Another venomous attack on the Lincoln administration by the artist of "The Commander-in-Chief Conciliating the Soldier's Votes, no. 1864-31," and "The Sportsman Upset by the Recoil of His Own Gun," (no. 1864-32). Here Lincoln and his cabinet are shown in a disorderly backstage set, preparing for a production of Shakespeare's "Othello." Lincoln (center) in blackface plays the title role. He recites, "O, that the slave had forty thousand lives! I am not valiant neither:--But why should honour outlive honesty? Let it go all." Behind Lincoln two men, one with his leg over a chair, comment on Lincoln's reading. "Not quite appropriately costumed, is he?" comments the first. The second replies, "Costumed, my dear Sir? Never was such enthusiasm for art:--Blacked himself all over to play the part, Sir!" These may be Republicans Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens. Before them is a wastebasket of discarded documents, including the Constitution, Crittenden Compromise, Monroe Doctrine, "Webster's Speeches," "Decisions of Supreme Court," and "Douglass." At left five ballerinas stand beneath a playbill advertising "Treasury Department, A New Way to Pay Old Debts . . . Raising the Wind . . . Ballet Divertissement." Near their feet is a pile of silver and plate, "Properties of the White House." They listen to a fiddler who, with his back turned to the viewer, stands lecturing before them. At right Secretary of War Edwin Mcm.asters Stanton instructs a small troop of Union soldiers waiting in the wings to ". . . remember, you're to go on in the procession in the first Act and afterwards in the Farce of the Election." One soldier protests, "Now, see here, Boss that isn't fair. We were engaged to do the leading business." Nearby an obviously inebriated Secretary of State William Seward sits at a table with a bottle, muttering, "Sh--shomethin's matt'r er my little bell: The darned thing won't ring anyway cĚ_Ąonfixit'." Seward reportedly once boasted that he could have any individual arrested merely by ringing a bell. He was widely criticized for his arbitrary imprisonment of numerous civilians during the war. On the floor near Seward sits Lincoln's running mate Andrew Johnson, a straw dummy, with a label around his ankle, "To be left till called for." At far right Navy Secretary Gideon Welles slumbers, holding a paper marked "Naval Engagement, Sleeping Beauty, All's Well That Ends Well." In the background abolitionist editor Horace Greeley bumbles about moving scenery and complaining, "O bother! I can't manage these cussed things." Union general Benjamin F. Butler (directly behind Lincoln), dressed as Falstaff, recites, "We that take purses, go by the moon and seven stars; and not by Phoebus! I would to God, thou and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought!" He holds a sign "Benefit . . . Falstaff . . . Beauty and the Beast." By this time Butler had achieved notoriety as a dissolute plunderer. To Butler's right a man (who might be the stage manager) orders the crew, "Get ready to shift there 'ere Flats for the Temple of Liberty." The artist of this and nos. 1864-30 and -31 was an exceptionally able draftsman. Judging from the acidity of these satires, he may have been a Southerner, perhaps a Baltimorean. The only satires of the time that compare in artistic quality and political venom are those of Adalbert Volck.|Signed with monogram: CAL?|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 141.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1864-32.

Three men at left, one saying, "Verily friend Darg since we have returned thee thy money, I claim the reward of $1000 - Brother Barney Corse was merely my agent, verily!" Another "Yea verily I was but thy instrument Brother Hopper as Brother Ruggles here knoweth!" Man at right, brandishing chair and holding bag marked $6908, rails at their impudence and tells them to "get out of the house."|Copyright by H.R. Robinson.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

Massachusetts senator and prominent antislavery advocate Charles Sumner is attacked here. The artist questions his sincerity as a humanitarian as he shows him dispensing a few coins to a black child on the street, while ignoring the appeal of a ragged white urchin. The scene is witnessed by two stylishly dressed young women. Though unsigned, the print has the relatively skillful draftsmanship and atmospheric quality found in the works of Boston lithographer Fabronius. See, for instance, that artist's "The Mower" (no. 1863-14). "The Secession Bubble" (no. 1862-12) also appears to be by Fabronius. Weitenkampf gives the 1862 date and publisher's imprint.|Boston. Published by G.W. Cottrell. |Probably drawn by Dominique C. Fabronius.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 136.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1862-11.

In the United States, the nineteenth century was a time of tremendous growth and change. The new nation experienced a shift from a farming economy to an industrial one, major westward expansion, displacement of native peoples, rapid advances in technology and transportation, and a civil war. In this lesson, works of art from the nineteenth century are paired with written documents, including literary selections, a letter, and a speech. As budding historians, students can use these primary sources from the nineteenth century to reconstruct the influence of technology, geography, economics, and politics on daily life.
In this lesson students will: Learn about daily life in the United States in the 1800s through visual art and literature; Understand some of the ways in which nineteenth-century life was affected by technology, geography, economics, and politics; Apply critical-thinking skills to consider the various choices artists and writers have made in depicting daily life around them; Make personal connections to the nineteenth century by placing themselves in the contexts of works of art and readings.

This educational curriculum package is the product of a five-year labor of love. Beginning in 2011, several educators, history enthusiasts and social activists coalesced around the charismatic Horace Seldon. Horace was finishing a long local career in social work, years with the National Parks Service, Boston, and as one of the founders of the social service organization Community Change. He was intent upon pursuing a historical research project which he had been contemplating for some time. The resultant group, led by Horace Seldon, then embarked on a research and reading circle exploring the hidden history of the Boston antebellum African American community situated on the North Slope of Beacon Hill and in the area immediately adjacent to the current Boston City Hall Plaza. The work began by investigating legendary author, activist and Beacon Hill resident David Walker. It has since grown organically into a full-fledged historical reclamation project, the results of which we now share with you.Being educators, we have naturally gravitated to exploring avenues which facilitate promoting civic engagement and self-actualization, both in the classroom and for lifelong learning. This enterprise reflects that perspective and energizing prospect. We are currently in discussion with the Mayor's Office of Diversity about bringing this project to City Hall Plaza as an integral part of the upcoming 400'h anniversary celebration of the founding of Boston. Roxbury Community College is honored to have been given the opportunity to create a digital curriculum platform to dispense information and inspire enthusiasm for history across the commonwealth, a history which surrounds us but remains invisible to many residents and tourists. It is our intention to combine an interdisciplinary approach using the latest in technological innovations, artistry and networking to share this compelling narrative, illuminating not only the lessons of the past, but the durability of a community preparing for a future of multiple challenges and inconvenient truths.

Horace Greeley's famous and widely ridiculed 1871 pamphlet "What I Know of Farming" provided the pretext for the title here. With the tail and cloven hoof of a devil Greeley (center) leads a small band of Liberal Republicans in pursuit of incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant and his supporters. Greeley heralds "General Amnesty," echoing his campaign pledge of amnesty for former Confederates. He is followed by his running mate Benjamin Gratz Brown (with a long beard) who calls for "Reduction of Taxes." Next follows bespectacled Missouri Republican leader Carl Schurz, who carries a flag "Reconciliation," and Massachusetts senator and civil rights advocate Charles Sumner who demands "Equal Rights to All." Grant, holding a liquor bottle, and his three companions flee to the left. One of them is Benjamin F. Butler, who grasps three silver spoons. (For the significance of Butler's spoons, see "The Radical Party on a Heavy Grade," no. 1868-14.) The man at far left is probably former New York senator Roscoe Conkling, a zealous supporter of Grant's administration and programs. Grant cries, "Let us have Peace," an 1868 campaign slogan.|Entered . . . 1872 by Morton Toulmin.|Signed: "M.T." and "Fizzle Gig."|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1872-9.