The Civil War in Black and White
A collection of historic front pages shows how civilians experienced and read about the war
- By Jeanne Maglaty
- Smithsonian.com, January 10, 2012
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On December 24, 1861, the Cleveland Plain Dealer published a political cartoon on its front page. “The Confederate Government in Motion” shows a rolling crocodile labeled “Davis’s Great Moving Circus” carrying five seated men. “Satire was big at this stage,” says Christoffersen. “The implication of this cartoon seems to be that the Confederacy was on the run.” In truth, it had relocated its capital from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, not to Nashville.
(Southern cartoonists took jabs at the North as well. The National Portrait Gallery is displaying rare caricatures of Lincoln by Adalbert J. Volck of Baltimore through January 21, 2013.)
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Comments (5)
Could "Wide Awake" refer to the Wide Awakes? The Republican paramilitary group whose goal was "to be a body joined together in large numbers to work for the good of the Republican Ticket"? Seems likely, considering this group worked hard to ensure a Republican victory in 1860.
Posted by Sam on March 19,2012 | 10:06 AM
to: Vijai Narayanan, Perhaps this info from newspaper cover #3 will help you: "Although newspapers weren’t yet able to reproduce photographs, says Christoffersen, they could use information documented in photographs to make engravings. The Illustrated News points out that its portrait of Anderson was sketched from a photo taken at the fort."
Wonderful feature story. The Confed news printed on wallpaper was fascinating, See #6. Thank you.
Posted by Edythe Ann Quinn on January 24,2012 | 11:05 AM
Keep all these 'goodies' coming ---daughter Cecily Beard gave me this link -----especially liked the one on Ferdinand Pecora ---the 'bangster' Pecora gangster of yesteryear are the same off shoot of those of 2009 ----OUR GREAT DEPRESSION of our century
Posted by Jane Hessin on January 18,2012 | 02:00 PM
This is really fascinating, but I'm also curious as to how the photos and illustrations were printed in the papers as early as the 1860s. Any thoughts?
Posted by Vijai Narayanan on January 15,2012 | 01:42 PM
I love studying the Civil War & how it was fought love reading about the outcome of new laws, scrimmages & the layout of the times.
Posted by Denny Fogle on January 11,2012 | 09:22 AM