"Leaders of the Democratic Party" newspaper clipping
Collection — Folder: OBD036
Identifier: OBD036
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of a newspaper clipping portraying "Leaders of the Democratic Party" circa 1868, during the 1868 U.S. presidential election, depicting Horatio Seymour, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Raphael Semmes, and Wade Hampton III.
Dates
- circa 1868
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Biographical Note
Horatio Seymour was the Democratic nominee for U.S. president in the election of 1868. He lost to Ulysses S Grant. Other prominent figures of the Democratic Party who are portrayed were Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate general, first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and delegate to the 1868 Democratic Convention; Raphael Semmes, captain of the CSS Alabama; and Wade Hampton III, Confederate officer and chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party central committee in 1868.
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"A searing, election-year indictment of four prominent figures in the Democratic party, three of them former Confederate officers. Former New York governor and Democratic presidential nominee Horatio Seymour is portrayed as a "rioter." Standing in a burning city, he waves his hat in the air while he steps on the back of a crawling figure. In the background a corpse hangs from a lamppost. Between 1862 and 1864 Seymour had opposed Lincoln's war policies, and he was branded as instigator of the 1863 New York draft riots. (See "The Meeting of the Friends, City Hall Park," no. 1863-12.) Below the portrait are inflammatory passages from his speeches. Tennessee general Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Ku Klux Klan, and infamous for his role in the massacre of surrendered Union troops at Fort Pillow, is called "The Butcher Forrest." He waves a flag labeled "No Quarter" and fires a pistol. Extracts from reports of the Pillow massacre are given below his picture. Confederate admiral Raphael Semmes is portrayed as a pirate, wielding a knife in one hand and holding aloft a flaming torch in the other. Behind him flies a flag with a skull and crossbones. To the right a family cowers in fright. Semmes was the scourge of Union shipping during the Civil War. Under his command the "Alabama," a British-built ship, captured sixty-two merchant vessels, most of which were burned. An excerpt from Semmes's July 1868 speech at Mobile, Alabama, appears below this image. Confederate cavalry officer Wade Hampton appears as a hangman. He holds his plumed hat at his side and wears a uniform embossed with a skull and crossbones and a belt inscribed "C.S.A" (Confederate States of America). In the distance three Yankee soldiers hang from a gallows."
Excerpt from: "Leaders of the Democratic Party..." Library of Congress. Accessed December 8, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661705.
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"A searing, election-year indictment of four prominent figures in the Democratic party, three of them former Confederate officers. Former New York governor and Democratic presidential nominee Horatio Seymour is portrayed as a "rioter." Standing in a burning city, he waves his hat in the air while he steps on the back of a crawling figure. In the background a corpse hangs from a lamppost. Between 1862 and 1864 Seymour had opposed Lincoln's war policies, and he was branded as instigator of the 1863 New York draft riots. (See "The Meeting of the Friends, City Hall Park," no. 1863-12.) Below the portrait are inflammatory passages from his speeches. Tennessee general Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Ku Klux Klan, and infamous for his role in the massacre of surrendered Union troops at Fort Pillow, is called "The Butcher Forrest." He waves a flag labeled "No Quarter" and fires a pistol. Extracts from reports of the Pillow massacre are given below his picture. Confederate admiral Raphael Semmes is portrayed as a pirate, wielding a knife in one hand and holding aloft a flaming torch in the other. Behind him flies a flag with a skull and crossbones. To the right a family cowers in fright. Semmes was the scourge of Union shipping during the Civil War. Under his command the "Alabama," a British-built ship, captured sixty-two merchant vessels, most of which were burned. An excerpt from Semmes's July 1868 speech at Mobile, Alabama, appears below this image. Confederate cavalry officer Wade Hampton appears as a hangman. He holds his plumed hat at his side and wears a uniform embossed with a skull and crossbones and a belt inscribed "C.S.A" (Confederate States of America). In the distance three Yankee soldiers hang from a gallows."
Excerpt from: "Leaders of the Democratic Party..." Library of Congress. Accessed December 8, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661705.
Extent
0.1 Cubic Feet (1 extra-large oversize folder)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection consists of one item.
Custodial History
This collection was received by Rare Books and Manuscripts as a donation from Sue Howe on 1922/05/24.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Historical Context Note
The Indiana State Library strives to provide extensive access to our diverse collections, in person and online. Materials within these collections appear as they were originally published or created and may include content that that some viewers find offensive or objectionable. These materials are preserved and presented to provide a true historical representation of their time and should be viewed in the context in which they were created.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 2021/12/08 by Lauren Patton. EAD finding aid created 2021/12/08 by Lauren Patton. EAD finding aid revised 2022/11/16 by Brittany Kropf.
- Caricatures and cartoons
- Clippings
- Confederate States of America
- Democratic Party (U.S.)
- Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 1821-1877
- Hampton, Wade, 1818-1902
- Ku Klux Klan (19th century)
- Political parties -- United States
- Politicians
- Politicians -- United States -- 20th century
- Semmes, Raphael, 1809-1877
- Seymour, Horatio, 1810-1886
- Title
- "Leaders of the Democratic Party" newspaper clipping
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Repository
Contact:
140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 U.S.A.
317-232-3671
140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 U.S.A.
317-232-3671