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Thomas Nast Civil War Collection

The Army of the Potomac | The Civil War Spy | Civil War Drummer Boy | Rebel Guerrillas | Battle of Lookout Mountain- Fighting Among the Clouds | Nast- Compromise With the South | Thomas Nast- The Halt | Thomas Nast- Honor the Brave | Thomas Nast- On to Richmond | Thomas Nast- the Long Branch | Thomas Nast- The Border States | Thomas Nast- Civil War POW's | General Sherman's Rear Guard | Nast- War in Virginia | Civil War Cavalry Charge | Appomattox Surrender | War for the Union | Thanksgiving 1863 | General Ulysses S. Grant | Civil War Victory | Confederate Soldiers | Battle of Vicksburg | Central Park Winter | Central Park Summer | Civil War Newspaper | The Union Flag | April Fool History | United We Stand | Civil War Victory | Robert E. Lee Pardon | Abraham Lincoln's Death | Andrew Johnson Democracy | Women in the Civil War | Fort Sumter | Civil War Election 1864 | Thomas Nast New Years | Civil War Union Soldiers | Drummer Boy | Army of the Potomac | Southern Exiles

Thomas Nast's Original "Compromise with the South" Print

You are viewing an incredible Civil War illustration by Thomas Nast.  It is entitled "Compromise with the South" The leaf was created in September, 1864, two months before the  1864 presidential election. At this time the Union had grown weary of the war, and the grisly toll it had taken on the country. Few thought that Abraham Lincoln had much of a chance of wining reelection.

Thomas Nast "Compromise with the South"  (Click on Image for Enlarged View)

This illustration makes a political statement that captures the mood of the nation at the time. The print is titled, "Compromise with the South", and the caption reads, "Dedicated to the Chicago Platform." Basically, George McClellan was running against Lincoln, and the Democratic convention was held in Chicago. The Chicago Platform, which McClellan was running on was to end the war by compromising with the south.

Nast was a fierce supporter for the Union cause. This illustration is a classic example of Nast skillfully using allegory and melodrama in his art to support the cause he believed was just. "Compromise with the South," published in Harper's Weekly on September 3, 1864, shows Columbia weeping at the grave of "Union Heroes in a Useless War" as a weary Union amputee shakes the hand of a neatly groomed Southern soldier. The epitaph on the grave reads "In memory of the Union Heroes who Fell in a Useless War". On the grave is a broken sword that reads "Northern Power". The Southern flag to the right of the print is inscribed with the word "Treason" and has a list of alleged Rebel atrocities in the war. The upside down union flag on the right has a list of the bloody battles of the war the Union had suffered through. The image is said to have brought Nast "instant fame" and was reprinted widely by the Republicans in their effort to have Lincoln re-elected. The image showed that if the Nation adopted McClellan's position, that it would in fact be a victory for the South, and all the sacrifice and loss in the war would have been for nothing. It is widely believed that this image played a crucial role in the reelection of Abraham Lincoln to a second term as President.
 

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.  If you would like to use any of these images, please ask.  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.