SOLD

Massacre of Blacks at Hamburg, South Carolina 1876

by Thomas Nast

This is a genuine vintage engraving titled "The "Bloody Shirt" Reformed". It is in very good condition, is dated August 12, 1876, and was published in Harper's Weekly. The print shows Governor Tilden and the bodies of African Americans massacred at Hamburg, South Carolina amidst the violent opposition to the expansion of civil rights in the South during the Reconstruction period.
The first photo shows the actual color and texture of the print quite well. The dimensions of the print area are, including margins, approx.16 by 11 inches. There is text on the reverse side. This is not a
reproduction or reprint. It is a 128 year-old wood engraving, in very good condition and guaranteed to be as described.

Price $45   Item #5678

Thomas Nast was born in Landau, Germany, on 27th September, 1840. His father, a musician, had radical political views and found the conservative Bavarian government oppressive. He therefore decided to take his family to the United States. Nast was raised in New York and at the age of 15 had his first drawing published by a national magazine. Inspired by the cartoons of John Leech and John Tenniel, in 1855 Nast started working for Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.

Nast was a staunch opponent of slavery and throughout the Civil War Nast produced patriotic drawings urging people to help crush the rebels. Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said: "Thomas Nast has been our best recruiting sergeant. His emblematic cartoons have never failed to arouse enthusiasm and patriotism." After the war Nast remained a strong supporter of black civil rights and some of his cartoons attacked Andrew Johnson for undermining Lincoln's policies. During this period Nast began to distort and exaggerate the physical traits of his subjects and therefore played an important role in the development of political caricature.

Nast also originated the idea in America of using animals to represent political parties. In his cartoons the Democratic Party was a donkey and the Republican Party, an elephant. He also helped to develop the character, Uncle Sam, to represent the United States.

In September 1869, Nast began his campaign in Harper's Weekly against William Tweed, the corrupt political leader of New York City. Pressure was put on Harper Brothers, the company that produced the magazine, and when it refused to sack Nast, the company lost the contract to provide New York schools with books. Nast himself was offered a bribe of $500,000 to end his campaign. This was hundred times the salary of $5,000 that the magazine paid him but Nast still refused and eventually Tweed was arrested and imprisoned for corruption. Nast's campaign against Tweed was later described as "the finest and most effective political cartooning ever done in the United States."