Democracy
Democracy
Usage conditions apply
- Description
- As the Civil War dragged into 1864, many Republicans worried that the unpopularity of the conflict would cause Lincoln to lose his bid for reelection. Those in the North tired with the war hoped that his opponent and former general, Democratic candidate, George McClellan, would attempt to broker a peace with the Confederacy. These peace Democrats were referred to as Copperheads by Republicans, who believed they resembled venomous serpents. This pro-Republican cartoon rebukes both McClellan and, by extension, the supporters of the Northern Democratic Party.
- In the left panel, representing 1832, an enraged Andrew Jackson, the founder of the modern Democratic Party raises a fist into the air as he denounces his Vice President, John C. Calhoun. Calhoun, an ardent supporter of states’ rights believed that state governments had the power to nullify, or veto, any federal laws of which they did not approve. This led to a clash with Jackson, who, although also a proponent of states’ rights, believed in the preservation of the Union. Jackson’s response to Calhoun is contrasted with the behavior of Northern Democrats in 1864. George McClellan and his running mate, George Pendleton, prostrate themselves in front of a shoddily dressed Jefferson Davis, offering him an olive branch and promises of a “friendly separation.” Davis, holding a whip and armed with a pistol and dagger in his belt, stands tall and orders McClellan to call back “those fellows Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan also that old sea dog Farragut. Behind him, a Confederate soldier eating a corncob laughs at the Northern “fools,” who beg for peace even though the Confederacy is “in the last ditch.”
- Louis Prang (1824-1910) was born in Breslau, Prussian Silesia, and immigrated to America in 1850. Settling in Boston, he began his lithographic career in 1856, partnering with Julius Mayer. In 1860, he established his own firm, which grew to become one of the largest producers of American colored lithographs during the 19th century. The company’s first lithographic prints were Civil war battle scenes, maps, and portraits of military and political leaders. Louis Prang & Co. remained in operation until 1898, producing greeting cards, facsimiles of American and European paintings, and natural history prints.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- Lithograph
- Object Type
- Lithograph
- Date made
- 1864
- depicted
- Jackson, Andrew
- Pendleton, George Hunt
- Calhoun, John Caldwell
- Davis, Jefferson
- McClellan, George B.
- maker
- L. Prang & Company
- place made
- United States: Massachusetts, Boston
- Physical Description
- ink (overall material)
- paper (overall material)
- Measurements
- image: 9 in x 14 1/2 in; 22.86 cm x 36.83 cm
- ID Number
- DL.60.3459
- catalog number
- 60.3459
- Credit Line
- Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
- subject
- Political Parties
- Chronology: 1860-1869
- Uniforms, Military
- U.S. National Government, judiciary
- Civil War
- Political Caricatures
- Civil War
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
- Clothing & Accessories
- American Civil War Prints
- Art
- Domestic Furnishings
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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