Little Mac Trying to Dig His Way to the White House But is frightened by Spiritual Manifestations.-
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1864
name: label: depicted
content: McClellan, George B.
label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: In 1864, with the Civil War dragging into its third year, many Republicans worried that the unpopularity of the conflict would cause Lincoln to lose his bid for reelection. Many in the North, tiring of the war, hoped that his opponent and former general, Democratic candidate George McClellan, would attempt to broker a peace with the Confederacy. These peace Democrats were referred to as Copperheads by Republicans, who believed they resembled venomous serpents. This pro-Republican cartoon rebukes both McClellan and, by extension, the supporters of the Northern Democratic Party. In the illustration, the general’s sword – the symbol of his military leadership – has been replaced with a shovel, referencing his predisposition to construct trenches and engage in siege warfare, rather than launch assaults. As the general attempts to tunnel his way into the White House, he is confronted by a ghostly apparition of Liberty and a legion of skeletal Union soldiers who had fallen in battle. Liberty points a sword at McClellan, blocking his way. She admonishes him for allowing “these my Children to die in the swamp and on the Battlefield.” For this misdeed, she instructs him to instead dig his own grave and be forgotten. The lithographer and publisher of the work are unknown.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: World
topic: label: Subject
content: Architecture, Historic Residences
label: Subject
content: Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols
label: Subject
content: Costume
label: Subject
content: Uniforms, Military
label: referenced
content: Civil War
label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
label: Subject
content: Liberty
label: related event
content: Civil War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
label: See more items in
content: American Civil War Prints
label: See more items in
content: Art
label: See more items in
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.60.3457
label: catalog number
content: 60.3457
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 9 5/8 in x 15 1/4 in; 24.4475 cm x 38.735 cm