An Au Gust Convention.
date: label: Date made
content: n.d.
label: date made
content: 1866
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: This 1866 political cartoon satirizes the National Union Convention, which met in August of 1866 in an attempt to construct a new political party that would back President Johnson’s Reconstruction policies and elect a new Congress. Johnson, represented in the print as the “Dead Dog of the White House,” was opposed by Radical and moderate Republicans in Congress, who believed that his treatment of the Southern states under his Reconstruction plan was too lenient. This is emphasized in the print by the Confederate flag flying over the White House, marked as “My Policy,” the sarcastic phrase used to by Johnson’s rivals when referring to his Reconstruction plans. Below the White House, a parade of muzzled dogs representing the different states enters into a doghouse labeled “Wigwam.” The Wigwam was the name for the structure quickly erected in Philadelphia to house the convention. Two supporters of Johnson, Edgar Cowen and James Rood Doolittle are depicted as guard dogs outside of the structure. In their mouths they hold two cats, representing the two notorious Peace Democrats, or Copperheads, Clement Vallandingham and Fernando Wood, who were barred from the Convention. At the head of the parade, the Massachusetts and South Carolina dog march together, representing General Darius Nash Couch and Governor James Lawrence Oliver, the representatives from those states, respectively. These two men entered the Convention arm-in-arm to demonstrate the possibility for national reconciliation. The South Carolina dog, however, also has its genitals muzzled, as it was the first state to secede from the Union at the beginning of the war.
label: Description
content: The Convention ultimately failed to form a new political party and was condemned by the Republican congressional caucus, which passed a resolution to oust any Republicans who had taken part in it. The Convention had been organized by pro-Johnson Republican Congressman, Henry Raymond, the co-founder of the New York Times. Because of his role, he was removed from his position as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. In the print, he is included as a small dog in the lower left, with a brush and bucket tied to his tail.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: World
label: referenced
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
topic: label: Subject
content: Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols
label: Subject
content: Political Parties
label: Subject
content: Pets
label: Subject
content: State Government
label: Subject
content: Civil War
label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
label: Subject
content: Communication, newspapers
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: American Civil War Prints
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content: Art
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.3383
label: catalog number
content: 60.3383
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 11 1/8 in x 16 in; 28.2575 cm x 40.64 cm