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- Title
- [Scraps no. 3 for 1832]
- Description
- Plate one from the 1832 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 social issues and every day life such as corporal punishment, public drunkenness, popular fashion, marital relations, and libraries. Includes "Lock on the Understanding in two Toms bound in boards" depicting two "Toms" locked in a stockade without refreshment discussing their "Dry Goods" & "Stationary" business;" Heavy Wet" depicting a white man homeowner shocked to see a bank of snow fall from his roof unto a passerby's head; 'What a piece of work is a Man...." depicting hogs ashamed to be seen with a white man drunkard unconscious in their slop near a distillery; "Cowed Down" depicting a white wife upset about her cow's well-being as she watches her "mischievous" white husband being gored by it; "The Menagerie" depicting a confused African American man witnessing children mistaking a white man dandy and white woman dandiette for wild creatures at an animal menagerie; "Bullying Up" depicting a white farm boy haranguing a bull in front of his angry mother; "The Cat Doth Play & After Slay" depicting a picture "copied from an innkeeper's sign in Jugtown, N. Jersey" showing a cat playing a fiddle in front of a horse-drawn sleigh; "The Library" depicting the interior of a library where a foppish white woman, a Frenchman, and white men librarians misinterpret and misunderstand comments about popular literature; and "A Soporific" depicting an ailing white man unaffected by "laudanum opium" requesting his Reverend to preach a sermon in order to put him to sleep., Title supplied by cataloger., Printed in upper left corner: Plate 1., Published in D.C. Johnston's Scraps No. 3 1832 (Boston: D.C. Johnston, 1832), pl. 1., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865
- Date
- [1832]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1832 Scr (a) [5656.F.25]
- Title
- Views of slavery Does the slaveholder admit the slave to be a human being? If so we would ask his interpretation of the following sentiment "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do you even so to them."
- Description
- Abolitionist print containing six scenes depicting the inhumanity of slavery. Scenes include enslaved African American children crying while their mothers work and a white man enslaver whips an enslaved man in a sugar plantation field; the punishment of enslaved people by flogging, whipping, and binding by white men overseers in a shack; an auction of enslaved people; a free African American woman with a child watching the destruction of her free papers as she is kidnapped from the street; an anguished enslaved mother being separated from her children by a white man involved in the slave trade; and the shipping of enslaved people to New Orleans from a Baltimore dock. Also contains an excerpt about the rights of human beings from William Ellery Channing's abolitionist text, "On Slavery," below the image., Title from item., Advertised in the New York American Anti-Slavery Society newspaper, Emancipator (March 1836), p.3., Purchase 2003., 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., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2003, p. 45-46.
- Date
- [1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1836 Vie [P.2003.10], http://www.lcpimages.org/afro-americana/F-Views.htm
- Title
- Emancipation: the past and the future
- Description
- Emancipation print contrasting African American life during and after slavery. Central scene portrays the interior of a free person’s home where several generations of the family socialize around a "Union" stove as the mother cooks. The horrors of slavery are depicted through scenes of the flogging, branding, selling, and capturing of enslaved people. The forthcoming results of freedom are depicted through scenes of the exterior of a free person’s cottage, African American children attending public school, and African Americans receiving payment for their work. Also depicted are: a baby angel freeing the shackles of a kneeling enslaved man as the angel, who has the year 1863 above his head, is held by Father Time; Thomas Crawford’s statue of freedom; and the hellhound Cerberus fleeing liberty., Title from item., Originally published in Harper's weekly, January 24, 1863., 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., Nast was a cartoonist and illustrator most known for his work for the 19th-century periodical "Harper's Weekly."
- Creator
- Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902, artist
- Date
- 1865
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Political Cartoons - 1865-3 variant [(10)1540.F]
- Title
- The results of abolitionism!
- Description
- Cartoon reflecting the fear among Northern white workers of job competition with free African Americans. Depicts African American men bricklayers, portrayed in racist caricature and speaking in vernacular, on a construction site giving orders to white laborers in a reversal of roles. The laborers work on a large multi-storied brick building fronted by scaffolding and a ladder. The African American supervisors hold trowels and stand at the top of the scaffolding. They hurl orders and abuse at white workers exclaiming: "Bring up the mortar you white rascals" and "You bog-trotters, come along with them bricks." An African American man standing on the ground, attired as a dandy, exclaims, "White man hurry up them bricks." A white man climbs the ladder and two white men work on the ground shoveling and picking up bricks. Another white man stands and says, "Sambo hurry up the white laborers.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., 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
- [ca. 1835]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Political Cartoons - 1835 - Res [5780.F.1]
- Title
- I'm not to blame for being white, sir!
