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Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction Cartoon

Description:

The illustrations of Thomas Nast contain frequent allusions to Shakespearean plays, which were familiar to most Americans. In the center panel, Andrew Johnson, as Iago, stands with a black Union veteran who is Othello. Johnson’s slogans "Treason is a crime and must be made odious" and "I am your Moses" are on the wall. At the top left is the riot in Memphis and at the top right the riot in New Orleans.

In the bottom panel, Johnson is charming the Confederate Copperhead snake with his Constitution flute as Secretary of State William Seward, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton stand by.

The bottom left panel shows General Benjamin Butler accepting the Confederate surrender of New Orleans in 1862, while the bottom right shows the military commander, General Philip Sheridan, bowing to Louisiana Attorney General Andrew Herron in 1866. A flurry of pardons is shown in the center left and a flurry of vetoes in the center right.

Creator:

Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly

Creation Date:

September 1 , 1866

Collection Title:

Harper's Weekly

Collection Number:

051 H236, 1866

Image Number:

sep 1 , 1866