The meeting of the Friends. City Hall Park. [graphic]
Title
The meeting of the Friends. City Hall Park
Description
Cartoon portraying a distorted version of events surrounding New York Governor Horatio Seymour's "My Friend's" speech during the Draft Riots of 1863 when several African Americans were killed by working-class rioters. Portrays Seymour on the steps of City Hall in front of a riotous mob composed primarily of armed Irish-Americans who march past the building for "The Tribune," an anti-Seymour newspaper. Supporting Seymour from behind are a fool with a cap inscribed "Express" (i.e., a Pro-Seymour newspaper), and former Mayor Fernando Wood and Tammany boss Peter B. Sweeny, both "Copperhead" Democrats who advocated peaceful settlement with the South and who believed Republican philanthropy favored African Americans at the expense of working-class whites. Seymour placates the mob announcing that he is their friend and that he has ordered the President to stop the draft. At his feet is an African American with a noose around his neck. A white man holds the severed head of an African American man, and several more African Americans are seen hanging from trees in the background., Probably drawn by Henry L. Stephens., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Place of publication supplied by Reilly., Text printed below image: A friendly voice.—Governor, we want you to stay here. Horatio Seymour.—I am going to stay here, “My Friends.” Second Rioter.—Faith, and the Governor will stay by us. Horatio Seymour.—I am your “Friend,” and the “Friend” of your families. Third Rioter.—Arrah, Jemmy, and who said he cared about the “Dirty Nagurs”? Fourth Rioter.—How about the draft, Saymere? Governor.—I have ordered the President to stop the draft! Chorus.—Be Jabers, he’s a “Broth of a Boy.”, RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date
[1863]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1863-12 [P.2275.11]
An Au-Gust Convention [graphic].
Title
An Au-Gust Convention
Description
Cartoon satirizing the National Union Convention, which met in Philadelphia in August of 1866, in an attempt to support President Andrew Johnson and his Reconstruction policies and elect a new Congress. Muzzled dogs, each representing a state, walk down a path towards a dog house labeled, “Wigwam,” which was the name of the structure in Philadelphia that was quickly erected for the convention. Outside the house, two guard dogs, representing Johnson supporters Edgar Cowen and James Rood Doolittle, each hold cats in their mouths, representing the two notorious Peace Democrats, or Copperheads, Clement Vallandigham and Fernando Wood, who were barred from the convention. At the head of the parade, the Massachusetts and South Carolina dogs march together, representing General Darius Nash Couch and Governor James Lawrence Oliver, the representatives from those states, respectively. These two men entered the Convention arm-in-arm to demonstrate the possibility for national reconciliation. The South Carolina dog, however, also has its genitals muzzled, as it was the first state to secede from the Union at the beginning of the war. In the left is a small, muzzled dog with a brush and bucket, labeled “N.Y. Times,” tied to its tail that represents Henry Raymond, co-founder of the New York Times and pro-Johnson Republican Congressman. Raymond organized the convention and was removed from his position as Chairman of the Republican National Committee because of it. In the left background, shows the White House with a Confederate flag, with “My Policy,” flying and a dead dog lying on the ground representing Johnson. Radical and moderate Republicans in Congress believed that his treatment of the Southern states under his Reconstruction plan was too lenient., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
Date
[1866]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | PRINT political cartoons - 1866-11 [5760.F.113]