“I wonder if our white fellow men realize the true sense of meaning of brotherhood? For two hundred years we had toiled for them; the war of 1861 came and was ended, and we thought our race was forever freed from bondage, and that the two races could live in unity with each other, but when we read almost every day of what is being done to my race by some whites in the South, I sometimes ask, “Was the war in vain? Has it brought freedom, in the full sense of the word, or had it made our conditions more hopeless?…
There are still good friends to the negro. Why, there are still thousands….Man thinks two hundred years is a long time, and it is, too; but it is only as a week to God, and in his own time…the South will be like the North, and when it comes it will be prized higher than we prize the North to-day. God is just; when he created man he made him in his image, and never intended one should misuse the other. All men are born free and equal in his sight.”
What is a self-made man? The term was first coined in 1832 by Henry Clay, attorney and lawyer. He represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives for over 10 years. He used the phrase “self-made man” to describe individuals of whose success lay within the person themselves, not with outside conditions. One of the most prominent men in history who represented this concept was Benjamin Franklin. He went from a poor, candle maker’s son to a successful businessman and one of America’s most influential Founding Fathers. So, where does Lincoln come in?
Abraham Lincoln was also a self-made man who acknowledged Clay as his “political hero.” He read an abundance of Clay’s political speeches and was greatly influenced by them. Lincoln started reading at a young age and read so much that his parents saw him as “lazy” (Lincoln grew up in a time where working class sons were expected to be working, not leisurely reading. He did go to a local school for brief periods at a time, but he mostly had to stay home and support his family).
Through reading and writing, Lincoln taught himself law and became a lawyer in 1836. His reputation as a lawyer grew and, when he was running for office, his “Honest Abe” persona grew.
Over the course of his lifetime, Abraham Lincoln read over 268 literary works including Shakespeare’s plays, Arabian Nights,Poems by Robert Burns, Journal and Debates of the Federal Constitution by Jonathan Elliot. Many of his own speeches and debates show comments and quotes from other prestigious writers. You can see a full list of what Lincoln read throughout his life as well as more information about the type of literature he enjoyed published through the University of Michigan Library.
Lincoln was known for being an avid reader and most artists liked to represent him as such. One such example of this is in the print by Warren Sallman, Kriebel & Bates.
Did you know? While Lincoln was in office from the years 1861-1865, 350 literary works were published in America within that time span including books, poems, plays, and essays.
Pictures of Abraham Lincoln almost always include him holding a book or an important document that he had been working on or reading. The picture below shows the capital building in the background as Lincoln is holding an important document.
Abraham Lincoln advocated himself as a self-made man, and literature aided him on his journey to becoming a lawyer as well as one of our greatest presidents in American history.
https://www.facebook.com/LincolnCollection/To have a little fun this holiday season, we wanted to share with our wonderful Tumblr followers our 12 Days of Lincoln countdown a bit early! We know the 12 days of Christmas traditionally refer to the days between Christmas and New Year’s but this year, we’d like to use them as a Lincoln Collection Countdown! Join us for the next 12 days as we highlight interesting items in the collection to a well-loved holiday tune.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Mr. Lincoln gave to me
October is Family History Month as well as Archives Month, so the Lincoln Collection is excited about having such a great month to show off our collection. We’ll be adding more things about the Lincoln family throughout the month.
Mary “Mamie” Lincoln (1869-1938)
Mary “Mamie” Lincoln, Robert Todd Lincoln’s eldest daughter, was born on October 15th 1869. Mamie would grow up alongside her brother, Jack (Abraham Lincoln II), and sister, Jessie, and would eventually go on to marry Charles Isham and have one son, Lincoln Isham. Mamie spent most of her adult life in New York City and was a choir mother of Grace Church located on Broadway Ave.
Abraham “Jack” Lincoln II
Born in 1873, Jack spent his early years in Chicago with his two sisters, Mamie and Jessie. In 1881, Robert became Secretary of War under Presidents Garfield and Arthur, so the family moved to Washington D.C. At age 16, the Lincolns moved to London because of Robert’s appointment as the ambassador to England. Jack attended school in France, but developed a carbuncle that became infected and caused blood poisoning. Jack died on March 5, 1890 at age 16.
Jessie Lincoln
Jessie Harlan Lincoln was the youngest of Robert Todd Lincoln’s children. She was born in Chicago on November 6, 1875 and spent time with her family in Washington D.C. and England with her father’s different government positions. Ultimately, Jessie eloped with Warren Wallace Beckwith and had two children, Mary (Peggy) Lincoln and Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith (Bud). Jessie went on to divorce Beckwith and marry twice more. In 1946, she moved to the family’s summer estate, Hildene, in Manchester, Vermont. Jessie died in 1948 at the age of 72
Thomas “Tad” Lincoln was the youngest of the 4 Lincoln children. Born in 1853, Tad was known for being rambunctious and full of energy. Slightly the troublemaker, Tad and his brother Willie were often playmates getting into all sorts of mischief. When Tad and his brother were referred to as “notorious hellions” by Lincoln’s law partner, William Herndon, because they enjoyed pulling apart the law office and dumping books and papers all about the room.
Tad was 7 when his father accepted the presidency and the White House became his and Willie’s new playground. Multiple of the Taft children came over to play and began to form friendships with the new First Family.
In February 1862, both Willie and Tad contracted Typhoid fever. Tad recovered, but lost his older brother to the illness. It was at this point that Mary Lincoln prevented children from coming to play at the White House because it gave her too much pain to hear children laughing and playing after Willie’s death.
On April 14, 1865 Tad went to Grover’s Theatre to see the play Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. Tad’s parents were also at the theater that night, but were seeing Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre. When new’s of the assassination reached Tad, he began screaming “They killed Papa” and was escorted back to the White House.
After the assassination, Tad, Mary and Robert lived together in Chicago. Robert married and moved out and Mary decided to take Tad to Europe to get out of the states for a bit. Tad attended school in Frankfurt, Germany. When Tad turned 18, he returned to Chicago with his mother but managed to get a cold that turned into something much more serious (potentially pneumonia or congestive heart failure). Tad died on July 15, 1871 at the age of 18.
Decorated postal envelopes were popular during the mid-nineteenth century and were often collected and placed in special albums as keepsakes. During the Civil War many of these envelopes were illustrated to support the Union war effort. A set of five “Champion Prize Envelope” postal covers published by J.H. Tingley of New York City in 1861 is one example. The envelopes feature cartoons of “Lincoln & Davis in 5 Rounds” showing the Union and Confederate presidents squaring off in a roped-in boxing ring while supporters for each man look on.
In the “1st Round,” a confident Lincoln proclaims, “I use no more force than necessary” and faces a cringing Davis, who whines, “Let me alone!” Lincoln is backed by Secretary of State William Seward, a group of statesmen, and General Winfield Scott as well as Union troops and canon. An American flag flies from the Capitol dome in the background. General P.G.T. Beauregard and Confederate politicians stand with Davis, and the Confederate flag, bales of cotton, dogs, and slaves are in the background. French and British leaders watch the “belligerents” from afar.
In the “2nd Round,” Lincoln tears Davis’s coattail and pants-seat as Davis runs stumbling away with his backside exposed. “Go back you dog to the junction—I’ll call on you there soon,” Lincoln declares. “Beauregard,” Davis says, “Let’s fall back on Richmond.” Union politicians comment, “Secession is looking smaller” and “We shall soon strip it,” while one Confederate bystander asks, “What strategic movement is this?” and another answers, “Only retreating in good order.” Slaves cheer at Davis’s embarrassment and defeat, and the European onlookers declare, “We are drifting into rough waters.”
In the “3rd Round,” Lincoln holds Davis in a headlock and proclaims, “I will soon smother those pirates.” The Confederate spectators flee, trampling the slaves in their path and shouting, “Let’s go home boys” and “Damn Pickens! South Carolina and Sumter too!” Canon balls litter the ring, and the starving dogs run off, abandoning the Confederate flag and cotton. The Union politicians cheer, “General, that’s secession’s last kick” and “See those balls rolling.” The French and British exit as well, noting the effective cotton blockade that the Union has put in place.
The “4th Round” shows Lincoln facing his departing Union troops and declaring, “I have taken the world by surprise.” Seward and Scott stand in the center of the boxing ring. Seward asks Scott, “General, where is secession now?” to which Scott replies, “Don’t you see that grease spot?” The remaining onlookers, including Unionists John J. Crittenden of Kentucky and John M. Botts of Virginia, strain to see what will happen next.
In the “5th Round,” a triumphant Lincoln stands in the “Champion Belt” in front of a pyramid built of all the states topped by an American flag with the letters U.S.A. Men of the North, South, East, and West wave their hats and cheer as Lincoln declares, “You shall all have my impartial, constitutional and humble protection!” The federal eagle holds a ribbon promising “Union Forever,” and Columbia holds a laurel wreath and asserts, “I still live.” Smoke from the canon carries a warning, however: “Traitors beware!! For we still live.”
These illustrated envelopes reveal the Union belief in 1861 that the war against the Confederacy would be short and Davis’s government and army easily defeated. As would soon become clear, however, that was not to be the case.
Lincoln “quotations” are everywhere — on websites, in social media memes, on greeting cards. They pop up in political speeches, newspaper articles, inspirational books and pamphlets. Sometimes the quotations are accurate ….. and often they are not. Here are some examples of Lincoln quotations printed over the decades on postcards. Can you tell which are accurate? Did Lincoln REALLY say that???
In early 1934, the Lincoln National Life Foundation, a department of Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, announced the first annual Boy Scout Lincoln Pilgrimage to take place on February 12th, the 125th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Pilgrimages were to take place across the country, with Scouts gathering at the nearest statue of Abraham Lincoln. The company’s announcement provided a list of more than 40 cities where heroic statues of Lincoln were located and offered “an attractive award” for each Scout who participated: “It is a beautiful picture of ‘Abraham Lincoln the Hoosier Youth,’ the bronze statue by Paul Manship.” The statue stood outside the Lincoln Life Insurance Company’s headquarters in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
As these photographs show, the Pilgrimage proved to be a popular Scout event, with hundreds of Scouts turning out in the winter weather to march to the statue and participate in a wreath laying ceremony. The Scouts then attended an indoor program and enjoyed refreshments provided by the company.
The 1937 Pilgrimage
The 1939 Pilgrimage
The 1942 Pilgrimage
The 1954 Pilgrimage
In 1962, the Lincoln National Life Foundation’s publication Lincoln Lore published a list of 81 heroic Lincoln statues and this “Editor’s Note” on the Pilgrimage with illustrations of the awards offered to the Scouts, each picturing an statue of Lincoln in a different location.
In 1970, the Boys Scouts began awarding patches to Pilgrimage participants, in addition to the company’s attendance awards. Several 1970s patches, like this one from 1973, featured the Hoosier Youth statue.
In February 1981, the company’s newsletter reported that both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts attended the Pilgrimage. There were over 2,100 Scouts participating to learn about “Lincoln’s Midwest Years.”
In 1982 “over 1,400 area Scouts endured snow and cold weather to honor Abraham Lincoln at the 49th Annual Lincoln Pilgrimage,” according to the newsletter.
Pilgrimage patches during the 1990s focused on a variety of themes in Lincoln’s life and presidency—Lincoln and education, Lincoln and the law, Lincoln’s family, and once again, Lincoln’s life in Indiana.
The 1993 Pilgrimage commemorated the signing of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.
The Pilgrimage continued into the new century, with the patch for 2001 featuring “Long Tall Lincoln” from an 1864 Harper’s Weeklycartoon.
