Cartooning Separation

 Deviating slightly from my normal theme of relating wartime writing to the modern day, I will be exploring how imagery from the Civil War shaped cultural values of the period. Though there are lots of very stunning and historically relevant photos from the civil war, I will be exploring the cartoons and illustrations from the period. The Civil War illustrations are some of the most accurate representations of American’s feelings at the time, while revealing undertones of thought and discrimination.

The source for a lot of the Civil War cartoons is Harper’s Weekly. Harper’s Weekley began publication in 1857 as "a journal of civilization", and contained notable coverage of the US Civil War” (Online Books Page). 

A Man Knows A Man - April 22nd, 1865     Harper's Weekly

                  The first image I would like to look at is a Harpers Weekly illustration titled, A Man Knows A Man. Both the image and the caption are quite powerful in conveying the message of equality and sacrifice. The caption says, “’Give me your had, Comrade! We have lost a leg fro the good cause: but, thank GOD, we have never lost HEART.’” Military service was seen as a “rite of passage” that turned boys into men, particularly during the time of the Civil War. Physical scarring or maiming served as the visible symbol of manhood tested and earned through combat. The message of white and black Union soldiers having made the same sacrifice not only proves that they are equal in manhood, but equal as human beings.
            Despite the largely positive nature of the illustration, it is not entirely accurate with regards to African American involvement with the Union army. Although black men volunteered to serve in the Union armed forces as soon as the Civil War began, many of them were rejected due to a federal law from 1792, which prohibited blacks from bearing arms in the United States military. Even though the Union army was fighting for the emancipation of Blacks, they were still quite prejudiced. Black servicemen were segregated from whites in special "colored" units under the leadership of white officers. In addition, black servicemen were also paid less than their white soldiers of equal rank. A black soldier would make $7 per month versus $13 of his white counterpart (HarpWeek).
            The next illustration comes from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. Leslie’s paper often took a strongly patriotic stance and frequently featured cover pictures of soldiers and heroic battle stories.
           

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper  October 26th, 1861

The image is captioned, “Dark artillery; or how to make the contraband useful.” The origin of the term “contraband” comes from the Fort Monroe Doctrine. Escaped slaves who made their way to Union lines were declared as “contrabands of war,” and not subject to return to their confederate owners. As contraband, runaway Blacks were taken in by the Union Army to serve as field laborers, construction workers, domestic workers, and in a variety of tasks that paralleled their prior status as slaves.

As this cartoon further illustrates, racism was most definitely not confined to the South. Just as the previous image showed comfortable race relations between the white and black soldier, it did not speak to all the underlying policies that Union soldiers employed to further promote segregation and prejudice. Exposing these kinds underlying ideas is the reason that I chose to write this entry about illustrations from the Civil War. It promotes further investigation, while providing the initial platform for research.

Works Cited

"Frank Leslie's Weekly 1852-1922." Accessible Archives Inc. Accessible Archives, n.d. Web. 8 Jan.

2016. "

HarpWeek: Cartoon of the Day." HarpWeek: Cartoon of the Day. Harpers Weekley, 22 Apr. 1865. Web. 8

Jan. 2016.

"The Online Books Page." Harper's Weekly Archives. University of Pennsylvania, n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2016.