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
(Newseum Archives)
The Chester County Times in Pennsylvania made no attempt to disguise how it felt about the election of Abraham Lincoln as the nation’s 16th president. “A Clean Sweep!” it exclaimed. “Corruption Ended!! The Country Redeemed! Secession is Rebuked!!! Let the Traitors Rave!”
This was a time when newspapers were rigidly aligned with political parties. In Chester County, Lincoln’s win signaled a chance to lay on the exclamation marks. It was also a time when news-hungry citizens relied on newspapers as the primary means of mass communication. Advances in technology—especially the development of the telegraph—made rapid dissemination of the news possible. The Twitter of the era, the telegraph cut days or weeks off the time it took dispatches to reach the public.
The Chester County Times is one of more than 30 newspapers spotlighted in “Blood and Ink: Front Pages From the Civil War” at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. The show, which coincides with the sesquicentennial of the Civil War and runs through 2012, covers key events of the war, including major battles and the lead-up to and resolution of the conflict, says curator Carrie Christoffersen.
Published November 7, 1860, the Times’ election extra reported Lincoln had won Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Indiana and Rhode Island. (In the end, Lincoln carried every Northern state except New Jersey.) Virginia went for candidate John Bell, and North Carolina for John C. Breckinridge. The front page uses the abbreviation “Breck’ge, credits the telegraph operator by name and fills the final column with the cryptic, boldface words “Wide Awake.”
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