- Description
- Critical satire portraying the humanitarian sympathies of Massachusetts senator and abolitionist Charles Sumner as hypocritical toward whites. Depicts a well-dressed Sumner walking down a city street. He has stopped to hand coins to a barefoot, African American child carrying a basket. A white girl, attired in torn and worn clothes, carries sticks and holds out her hand to him, as well. Behind Sumner, two young white women witness the scene., Title from item., Publication information supplied by Weitenkampf., Probably drawn by Dominique C. Fabronius., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1972, p. 63., Purchase 1972., 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
- [1862]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1862-11 [8033.F.2]
- Title
- Southern ideas of liberty. New method of assorting the mail, as practised by southern slave-holders, or attack on the post office, Charleston, S.C
- Description
- Print portraying the violent suppression of Southern abolitionism. Depicts a riotous mob around a gallows from which a white man hangs. It is overseen by Judge Lynch, depicted with donkey's ears and holding a whip while stepping on the Constitution. He is seated upon bales of cotton, sugar, and tobacco and sentences a white man abolitionist to be hanged by the neck. The abolitionist is grabbed and drug to the gallows by two white men., Print portraying a raid of anti-abolitionists on the Charleston Post Office in July 1835. Depicts white men removing and then pilfering mail-bags from the ransacked post-office and throwing to the ground abolitionist newspapers including "The Liberator," "Atlas," and "Commercial Gazette" while a riotous mob burns the papers. Posted on the Post Office is a broadside titled "$20,000 Reward for Tappan" referring to the bounty placed by the city of New Orleans upon Arthur Tappan, founder and president of the American Anti-Slavery Society., Title from item., Advertised in 1836 editions of the abolitionist newspapers The Liberator, published in Boston, and Emancipator, published in New York., Text printed on recto: Sentence passed upon one for supporting that clause of our Declaration viz. All men are born free &equal. “Strip him to the skin! give him a coat of Tar & Feathers! Hang him by the neck, between the Heavens and the Earth!!! as a beacon to warn the Northern Fanatics of their danger!!!!”, Purchase 1981., 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
- [ca. 1835]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1835-2 & 3 [P.8658]
- Title
- [Scraps no. 3 for 1832]
- Description
- Plate two from the 1832 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 social issues and everyday life, such as dueling, juries, the wealthy, debt, education, and the use of coal as a fuel. Includes "Fair Play: Safe Play" depicting two absurd methods of dueling utilizing chalked figures on a rotund man and a barn door; "Hunger Versus Judgment Jury -Room" depicting a hungry jury voting for execution in order to adjourn for dinner; "Who Are You Looking At?" depicting an indignant white man looking at the viewer; "The Last Bell" depicting a wealthy, white "belle" with an entourage transporting her numerous belongings for a river voyage, annoyed with her son who has fallen in the water; "Military Precocity" depicting a young white boy aspiring to fit into his grandfather's oversized military uniform; "Anti-Phlogistic" depicting white gentlemen experimenting with safe, economical "Rhode Island coal" in a fireplace attended by an African American man servant; "Primary School Examination" depicting an elementary classroom where a white man teacher is mocked as a "jackass" and a white girl student reveals during a spelling lesson that her mother takes rum in her tea; "An Incarcerated Monster" depicting a white man artisan debtor on display in his prison cell in front of a wealthy family commenting about his deserved incarceration as a monster., Title supplied by cataloger., Printed in upper left corner: Plate 2., Published in D.C. Johnston's Scraps No. 3 1832 (Boston: D.C. Johnston, 1832), pl. 2., 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., African American household employees
- Creator
- Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865
- Date
- [1832]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1832-Scr (b) [P.2275.26]
- Title
- The house that Jeff built
- Description
- Cartoon attacking slavery and Jefferson Davis as the Confederate President. Contains twelve vignettes indicative of the inhumanity of the institution of slavery with accompanying verse following the frequently used cartoons scheme of the nursery rhyme "The House that Jack Built." The vignettes starting with the house that Jeff built (a depiction of a "Slave Pen") continue to include images of bales of cotton; enslaved African Americans working in the cotton fields; an auction of enslaved African American men, women, and children; a white man auctioneer; shackles; a white man enslaver whipping an enslaved African American woman; and a portrait of "arch rebel" Davis. The vignettes end with the image of several smashed symbols of slavery, such as shackles and whips alongside a notice of Davis's execution. The accompanying verse predicts that "Jeffs infamous house is doom'd.", Title from item., Artist and publication information supplied by Reilly., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1863 by D.C. Johnson in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts., Purchase 1966., 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., David Claypoole Johnston (1779-1860), known as the "American Cruikshank," was a respected comic illustrator, engraver, and lithographer.