2008 marked the 75th Annual Lincoln Pilgrimage and once again featured the Hoosier Youth statue on the Scout patch.
The 2009 Pilgrimage celebrated the bicentennial of Lincoln’ birth with an illustration of Daniel Chester French’s Lincoln Memorial statue on the patch.
2009 also marked the transferal of the collection from the Lincoln Financial Foundation’s Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne to the State of Indiana and the collection’s renaming as the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection (LFFC). That ended the company’s support for the Pilgrimage. In 2014, the Allen County Public Library, now co-curator of the LFFC, partnered with the Anthony Wayne Council of Boy Scouts to rejuvenate the Pilgrimage by moving it indoors to the library on the weekend closest to Lincoln’s birthday. Scout interest soon waned, however. The last Lincoln Pilgrimage in Fort Wayne—the 83rd—was held at the library in 2016.
TheLincoln Financial Foundation Collection holds the Richard W. Thompson Manuscript Collection, a large collection of letters written to Indiana politician Richard Wigginton Thompson during the course of his career from 1834 to 1897. These include letters from other state and national politicians and provide some interesting private glimpses of 19th-century politics, especially the “backstage” activities surrounding the presidential campaigns of 1860 and 1864.
Thompson (1809-1900) was influential in the Indiana Whig Party from the 1830s through the 1850s, serving two terms in the Indiana House and one in the Indiana Senate before serving two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1841 to 1843 and 1847 to 1849. As the national debate over slavery heated up during the 1850s and the Whig Party fragmented, Thompson found the new Republican Party to be too radical on the slavery issue. Nonetheless, he remained in contact with former Whigs who had joined the Republicans and who kept him informed of the party’s 1860 campaign—men like John A. Norton of Pennsylvania and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.
Norton wrote to Thompson in March 1860 describing the unsuccessful machinations of Simon Cameron, a fellow Pennsylvania Republican, at the state Republican Party convention. Cameron had attempted to build support for his nomination to the presidential ticket at the party’s upcoming national convention in June 1860.
Norton did not think highly of Cameron, to say the least. In a letter written on March 26th, he informed Thompson, “That slimy reptile, Simon Cameron has been playing the devil with the politics of our state. He had a powerful majority in the late 22 July state convention, but the minority worked their efforts to thwart him … Simon Cameron can now return to Washington to represent, or more properly speaking misrepresent our state, in the U S senate … a gentleman of our city who went to Harrisburg to watch the proceeding of the late convention opined me that some of the most respectable people in the place did not hesitate to declare boldly & openly, that if Cameron had his deserts, he would be serving out a sentence in the penitentiary instead on serving in the US Senate.”
Although he had known Lincoln when they served together in Congress, Thompson’s concerns about the Republicans’ anti-slavery stand led him to support Constitutional Union Party candidate John Bell in the early months of the 1860 presidential campaign. Two letters written to Thompson by Lincoln during the summer of 1860 reveal the Republican candidate’s attempt to gain Thompson’s support and undermine the organizing efforts of the Constitutional Union Party.
On June 18th, Lincoln wrote this brief letter to Thompson, thanking him for a letter Thompson had sent in which he had noted that he might “possibly” vote for Lincoln if the Constitutional Union candidates were not on the Indiana ballot. Lincoln urged Thompson to “converse freely” with Maryland Congressman Henry Winter Davis, who had supported the Constitutional Union Party but who had strong anti-slavery views and had voted with the Republicans in Congress. Lincoln apparently hoped Davis would nudge Thompson toward supporting the Republican ticket and short circuiting attempts to run a Constitutional Union ticket in every state.
Thenon July 10th, Lincoln wrote to Thompson again, asking Thompson to “watch Chicago a little,” possibly to prevent a Constitutional Union Party ticket in Illinois, and to contact Lincoln supporter John Wilson to “fix the matter.” This letter is not only marked “Private”—Thompson is instructed to “Burn this,” which obviously he did not do.
