THE 1868 ELECTION

 

 

The Great American Tanner.  Lithograph (New York: Currier & Ives, 1868).

In civilian life, Grant was a tanner by profession.  In this cartoon he has “tanned the hides” of the Confederates and now prepares to take on the Democrats.

 

 

“The Democratic Candidate for the Presidency . . . The Democratic Candidate for the Vice-Presidency,” in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, July 25, 1868.

 

 

“This Is A White Man’s Government,” in Harper’s Weekly, September 28, 1868.

A violent caricatured Irishmen from the 1863 draft riots, an unrepentant southern rebel, and a New York capitalist stand united  over the body of a black man.

 

 

“The Modern Sampson,” in Harper’s Weekly, October 3, 1868.

Seymour and his rebel allies cheer the shearing of the black voter as they march to undo Reconstruction.  This cartoon emphasized the importance of the southern black vote to Republicans.

 

 

General Grant & His Family.  Engraving, Samuel Sartain after Frederick B. Schell (Philadelphia: Daughaday & Becker, 1868).

 

 

“Both Sides of the Question.  The Boys in Blue.  The Boys in Grey,” in Harper’s Weekly, October 24, 1868.

 

 

Benedict Arnold & Horatio Seymour! Their Identity of Views.  Who Is To Be President of the United States?  From the New York Times of September 19, 1864 (Brooklyn: D. S. Holmes, 1868).

Though Grant campaigned on the slogan “Let us have Peace,” the Republican campaign “waved the bloody shirt” of Civil War passion, denouncing the Democrats as traitors.  In the above cartoon Seymour and Blair are allied with the resurgent rebels against Grant and Wilson supported by the Union forces.  The handbill continues the treason motif by comparing Seymour to Benedict Arnold.                                                   

 

 

Deacon Dye, The Lives and Public Services of Grant and Colfax . . . With Proceedings and Platforms of Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1868 (Philadelphia: Samuel Loag, Printer, 1868).

Grant’s military career qualified him for civilian leadership, Deacon Dye proclaims in the campaign biography.  “Providential influence and guardianship over nations generally appear in the character of the persons brought up for their safety and defense.” 

 

 

Democratic Frauds.  How the Democrats Carried Pennsylvania in 1867 (Philadelphia, 1868).

Ballot box stuffing, bribery, and illegal voters were used by Democrats in the 1867 local elections, charges this Union League pamphlet.  “Our only resource lies in unshrinking firmness to restrain the frauds of our unscrupulous adversaries, and, by polling a full vote, to roll up such a majority that it can be overcome by no practicable scheme of villainy.”

                                                                                                 

 

To the Business Men of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1868).

The free trade minded Democrats threaten to undo Republican protectionist policies by which industries and businesses in Pennsylvania have profited, Republicans asserted in this appeal to the business community to vote for their self-interest.

 

 

Shall Capital Own Labor?  The Rebel Democracy the Enemy of the People.  Seymour and Blair’s Nomination Means Revolution, Repudiation and Slavery!  (Washington: Published by the Union Republican Congressional Committee, 1868).

Further “waving the bloody shirt,” this campaign pamphlet quotes unrepentant rebels endorsing Seymour and Blair as the means of securing the victory of Confederate principles.  Quoting, among others, the Memphis Appeal: “The triumph of Seymour and Blair would reenslave the Negro and reestablish southern domination.”     

 

 

William D. Kelley, Conversation with Horatio Seymour, on the National Debt and Taxes.  Speech . . . at Spring Garden Hall, September 8^th, 1868 (Philadelphia: King & Baird, Printers, 1868).

In this one-sided conversation with the absent Seymour, Kelley excoriated the extravagance and debt of previous Democratic administrations.  Republican policies, he asserted, have revitalized industry and agriculture, and helped diversify the southern economy.  A prosperous America is steadily retiring the war debt and maintaining the integrity of government bonds.                                                                                         

 

 

The Abolition Conspiracy to Destroy the Union; Or, a Ten Years’ Record of the “Republican” Party (New York: Van Evrie, Horton & Co., 1868).

John H. Van Evrie was a prolific publisher of racist works for the Democrats.  In this pamphlet he links the Republican Party to the abolitionists, accusing it of “combining all the virulence of the old, simon-pure Abolition creed, with the most adroit and cunning hypocrisy.”                                                    

 

 

White vs. Negro Supremacy (New York: Blomley & Co., 1868).  Card with silver plated pin showing Liberty, with the legend “This is a White Mans’ Government.”

“All Democrats will want it.  Democratic clubs will want it.  All Democratic ladies will want it. . . . Its general adoption, by the enthusiasm it would produce, would secure the defeat of the Negro Party in 1868.” 

 

 

The Democratic Almanac and Political Compendium for 1868 (New York: Van Evrie, Horton & Co., 1868).

Van Evrie’s almanac was a political campaign document, with articles excoriating Reconstruction, likening emancipation to the Haitian slave revolution, and rallying the Democratic troops.  “We are marching to the restoration of the White Republic of Washington and the recovery of our Democratic civilization.”