- Creator
- Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865, artist
- Date
- 1863
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1863-9 [7549.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
- Emancipation
- Description
- Emancipation print depicting a series of scenes contrasting African American life during and after slavery. Central scene portrays the interior of a free person's home where several generations of the family socialize around a "Union" stove as the mother cooks. Below this scene is a portrait of Lincoln and above it a depiction of Thomas Crawford's statue of freedom, as well as the hell hound Cerberus fleeing Liberty. Scenes to the right display the horrors of slavery including the flogging, branding, selling, and capturing of enslaved people. Scenes to the left display the forthcoming results of freedom including the exterior of a free person's cottage, African American children attending public school, and African Americans receiving payment for their work., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by J.W. Umpehent, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania., Originally published in Harper's weekly, January 24, 1863., McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., 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., Nast was a cartoonist and illustrator most known for his work for the 19th-century periodical "Harper's Weekly."
- Creator
- Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902, artist
- Date
- 1865
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1865-3R [5792.F]
- 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 first of May 1865 or gen'l moving day in Richmond Va
- Description
- Cartoon relishing the surrender of the Confederacy to the Union depicting a Southern general moving from his war damaged home which is to undergo a "Sheriff Sale" and to be let by "Lincoln & Co." Three white Southerners and two African American men, one who thumbs his nose, witness the General and a mover begin to load a "C.S.A." (i.e., Confederate States of America) cart. The cart, to be pulled by two dogs, is situated next to a "C.S.A Treasury" box of "Waste Paper" that is being urinated upon by another dog. The mover is burdened by several packages, many falling off his back, labeled with the names of Confederate states., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1865, by H. & W. Voight in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York., Accessioned 1979., 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., Kimmel and Forster was a 19th-century firm known more so for their engraving than their lithography.
- Creator
- Kimmell & Forster, lithographers
- Date
- 1865
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1865-4W [P.2275.29]
- Title
- The past and the future
- Description
- Emancipation print contrasting African American life during and after slavery. Central scene portrays the interior of a free person's home where several generations of the family socialize around a "Union" stove as the mother cooks. The horrors of slavery are depicted through scenes of the flogging, branding, selling, and capturing of enslaved people. The forthcoming results of freedom are depicted through scenes of the exterior of a free person's cottage, African American children attending public school, and African Americans receiving payment for their work. Also depicted are: a baby angel freeing the shackles of a kneeling enslaved man as the angel is held under the year 1863 by Father Time; Thomas Crawford's statue of freedom; and the hellhound Cerberus fleeing liberty. The Great Central or Sanitary Fair of 1864 was organized by the Philadelphia division of the United States Sanitary Commission to raise money for their soldier relief organization. Although emancipation was a popular theme of the fair, African Americans were excluded from the exhibition., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Inscribed: Price [Fif?]ty Cents., Originally published in "Harper's weekly," January 24, 1863., LCP exhibition catalogue: African American Miscellany, p. 22., Accessioned 1987., 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
- Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902, artist
- Date
- [1864]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Political Cartoons - 1865-3a variant [P.9177.30]
- 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
- "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 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
- How free ballot is protected!
- Description
- Racist cartoon accusing the Republican party of electoral fraud and obstructionism in the presidential election of 1864. Depicts a ballot office where an armed African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in torn and worn clothing, prevents a disabled white Union soldier from voting for McClellan. In the left, the African American man holds a bayoneted rifle and says in the vernacular, "Hallo dar! You can't put in dat you copperhead traitor, nor any oder 'cept for Massa Lincoln!! [A copperhead refers to a Democrat who wanted peace with the South]. In the right, the Union veteran, attired in uniform, wears an eye patch and has an amputated left arm with an artificial limb and an amputated right leg. He leans on a crutch and holds a ballot reading "McClellan" in his right hand. He replies, "I am an American citizen and did not think I had fought and bled for this, alas my country!" In the background, election workers comment about the potential trouble and the need to ignore the situation., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Possible place of publication supplied by Reilly., RVCDC, Purchase 1960., 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., Baker was a New England etcher and lithographer who drew many Civil War caricatures.
- Creator
- Baker, Joseph E., approximately 1837-1914, artist
- Date
- [1864]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1864-35R [6395.F]
- 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
- [Scraps no. 3. for 1832]
- Description
- Plate four from the 1832 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 social issues and everyday life such as fashion, religious hypocrisy, ignorance, vanity, country life, class inequities, the military, and higher education. Includes 'The Glass of Fashion & The Mould of Form' depicting a white man sales clerk falsely flattering a white man dandy trying on a puff-sleeved coat; "Faith and Works" depicting a hypocritical white man Deacon, near a fireplace, reneging the shelter that he promised to a cold, poor white woman outside his door while his African American servant offers her money; "Arrival of a Country Cousin" depicting a snobby, white, city gentleman snubbing his country cousin; "About to be Astonished" depicting a dimwitted gloating white man farmer about to intentionally kill a sleeping "varmint" and unintentionally kill his friend with a sickle; "Champagne [Campaign] or the Fatigues of Modern Camp Duty" depicting a grossly intoxicated troop of white military officers toasting their intellect and patriotism; "A Body Coat & A Coat of Arms" depicting a rotund and thin "John Smith" exchanging wrongly delivered coats; "The Able-Bodied Man & The Exempt" depicting a scraggly white soldier encountering an "exempt" hardy white gentleman; "Symptoms of Extravagance" depicting a white man, attired in rags, debating the necessity to "dress better on Sunday"; "College Acquirements" depicting an African American man and woman, portrayed in racist caricature and speaking in the vernacular, discussing 'de college for de colour'd circles' based on the beneficial effects of college on "Massa Bob," including his staying out later, no longer reading, and drinking champagne., Title supplied by cataloger., Printed in upper left corner: Plate 4., Published in D.C. Johnston's Scraps No. 3 1832 (Boston: D.C. Johnston, 1832), pl. 4., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., 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.
- Creator
- Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865
- Date
- [1832]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1832-Scr (d) [5656.F.24]
- Title
- I take it on my responsibility
- Description
- Cartoon critical of Andrew Jackson's decision to discontinue federal deposits to the Bank of the United States and his denial that his informal circle of close advisors, known as the "Kitchen Cabinet," influenced his decision. Depicts Jackson pinned to a column at the top of the stairs of the bank as he and other white men are being drenched by white men wielding fire hoses, one labeled "United States," in the street. Near Jackson, a kettle boils, fueled by burning papers labeled "Constitution" and "Globe," the pro-Jackson newspaper. Behind him several men, one labeled "K.C.," are involved in altercations. Other men run down the steps, one colliding with an African American man carrying barrels. In the street, a rotund white man, attired in a military uniform, observes the soaking of Jackson with delight while two other white men appear to be coming to Jackson's aid., Title from item., Date of publication 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., 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
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1834-12W [5760.F.57]
- Title
- Congressional surgery legislative quackery
- Description
- Cartoon addressing the defeated South's resistance to the pending post war amendments which would declare equal rights for African Americans. Depicts a doctor's office where the seated "Dr. North" counsels "Patient South," who stands before him with his arm in a sling. He proposes that after the removal of the South's legs the "Constitutional Amendment" peg leg, which rests on his desk, will support him well. The South states that he "Can't See it." In the left, a young African American person crouches on the floor beside the doctor's chair. Behind the desk stands a bookshelf labeled "Congressional Surgery, Legislative Quackery" where a skull and a bottle of "Black Draught" are displayed. Contains three lines of dialogue below the image., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., Date of publication suggested by Reilly is 1860 as the content suggests that the cartoon was published following the proposed Crittenden and Douglas Compromises., 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
- [1866?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1866 - 10W [5760.F.115]
- Title
- Congressional surgery legislative quackery
- Description
- Cartoon addressing the defeated South's resistance to the pending post war amendments which would declare equal rights for African Americans. Depicts a doctor's office where the seated "Dr. North" counsels "Patient South," who stands before him with his arm in a sling. He proposes that after the removal of the South's legs the "Constitutional Amendment" peg leg, which rests on his desk, will support him well. The South states that he "Can't See it." In the left, a young African American person crouches on the floor beside the doctor's chair. Behind the desk stands a bookshelf labeled "Congressional Surgery, Legislative Quackery" where a skull and a bottle of "Black Draught" are displayed. Contains three lines of dialogue below the image., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., Date of publication suggested by Reilly is 1860 as the content suggests that the cartoon was published following the proposed Crittenden and Douglas Compromises., RVCDC, Accessioned 1981., 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
- [1866?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1866 - 10aW [P.8698]
- Title
- "The Freedman's Bureau."