As it happened, John Wilson and Thompson had already exchanged letters on the matter. In a “Private” letter of June 16th, Wilson argued against running a Constitutional Union Party ticket in Illinois. He wrote, “Here the question is reduced down to a choice between Douglass and Lincoln,” and nationally Bell “has not the slightest chance of an election.” If the Democratic candidate were to be elected, the consequences would be dire—the result would be “a state of corrupt despotism, licentious agrarianism, or civil war, and possibly all combined, & in comparison to which the despotisms of Russia or Turkey, would be a perfect Paradise.” Wilson concluded, “I have determined to do all in my power, in this State and elsewhere, to secure the election of Lincoln….[and] do all in my power to prevent the running of a Union Ticket.” He urges Thompson abandon the Constitutional Union Party and support Lincoln as well.
Lincoln, Davis, and Wilson were successful in convincing Thompson to join the Republicans. In August of 1860, when it became clear that Constitutional Union Party candidate Bell could not win the election, Thompson declared his support for Lincoln.
Letters to Thompson also reveal some of the “backstage” activity during the 1864 presidential campaign. In the months leading up to the 1864 Republican National Convention, Secretary of the Interior John P. Usher kept Thompson informed about the scandal surrounding the Pomeroy Circular, a secret document shared among Republicans who wanted to replace Lincoln with Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase as the party’s presidential nominee.
On February 17th Usher wrote, “A secret circular has just been issued signed by Pomeroy Chairman for Chase for President. Mr C must have knowledge of & approved it. It contains reflections upon the President of such an offensive character that there will have to be explanations and will I think cause a rupture in the cabinet, There is such caballing & plotting going on here.”
Not surprisingly, the circular did not remain secret, and it did not build support for Chase. Instead, it made its way into Lincoln’s possession, was published in the newspapers, and caused a scandal within the party. And on February 25th, after publication of the circular, Usher wrote, “I suppose you have seen the Pomeroy Circular and have been amazed that Mr Chase should have allowed such a paper to go to the public. It is a most indecent thing and how a man of strict honour can hold his position as adviser of the President after stating that he disagrees with him on his policy is more than I can tell.” But, he concluded, “I think now that the worst is over. The Pomeroy Circular was so badly conceived and so badly worded that Chase and his friends will have to repudiate it in doing which they substantially give up their cause—Politicians will soon see that the people are for Lincoln and they will make haste to be in that way too.” Usher was correct. When the Republicans held their nominating convention in June, Lincoln was easily nominated for a second term.
You can explore hundreds of additional documents from the Richard W. Thompson Manuscript Collection here.
Born in New Hampshire in 1850, Daniel Chester French would grow up to be one of the most famous U.S. sculptors of his time. In 1867, French moved with his family to Concord, Massachusetts where he became a neighbor and friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Alcott family. May Alcott is said to have been the influence pushing French to become a sculptor.
French spent his early training and education with William Rimmer for anatomy and William Morris Hunt for drawing. He then spent a year studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as in Florence at the studio of Thomas Ball. In 1875, French gained his first accolades and appreciation for his statue “Minute Man.” This statue was commissioned by the town of Concord, MA and was created to commemorate the battle of Lexington and Concord that had occurred 100 years prior.
Shortly after the sculpture creation, French opened his first studios: initially in Washington D.C., then moving to Boston, and finally to New York. With the World’s Colombian Exposition of 1893, French’s reputation began to grow as his “Statue of the Republic” gained national acclaim. French then followed this sculpture with other memorable works including: the “First Division Monument” and the “Butt-Millet Memorial Fountain” in Washington; “John Harvard,” Cambridge, Massachusetts; bronze doors for the Boston Public Library; and “The Four Continents” at the US Custom House, New York, which is now the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House.
