911), was an amateur botanical illustrator. Disowned from the Orthodox Philadelphia Meeting, Northern District in 1842, Passmore became a member of the Hicksite Green Street Meeting. She married Philadelphia wool merchant Yeamans Moon Gillingham (1817-1885) in 1844 and relocated with him to Moorestown, N.J. in 1850 following his retirement. The couple had a son Aubrey Howard Gillingham (1850-1885). In 1855 the family was recommended by the Green Street Meeting for the Eversham Monthly Meeting, N.J. At her death, Gillingham was a member of the Moorestown Monthly Meeting. Among her bequests were funds to endow beds at the Philadelphia Orthopedic Hospital and Dispensary and the Women’s Hospital.
- Creator
- Gillingham, Deborah Passmore, 1820-1877, compiler
- Date
- [ca. 1810-ca. 1910, bulk 1830-1850]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [P.2019.6]
- 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
- 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
- Life in Philadelphia. Grand celebration ob de bobalition ob African slabery
- Description
- Racist caricature about free African Americans' celebratory response to the abolition of the African slave trade by the United States, an act passed in 1807 that took effect in 1808. Depicts a group of over fifteen well-dressed men sitting and standing and drinking, smoking, and making toasts around a large dinner table. A number of the men raise goblets and/or pipes in the air. Soup tureens are visible on the table. One man, standing, drinks from a rum bottle. In the far right, an attendee, in a wide-brimmed hat, carries away another who is unconscious, his tongue out, and holding a pipe. The men are attired in waistcoats with tails, pants and pantaloons, some striped, vests, and cravats. Some wear their hair in pompadour styles and one man has white hair. The biting toasts address "De Orator ob de day," William Wilberforce, a prominent British abolitionist; William Eustis, Governor of Massachusetts and the disgraced former Secretary of War under Madison; "De Sun" which should shine at night; Joseph Gales, a publisher and secretary of the American Colonization Society who believed that only states had the right to emancipate enslaved persons; "Ning Edwards;" "De Genius ob Merica;" the "White man" who wants to colonize blacks "now he got no furder use for him;" and "De day we Celembrate" and why it did not come sooner. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in black hand coloring. During the early 19th century, summer celebratory processions commemorating the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade occurred annually in major Northern cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Contains eight bubbles of dialogue in the vernacular within image: De Orator ob de day_When I jus hear him begin he discourse, tink he no great ting, but when he come to end ob um, I tink he like to scorch cat more better dan he took_Moosick_Possum up de Gum tree/Gubner Eustas Cleber old sole as eber wore nee buckle in de shoe_99 cheer and tree quarter/De Sun _Wonder why he no shine in de night putting nigger to dispense ob de candle./De day we Celumbrate! who he no come sooner? Guess de hard fros & de backward spring put um back. 29 pop gun v. 2 grin. White man _ mighty anxious to send nigger, to de place dey stole him from, now he got no furder use for him./De Genius de Merica _ He invent great many curious ting: wonder who just invent eating & drinking. 30 cheer & ober./Joe Gales _ He ax Massa Adams “if he be in health my brudder” and den he cut he guts out./Ning Edwards_ Guess he no great Angs no more nor udder people all he cut such a swell., Inscribed: No. 11., See Lib. Company Annual Report 2003, p. 40-42., Shane White and Graham White's Stylin': African American Expressive Culture... (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), p. 111. (LCP Ii 4, A2880.O)., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Creator
- Harris, I., engraver
- Date
- [ca. 1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) [7510.F]
- Title
- Life in Philadelphia. Grand celebration ob de bobalition ob African slabery
- Description
- Racist caricature about free African Americans' celebratory response to the abolition of the African slave trade by the United States, an act passed in 1807 that took effect in 1808. Depicts a group of over fifteen well-dressed men sitting and standing and drinking, smoking, and making toasts around a large dinner table. A number of the men raise goblets and/or pipes in the air. Soup tureens are visible on the table. One man, standing, drinks from a rum bottle. In the far right, an attendee, in a wide-brimmed hat, carries away another who is unconscious, his tongue out, and holding a pipe. The men are attired in waistcoats with tails, pants and pantaloons, some striped, vests, and cravats. Some wear their hair in pompadour styles and one man has white hair. The biting toasts address "De Orator ob de day," William Wilberforce, a prominent British abolitionist; William Eustis, Governor of Massachusetts and the disgraced former Secretary of War under Madison; "De Sun" which should shine at night; Joseph Gales, a publisher and secretary of the American Colonization Society who believed that only states had the right to emancipate enslaved persons; "Ning Edwards;" "De Genius ob Merica;" the "White man" who wants to colonize blacks "now he got no furder use for him;" and "De day we Celembrate" and why it did not come sooner. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in black hand coloring. During the early 19th century, summer celebratory processions commemorating the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade occurred annually in major Northern cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Contains eight bubbles of dialogue in the vernacular within image: De Orator ob de day_When I jus hear him begin he discourse, tink he no great ting, but when he come to end ob um, I tink he like to scorch cat more better dan he took_Moosick_Possum up de Gum tree/Gubner Eustas Cleber old sole as eber wore nee buckle in de shoe_99 cheer and tree quarter/De Sun _Wonder why he no shine in de night putting nigger to dispense ob de candle./De day we Celumbrate! who he no come sooner? Guess de hard fros & de backward spring put um back. 29 pop gun v. 2 grin. White man _ mighty anxious to send nigger, to de place dey stole him from, now he got no furder use for him./De Genius de Merica _ He invent great many curious ting: wonder who just invent eating & drinking. 30 cheer & ober./Joe Gales _ He ax Massa Adams “if he be in health my brudder” and den he cut he guts out./Ning Edwards_ Guess he no great Angs no more nor udder people all he cut such a swell., Inscribed: No. 11., See LCP AR (Annual Report) 2003, p. 40-42., Shane White and Graham White's Stylin': African American Expressive Culture... (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), p. 111. (LCP Ii 4, A2880.O)., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Creator
- Harris, I., engraver
- Date
- [ca. 1860]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) [P.9713.3]
- 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
- 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
- Specimen sheet Union, patriotic and humorous designs upon envelopes
- Description
- Advertisement containing twenty-five examples of Civil War envelope vignettes published by King & Baird. Majority of the vignettes include titles and slogans. Designs depict the American flag; liberty, the American eagle; soldiers (including the martyred Colonel Ellsworth); caricatures of Brigadier General Henry A. Wise (former governor of Virginia), Jefferson Davis, and the Southern gentry; a portrait of Washington; an abolitionist scene showing the whipping of an African American man entitled "The persuasive eloquence of the Sunny South"; and a racist caricature of an African American man on all fours carrying a whip and asking in the vernacular, "Whar's Jeff Davis?" Also contains a description of the envelopes and shipping information, as well as the scale of prices ranging from "25 Assorted Envelopes, (25 kinds)" at 25 cents to 1000 at 5 dollars., Title from item., Text printed on recto: Single copies of this sheet will be mailed free of postage, upon receipt of six cents, by King & Baird, Book and Job Printers, 607 Sansom St., Philadelphia., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of miscellaneous Civil War prints. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886 [5786.F.161a]. Accessioned 2002 [P.2002.45]., 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
- King & Baird
- Date
- [ca. 1863]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Civil War [5786.F.161a; P.2002.45]
- Title
- Life in Philadelphia. Grand celebration ob de bobalition ob African slabery
- Description
- Racist caricature about free African Americans' celebratory response to the abolition of the African slave trade by the United States, an act passed in 1807 that took effect in 1808. Depicts a group of over fifteen well-dressed men sitting and standing and drinking, smoking, and making toasts around a large dinner table. A number of the men raise goblets and/or pipes in the air. Soup tureens are visible on the table. One man, standing, drinks from a rum bottle. In the far right, an attendee, in a wide-brimmed hat, carries away another who is unconscious, his tongue out, and holding a pipe. The men are attired in waistcoats with tails, pants and pantaloons, some striped, vests, and cravats. Some wear their hair in pompadour styles and one man has white hair. The biting toasts address "De Orator ob de day," William Wilberforce, a prominent British abolitionist; William Eustis, Governor of Massachusetts and the disgraced former Secretary of War under Madison; "De Sun" which should shine at night; Joseph Gales, a publisher and secretary of the American Colonization Society who believed that only states had the right to emancipate enslaved persons; "Ning Edwards;" "De Genius ob Merica;" the "White man" who wants to colonize blacks "now he got no furder use for him;" and "De day we Celembrate" and why it did not come sooner. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in black hand coloring. During the early 19th century, summer celebratory processions commemorating the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade occurred annually in major Northern cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Contains eight bubbles of dialogue in the vernacular within image: De Orator ob de day_When I jus hear him begin he discourse, tink he no great ting, but when he come to end ob um, I tink he like to scorch cat more better dan he took_Moosick_Possum up de Gum tree/Gubner Eustas Cleber old sole as eber wore nee buckle in de shoe_99 cheer and tree quarter/De Sun _Wonder why he no shine in de night putting nigger to dispense ob de candle./De day we Celumbrate! who he no come sooner? Guess de hard fros & de backward spring put um back. 29 pop gun v. 2 grin. White man _ mighty anxious to send nigger, to de place dey stole him from, now he got no furder use for him./De Genius de Merica _ He invent great many curious ting: wonder who just invent eating & drinking. 30 cheer & ober./Joe Gales _ He ax Massa Adams “if he be in health my brudder” and den he cut he guts out./Ning Edwards_ Guess he no great Angs no more nor udder people all he cut such a swell., P.2016.45.2 trimmed and lacking imprint., See LCP AR (Annual Report) 2003, p. 40-42., Shane White and Graham White's Stylin': African American Expressive Culture... (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), p. 111. (LCP Ii 4, A2880.O)., Digital image shown is P.9709.3., P.2016.45.1 gift of Dr. Richard Dunn & Dr. Mary Maples Dunn., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Creator
- Harris, I., engraver
- Date
- [ca. 1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) - publisher - Isaacs, W.H. [P.9709.3 & P.2016.45.2]
- Title
- Life in Philadelphia. General order!!! Tention!! de whole city ob Philadelphia!! Philadelphia, Uly 14th 1825, 6 month and little more beside
- Description
- Racist caricature about free African Americans' summer celebratory processions commemorating the anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade by the United States, an act that took effect in 1808. Shows a Philadelphia street scene with an African American peddler and an African American shoe shiner. In the left, the peddler, attired in a wide-brimmed hat, waist coat with tails, and pantaloons carries a basket and exclaims, "Philadelphia Uly 14, 1825 & little arter." The shoe shiner, attired in a waistcoat and pants, holds a rack of boots and responds "That is de day ob de grand Celebrahsun." The men stand in profile. Also shows, in the background, two African American boys, attired in jackets and pants, facing the viewer, and one with his hands playfully raised in the air. Also contains several lines of text in vernacular and dialect addressed to "Peter Mink, de Chief Marshal ob de day, he Majesty de President” and “Per order Pompey Peterl, President and Snappo Gripes, Secretary" printed below the image. Text explicates the appropriate attire and manners expected during the celebratory procession, including "two sleebes to dare coat"; "trousaloon be all ob light complexion"; and "de Soulger dat know he duty always hold upun head like Lamb Tail an look savage like Meat Ax." Also details the punishment for "neglec to discomply," including "whip to death"; "fine of 40 shillings"; and placement in "de House of Destruction for Ninety nine years." Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in black hand coloring., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Contains two bubbles of dialogue in the vernacular within image: “Philadelphia_ Uly 14 1825_ & little arter”/”That is de day of de grand Celebrashun”, Lib. Company. Annual report, 2003, p. 40-42., See Reilly 1825-1 for variant published in Boston., Added to African Americana Digital Collection 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, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Date
- [ca. 1835]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) - publisher - Isaacs, W.H. [P.2004.4]
- Title
- Pap, soup, and chowder
- Description
- Depicts the 1852 presidental Whig candidate Winfield Scott, President Millard Fillmore, and Secretary of State Daniel Webster riding on the shoulders of newspaper editors. In the center, General Winfield Scott, attired in a military uniform, sits on New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley's shoulders. Scott holds a bowl labeled, "soup," which spills down Greeley's neck. A white man representing the South, pulls on Scott's arm who says, "don't budge another step towards the White House, yonder, until you satisfy me about my fugitive slave." Scott replies, "I will give you every satisfaction about your Fugitive slave after I have arrived at the White House." In the right, Daniel Webster sits on the shoulders of Courier & Enquirer editor J. Watson Webb and eats a bowl of chowder. In the left, Millard Fillmore eats a bowl of "government pap" while sitting on the shoulders of the New York "Mirror" editor. In the background, Franklin Pierce on horseback carries a flag that reads, "The Union and the Compromise" and travels towards the White House. A rifle and a knife lie on the ground., Title from item., Date and publisher from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1852 by P. Smith, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southn Distt of N,Y,, Text printed on recto: For sale at No. 2 Spruce St. N.Y. Address of Currier & Ives firm in 1852., RVCDC
- Date
- 1852
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1852 - 17W [P.2023.61.1]
- 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 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]