- Description
- Visual pun on the Freedman's Bureau, a benevolent government organization, which aided formerly enslaved African Americans in the South by providing food, housing, and jobs, as well as establishing schools, hospitals, and a court system. Depicts a simply furnished attic room where an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, ties his tie as he stands beside his bed and before his dresser/bureau. Atop the bureau, which has its top drawer open, is a stand with a broken mirror upon which you see the man's reflection. A portrait of Lincoln and a bow and fiddle hang on the wall. His overcoat and hat rest on a chair with a broken back behind him., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year A.D. 1868 by Currier & Ives in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Worth was a comic and genre artist whose popular work was published by the lithographic firm Currier & Ives.
- Creator
- Worth, Thomas, 1834-1917, artist
- Date
- 1868
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1868-2W [7687.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 question settled
- Description
- Cartoon depicting Abraham Lincoln as "Old Abe," a white cat who drives "Jeff," (i.e., Jefferson Davis) depicted as a grey striped cat with a noose around his neck from the "United States" food dish. The black cat, "Contraband," (i.e., African American Civil War freedom seeker) makes his way into the dish from the other side. The plate rests upon the Union flag and a map depicting the lower Southern States blockaded by figures of Union ships., Title from item., Possible date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., During the Civil War, the U.S government declared African American freedom seekers as "contraband of war.", Purchase 1970., 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
- [1862?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1862-12W [7870.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
- '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
- A proslavery incantation scene or Shakespeare improved
- Description
- Antislavery print using an allegory of the cauldron scene from Macbeth to depict James Buchanan and the Democrats' contempt for the freesoilers following the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Depicts Buchanan, Stephen Douglas, and several animated Democrats, speaking in Shakespearian rhyme, gathered around a boiling cauldron labeled, "Double double, Free State trouble, Till Fremont men are straw & stubble." In the foreground, a white man kneels and blows on the fire, with a pistol labeled "Laws of Kansas" in his back pocket. The fire is fueled with anti-slavery literature, including "Beecher Sermons," "N.Y. Tribune," "Quincy’s Letters," "N.Y. Post," and "Boston Atlas." Buchanan, standing on a platform, states he endorses the laws of Kansas now in force and holds a paper labeled "Ostend Conference," (an attempt by the United States to negate an agreement with France and Great Britain to not annex enslaved-holding Cuba), over the cauldron. Beside him Douglas, holding a whip and shackles, calls for the blood of freemen and revels in the woe caused by his Kansas-Nebraska bill. Shackles, including one marked “Chattel Stock,” also rest at his feet. Many of the Democrats gathered around the kettle are depicted as pro-slavery, white men Southerners and refer favorably to Preston Brook's caning of Charles Sumner while others call out items to be thrown into the pot, such as "fillet of a Free Soil Frog" and the "Ostend conference plot.", Title from item., Date of publication 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., 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 - 1856-5W [5760.F.91]
- Title
- [Scraps no. 3 for 1832]
- Description
- Plate three from the 1832 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 social issues and everyday life such as fashion, gender relationships, bed bugs, the theater, modesty, materialism, parental relationships, and drunkenness. Includes "A Rain Bow" depicting a white man dandy offering to assist a white woman with her parasol under the judging eye of a fellow unwilling to "wear out" his umbrella in the rain; "Great Cry and Little Wool" depicting white chambermaids mocking the fearfulness of a white man being attacked by gigantic, near sated bed bugs and a mosquito; "Pressure of the Times" depicting a crowd of white men fighting with each other for "Boston Theater" box tickets; "Ne Plus Ultra of Delicacy" depicting white men discussing "decently clothed tables and chairs" while tending to an unconscious white woman driven to faint after viewing a sculpture of barely-clad "Chanting Cherubs"; "Sport of His Satanic Majesty" depicting Satan and his minion fishing for white drunkards to be eaten and used as firewood; "Mother's Hope and Father's Joy" depicting a little, white "gentleman" being bid upon by his mother and a little girl; "The Test of Friendship" depicting a white man drunkard showing true friendship by lying in the gutter with his equally inebriated white man friend; "Steamboat Scene" depicting white individuals and a family reacting to a "man overboard" with gawking looks, a cry for a rope, a criticism of drunkenness, anger at his non-removal of expensive shoes, and a desire to exchange places to forgo seasickness; "Going Off Half Cocked" depicting and an intoxicated white man stuttering "good evening" in front of his snickering African American maid, portrayed in racist caricature., Title supplied by cataloger., Printed in upper left corner: Plate 3., Published in D.C. Johnston's Scraps No. 3 1832 (Boston: D.C. Johnston, 1832), pl. 