French’s most popular work is the Lincoln Memorial, which was one of many projects that he collaborated with architect Henry Bacon on. For Indiana, French is known for creating the statue of Beneficence at Ball State University. In 1893, French became one of the founding members of the National Sculpture Society and then was appointed a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and letters in 1913. In 1917, French and his colleague, H. Augustus Lukeman designed the Pulitzer Prize medal- French specifically designed the side with Benjamin Franklin on it (Image from Pulitzer.org).
French was known for his collaborations. Besides working with those listed above, French also collaborated with Edward Clark Potter on the statue of George Washington in Paris, the statue of General Grant in Philadelphia, and the statue of General Hooker in Boston. He also worked Walter Leighton Clark and helped to found the Berkshire Playhouse, which later became the Berkshire Theater Festival. (Photo: Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-10017)
French received an honorary Master of Arts from Harvard after his creation of the statue of Emerson. He continued to sculpt and teach, including sculptor Edith Howland was one of French’s students. Howland was also known for studying under another famous Lincoln sculpture, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. French is also remembered for his estate and summer art studio, Chesterwood, that was designed by his friend and architect, Henry Bacon.
One of the most enduring images of Abraham Lincoln is Lincoln the Rail Splitter—the tall, strong young man wielding his ax or maul splitting fence rails on the Illinois frontier. Lincoln was nicknamed the Rail Splitter by his supporters at the 1860 Illinois state Republican Convention, where they were touting their relatively unknown candidate for the national party’s presidential nomination. Marching though the Decatur Wigwam carrying two fence rails that they claimed were “from a lot of 3,000 made in 1830 by Thos. Hanks and Abe Lincoln,” they cheered Lincoln as “The Rail Candidate.” At the Republican National Convention in Chicago eight days later, the “rail candidate” won the nomination—and in November the presidency—and the rail splitter image became part of Lincoln iconography.
The popularity of Lincoln as rail splitter is reflected in the pictures gracing that very popular 20th-century souvenir item, the picture postcard.
Some postcards focused solely on Lincoln’s rail splitting prowess. This one shows young Lincoln working under the watchful eyes of an older man and a dog. According to printing on the reverse, it was a souvenir card offered by “Boston’s Newest Commercial Hotel.”
The design on this postcard is embossed for a three-dimensional look.
The same image of young Lincoln at work appears below a portrait of President Lincoln on this postcard.
This embossed postcard was created for the Lincoln centennial in 1909. The Rail Splitter appears much older than the 20-something youth who split fence rails in Illinois, and he sports a post-1860 beard.
“Abraham Lincoln as a Rail Splitter” includes inset images of “Lincoln’s Broadaxe,” with a note on the reverse saying it was then owned by a man in Petersburg, Illinois, and of an Ox-Yoke made by young Lincoln and owned by the University of Illinois.
In 1996, the Chicago Historical Society produced this postcard reproducing a painting from its collection, “The Railsplitter, 1860” by an unknown artist.
ThisLincoln centennial souvenir postcard shows the Rail Splitter at work but links that work to young Lincoln’s well-known determination to read and write. The text reads, “Never idle, performing the humblest labor with the same enthusiasm that he pursued under the light of a tallow dip the learning that eventually entitled him to a place in the front rank as orator and a writer of English.”
The link between Lincoln’s rail splitting and learning is clear in other postcard images of the young Rail Splitter as well. This postcard, a reproduction of a painting by J.L.G. Ferris, is captioned “The Rail Splitter – 1830 – Lincoln clearing land in Illinois.” Ferris portrays Lincoln with an ax and a maul and also with an open book, which Lincoln will return to at his next rest.
The illustration on this postcard—a 1916 New Year’s greeting card sent to customers of the St. Paul Mutual Telephone Company—shows Lincoln resting his hand on his ax and his foot on an unsplit log while he reads.
This postcard reproduces Norman Rockwell’s 1964 painting “Abraham Lincoln, Age 22.” Originally titled “The Young Woodcutter,” the painting shows Lincoln reading as he walks away from his rail splitting duties.
During nineteenth-century presidential campaigns, small metal tokens that could be carried in a pocket or sewn onto a jacket provided individual voters with a simple, inexpensive way to advertise their support for a candidate. Many tokens simply featured a profile of the candidate on one side and a patriotic image—the “president’s house” or a flag or an eagle—on the reverse.
But some tokens carried a more specific campaign message about an issue or idea. Here are some examples of “issue” tokens from the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection for the presidential elections of 1860 and 1864.
The central issues of the 1860 presidential campaign revolved around slavery—the institution’s expansion into federal territories, the right of slaveholders to transport slaves into free territory, the status of escaped slaves in the free states, the requirement that citizens of free states return escaped slaves to their masters, the status of free labor in a slave society. Campaign tokens like these expressed the voter’s stand on those issues.
This copper token features Lincoln’s profile, name, and birth date on the front, and proclaims the Republican position on the slavery issue on the reverse—“No More Slave Territory.”
The front of this brass token displays only the candidate’s profile and name. The reverse delivers the message: “The People’s Choice” is Lincoln and Hamlin, who stand for “Freedom & Protection” (that is, protective tariffs).
This brass token supports “Hon. Abram Lincoln,” who is pictured on the front and touted on the reverse as “The man that can split rails or guide the ship of state.” Republican candidates for “Freedom & Protection” are “Lincoln & Hamlin.”
Partisans of Democrat Stephen Douglas could also carry tokens proclaiming their candidate’s views. A token bearing a full-face portrait of Douglas on the front states “Intervention Is Disunion” on the reverse, asserting any interference with the institution of slavery will result in national division. The solution is M.Y.O.B.—a message to free soil and antislavery partisans to “mind your own business.”
Another Douglas token features the candidate’s profile on the front and the assertion on the reverse that “Popular Sovereignty” will assure “National Unity.”
The 1864 presidential election was in one sense a referendum on the Civil War—would the North continue to fight to defeat the Confederacy, restore the Union, and guarantee emancipation; or would there be peace at any price? The Republican platform supported the war’s continuation; the Democratic platform supported peace. Some campaign tokens reflected those stands.
On this token the president’s profile is surrounded by 34 stars, for the 34 states that would make up a restored Union. (Nevada would be added as the 35th state on October 31, 1864, just days before the election.) The reverse features the American eagle and shield and proclaims “Lincoln and Union.”
This copper token takes a more aggressive stance. It features the profile of “President Abm. Lincoln” on the front and asserts “No Compromise with Traitors” on the reverse.
Democratic candidate Gen. George B. McClellan is pictured in uniform on the front of this campaign token. The reverse proclaims “The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved,” though the terms of that preservation are unclear.
Digital painting of Abraham Lincoln with @procreate pocket. This is from a photo before 1861 when he was clean shaven. #retoyman #abrahamlincoln #Lincoln #digitalpaining #digitalart #realiam#green #purple #portrait #pastel #procreatepocket #procreate #history https://www.instagram.com/p/B9CFo5tAoOa/?igshid=16ek3sjvks3z1
North America 160 years ago today: Attack on Fort Sumter (12 April 1861) https://buff.ly/2P4fceF Despite the Confederacy’s declaration of independence, the United States Army still garrisoned a number of forts in the south. The most vulnerable was Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, South Carolina, which desperately needed to be resupplied. However when newly elected US President Lincoln ordered the navy to ship in supplies, the Confederate government considered it an act of war and attacked the fort from land. The American Civil War had begun. #1861 #19thcentury #americancivilwar #americanhistory #april #april12 #confederacy #fortsumter #historicalmaps #histories #historyfacts #historygram #historymajor #historymatters #historyschool #mapping #maps #northamerica #southcarolina #militaryhistory #ushistory #uscivilwar #confederatestates #victorian #victorianera #abrahamlincoln #worldatlas #todayinhistory #historytoday #thisdayinhistory (at Fort Sumter Tours) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNj66e1gHd8/?igshid=1eekc7q7oep8e
