Abraham lincoln cartoon biography sample

Abraham Lincoln stands as one of the most revered presidents in U.S. history, but what did Americans of his time think of him? Judging from political cartoons from the 1860s, when the nation’s bitter Civil War raged, he cut a far less heroic figure.

As lithograph publishers, partisan newspapers and illustrated magazines grew in the years before the war, so did political cartooning. Editorial artists such as Thomas Nast and Louis Maurer wielded national influence with their sharp caricatures and keen ability to distill complex political scenarios into a single panel.

Abraham lincoln images

The cartoons were designed as tools of partisan persuasion, using humor to foster ridicule, admiration, fear and anger.

Lincoln—tall and gangly in appearance, with rough-edged frontier roots—was an easy figure to caricature.

Throughout his 1860 campaign and tumultuous wartime administration, cartoons poked at Lincoln from across the political spectrum. Some artists supported “Honest Abe,” making a virtue of his statu