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
- 1832
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1832-Scr (c) [P.2275.27]
- 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
- 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
- "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
- 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
- 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 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
- [I] take the responsibility
- Description
- Satire concerning Andrew Jackson's role in the controversy over the discontinuation of federal deposits to the Bank of the United States. Jackson, portrayed as a jack-ass, is led by Van Buren, believed to be the force behind the discontinuation. He pulls a refuse cart labeled "K.C." (i.e., Kitchen Cabinet) which symbolizes the U.S. government. The cart is steered by a figure made of kitchen implements. A barefoot African American man, portrayed as a racist caricature and attired in a shirt with the sleeves rolled up and pants, pours a bucket of waste from a public privy labeled "Public Accommodations. Place of Deposit" into the cart. There is a white man sitting inside the "Public Accommodations" building and large rats run on the roof., Title from item., Pictograph of an eye is used in place of "I" in title., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1834 by Endicott & Swett in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the southern District of New York., Inscribed: No. 1., Hassan Straightshanks is possibly a pseudonym for David Claypoole Johnston., 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.
- Date
- 1834
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons -1834-12 [6194.F]
- Title
- Lecompton funeral
- Description
- Cartoon satirizing Colonel Thomas B. Florence, the only successful Philadelphia Democrat in the Congressional race of 1858 despite his support of the recently defeated pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution advocated by President Buchanan ("Prince James"). Depicts Florence, with the head of a donkey, leading a funeral procession for the "dead" constitution. The procession is composed of: white men shipworkers of the "Two Sloops," which rescued Florence from the "wreck of Lecompton" (an allusion to the decisive electoral support provided by the Philadelphia Navy Yard workers actively supported by Florence's committee work); four, white men pallbearers carrying the "remains of Lecompton" in a coffin resembling an outhouse and inscribed with the names of the unsuccessful Democratic Congressional nominees, "Phillips," "Landy," "Jones" ; and two semi-human figures bearing the flag "discharged ship carpenters.", Title from item., Publication date supplied by manuscript note in Poulson's Scrapbook, Vol. 1, p. 29., Text printed on recto: Democratic committee bearing the remains of Lecompton to Prince James, marshaled by the only remaining representative, Col. T.B. Florence, who was rescued from the wreck by the untiring exertions of the workmen upon the TWO SLOOPS., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Pennsylvania views and political miscellany. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., 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
- [October 1858]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1858-2W [5759.F]
- 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 triumph
- Description
- Print predicting the Union's triumph over the Confederacy using an allegory of "Humanitas" (i.e., Humanity) depicted as a white woman holding a child astride an eagle, reaching to save a shackled African American held on the ground by the evil "King Cotton." From a break in the clouds an apparition appears behind "Humanitas," including "Freedom" depicted as a woman wearing a crown of feathers holding a large American flag and a Liberty cap; "Christianity" depicted as a white woman holding a bible; "Justitia" depicted as a white woman holding scales; George Washington; Thomas Jefferson; and Benjamin Franklin. The oppressed enslaved person reaches up as "King Cotton," portrayed with an alligator head with a body composed of a bale of cotton with a holster of pistols, raises his hands in horror as the eagle