The Old Print Shop

Republican Principles : Democratic Principles.

  • ARTIST: Thomas Nast

  • PUBLISHER: Published by Harper's Weekly. May 6, 1871.

  • MEDIUM: Wood engraving,

    DATE: 1871.

  • EDITION SIZE: Image size 9 1/8 x 13 3/4" (23.1 x 34.9 cm).

  • DESCRIPTION: In this cartoon Thomas Nast, the artist, reflects on the differences between the Republican and Democratic parties. To better understand the statement one must remember that the parties differed from what we know them today. The Republican Party was the party of the people, the Union, and was largely supported in the North. The Democratic party on the other hand was the party of the South, of business, and was noted for being supported by former Confederate soldiers and sympathizers. <br><br> On the left, in the panel labeled "Republican Principles," Columbia, the female personification of America, honors the fallen Confederate dead by placing "Amnesty" and "Suffrage" upon their grave. This was a comment on how Lincoln wished for the country to welcome the South back into the Union with kindness, not animosity. The grave further comments on this by reading, "Here lies buried the lost cause. Forgive and forget. The Constitution as it is. With Malice towards none, charity to all. A. Lincoln." <br><br> On the right, in the "Democratic Principles" panel, savage dogs rip up the grave and release the evils it contained - "Slavery", "The War over again", "The U.S. Constitution as it WAS" and "Rebellion 1861. XIVth and XVth Amendments." These were the principles many Confederate survivors clung to in the South. The last refers to their desire to overturn the Constitutional Amendments granting blacks citizenship and black men the right to vote. The collars on the dogs read "Ku Klux", "Gen. Blairs Broadhead Letters", "Democratic Press," "J. Davis Speeches", and "Demagogue."

  • ADDITIONAL INFO:

  • CONDITION: Good condition.

  • REFERENCE: