Thomas Nast's Original "Election
Day 1864" Print
This is a Thomas Nast drawing illustrating
election day, 1864. It is a leaf from an original November, 1864
edition of Harper's Weekly. the leaf presents Columbia, with a shield
bearing the Union Flag, voting in the election. This would have been
the presidential election between incumbent Abraham Lincoln, and democratic
challenger George McClellan. Columbia is shown with the symbols of
war. She has the shield, and she is baring a large sword. If you
look closely at the ballot, Columbia is voting for Abraham Lincoln, and his
union platform. Waiting to vote is an angel with a banner that says
"peace". She, presumably will be voting for McClellan and his
Compromise with the South platform. She appears to be bound in chains by
demonic forces behind her baring daggers saying "Northern Traitors", and
"Southern Rebellion". This is a classic Nast image, and shows the
theme that runs through his illustration, that the Civil War was both a
worldly and spiritual war. His art often showed themes of angelic and
demonic beings behind the activities of the Civil War. |
Thomas Nast's Election Day 1864 Illustration
(Click on Image for Enlarged View) |
We hope you enjoy this complete Gallery of
the Civil War works of Thomas Nast. We have created this digital
archive for the use of researchers and students of Thomas Nast. Please
remember that the digitally enhanced images are Copyright ©
Son of the South Material, so do not use them without asking permission. For more
information, contact
paul@sonofthesouth.net .
A Note to our Readers
We created this
Thomas Nast Gallery to digitally preserve Nast's Civil War work for
posterity. We are now making the original, 140 year old leafs
available for a price of $250 each. The proceeds from the sale of the
material will enable us to continue to expand the material featured on our
site. Please contact
paul@sonofthesouth.net
if you are interested in acquiring one of these original leafs. |