clutches his cloak and shoots lightning bolts at his throne. To his right a column labeled "Lecompton", "Fugitive Slave," and "Missouri Compromise" is set aflame from the lightning. In the left, the "Hydra of Discord" accompanied by a hound "Fugitive Slave Law," a group of white men enslavers, and a Spaniard, who drops a package marked "Cuba $50,000,000," flee from the vision to the sea where a boat of enslaved African American men are docked. Contains eighteen lines of verse from Lord Byron's 1813 poem "The Giaour" below the image., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Reilly., Per Reilly, published key to print exists., Copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1861 by M. H. Traubel, in the Clerks Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Penna., Accessioned 1999., 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 - 1862-15 [P.9654]
- 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
- Jeff . Davis in prison
- Description
- Anti-Davis cartoon invoking the travesties at Confederate war prisons to satirize the incarcerated former Confederate president as a pompous, sniveling ingrate. Shows Davis, attired in a suit, and his feet shackled, in his cell, in front of a table containing his modest meal and complaining to the prison doctor. He bemoans his being unaccustomed to such living and that "you must order some more healthy food, or I shall starve to death." The doctor responds it is "good healthy food, such as our soldiers are fed on" and that their recent achievements prove it is "tolerably healthy." In the left, an older African American man cook, portrayed in racist caricature, announces in the vernacular "Massa Jeff! de dinner is ready." Two Union soldiers retort and reply "It's unhealthy is it! You didn't think that a pint of cornmeal was unhealthy when we were at Andersonville." The other angrily remembers "Rotten sowbelly and mouldy hard tacks was considered 'healthy food' when I was in "Libby" and Belle Island., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1865 by Gibson & Co. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio., Purchase 2008., 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
- 1865
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1865-Jef [P.2008.5.1]
- 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
- Much ado about nothing or a militia court-martial!!
- Description
- Spoof on the decadence and pretensions of the American local militiamen of the Jacksonian era showing a courtmartial of a militiaman. Several white officers sit around a table, many dozing, others commenting on the trial's length, stipend, and eventual outcome. Behind them rest oversize militia hats and a sword inscribed in Latin, "Guided by Patriotism." Two African American men, portrayed in racist caricature and speaking in the vernacular, presume that the officer holding the "List of Witnesses" and who is inquiring about the defendant’s profession "...mus be Col. Pluck or some sich great man." The defendant claims that he is "a self taught gentleman" who "showed considerable genius for this profession." Col. Pluck was an illiterate hostler elected colonel of the 84th Pennsylvania militia in a controversial election in 1824., Title from item., Artist supplied by Reilly., Possible publication date supplied by Weitenkampf., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Johnston, known as the American Cruikshank, was a respected comic illustrator, engraver, and lithographer.
- Creator
- Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865, artist
- Date
- [between 1832 and 1835]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1832-3 [7876.F]
- Title
- A new way of passing a bad Nebraska bill
- Description
- Antislavery cartoon criticizing the abuse of political power by President Franklin Pierce, his cabinet, and Stephen Douglas in their attempt to force the ratification of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854. Depicts antislavery Senator Thomas Hart Benton, holding the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which prohibited the extension of slavery into the Western Territories, arguing against slavery in Nebraska. Pierce, who holds the Nebraska Bill, threatens that any political opposition to the bill shall be severely punished. Douglas, with the President's cabinet, sits at a table behind Pierce and observes that acquiescence to "Southern Institutions" will get him the Presidency next term. Members of the cabinet comment upon Nebraska's suitability for slavery. A white man enslaver reviewing a paper labeled "Auction: sale of slaves" comments that if a man cannot make enough money by "selling young Niggers" than he must be greedy., Title from item., Date inferred from content., 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., 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., Sinclair was a Philadelphia lithographer who received awards from the Franklin Institute for his work.
- Creator
- Sinclair, Thomas S., approximately 1805-1881, lithographer
- Date
- [1854]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1854 - New [5760.F.86]
- Title
- Col. Fremont's last grand exploring expedition in 1856
- Description
- Cartoon ridiculing the antislavery convictions of John C. Frémont, the 1856 Republican presidential candidate and former explorer, and his abolitionist supporters during the Kansas-Nebraska crisis. Depicts Frémont's fictional expedition through the hills of "Kansas-Nebraska" atop New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley portrayed as the "Abolition Nag." Frémont states the road is hard astride the "Old Hack," but if he gets to the White House safely he will forgive his friends who put him there. Pulling Greeley by a rope is New York Republican William Seward who heads to the "Salt River" (i.e., political doom) in "Bleeding Kansas." Greeley admits to going the "same road as '52" but will follow Seward's lead. A gun-laden Henry Ward Beecher, the abolitionist minister, pledges to furnish rifles to antislavery Kansas settlers. A white frontiersman comments that the abolition horse's death is more beneficial to the Constitution than is an antislavery Republican president in the White House., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Probably drawn by John Cameron., 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., 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 - 1856-20 [5760.F.101]
- 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
- The little giant - in the character of the gladiator
- Description
- Cartoon portraying Stephen Douglas as a gladiator to symbolize his split with the Buchanan Administration on the admission of Kansas to the Union as an enslaving state. Depicts Douglas, attired in a tunic, armor, and sandals, defiantly holding his shield of "Popular Sovereignty, The Majority Rule" and sword labeled "Freedom of the Elective Franchise" in the center of a battle arena. He prepares to use his armament to fight against the admission of Kansas under the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution, which was fraudulently ratified because of the barring and abstention of free-state voters. To the left of Douglas, President Buchanan, attired as a gladiator, fends off Robert J. Walker, the Kansas Territory Governor and an advocate of popular sovereignty. In the right, a gladiator representing the power of the "Free Press" trounces the gladiator representing the "Washington Union," the Administration's organ. On the ground lies the Roman standard with an eagle, which reads “S.P.Q.R. Salaries Paid Quite Regular.” The arena is filled with white men and women spectators with various facial expressions of cheer, anger, and shock., Title from item., Publication date supplied by Weitenkampf., Manuscript note written on recto: Douglas-Lecompton question., Purchase 1958., 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
- [1858]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1858-1w [6268.F]
- Title
- Republican platform, or the political montebank
- Description
- Cartoon critical of the inequity of the 1868 Republican platform's post-war monetary policy. Depicts pensioners and bond holders witnessing Republican presidential nominee General Ulysses S. Grant, attired in his military uniform and spurs, balancing himself on a plank using a baton inscribed "U.S. Treasury" from which gold pieces shoot out from the one end as greenbacks (paper money without gold backing) shoot out from the other. The gold falls in the direction of the smug, well-dressed, white men bond holders who gladly accept such reimbursement for their government bonds. The greenbacks land on the pensioners, which include a white disabled veteran with an amputated arm and leg and a white, widowed mother with a baby who bitterly question such a form of payment for their war services. The plank is supported by a kneeling Horace Greeley, the New York Tribune editor, and a kneeling African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and speaking in the vernacular, "you as got to carry dis chile on dat platform, Massa Grant, too." Greeley warns that "we must not let this Election go by default, so hurry up you stump speakers.", Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress by John McDermott in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York., 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.
- Date
- 1868
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1868-13W [6270.F]
- Title
- The precarious situation
- Description
- Cartoon addressing the tenuous position of Republican presidential nominee General Ulysses S. Grant as the candidate of a party whose radicals support African American civil rights and Reconstruction under military rule. Depicts Grant holding up a knife inscribed "military despotism" as he straddles the "radical platform" rope that is stretched across the "Salt River" (i.e., political disaster). One end of the rope is tied to a rifle labeled "military reconstruction." The other end is held by "Negro supremacy" depicted as an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, barefooted, and attired in torn and worn clothes, who sits upon the tombstone of "Southern Confederacy." He asks in the vernacular, "Whar you be Massa Grant if I lef' go, yah! yah!!" Grant replies, "I'll fight it out if it takes all summer.", Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., 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.
- Date
- [1868]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1868-19aW [P.2275.3a]