Lincoln Parade Axe, 1860
date: label: date made
content: 1860
name: label: associated person
content: Lincoln, Abraham
notes: label: Description
content: The idea of creating the image of Abraham Lincoln as “the rail splitter” was the inspiration of Illinois politician Richard J. Oglesby. He sought to find “one thing in Mr. Lincoln’s unsuccessful career as a worker that could be made an emblem … [to] make enthusiastic the working people.”
label: Description
content: Like other candidates of his time, Lincoln stayed home in Springfield, Illinois, while party leaders spoke on his behalf. Political clubs decorated their headquarters with fence rails and organized massive rallies throughout the North. The imagery of “Old Abe the Rail Splitter” presented Lincoln as a down-to-earth common man and served as a powerful symbol of free labor and individual enterprise.
label: Description
content: Gift of Ralph E. Becker, 1961
topic: label: used
content: Elections
label: general subject association
content: Political Campaigns
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Campaign Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: Selections from the Abraham Lincoln Collection
label: See more items in
content: American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
label: Exhibition
content: American Democracy
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Rubenstein, Harry R.. Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Ralph E. Becker Collection of Political Americana
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.227739.1860.X01
label: catalog number
content: 227739.1860.X01
label: accession number
content: 242604
objectType: label: Object Name
content: axe
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 in x 15 1/2 in x 49 in; 2.54 cm x 39.37 cm x 124.46 cm