Lincoln and Cabinet
date: label: Date made
content: 1865
label: distribution date
content: 1866-01-01
name: label: depicted
content: Lincoln, Abraham
label: depicted
content: Chase, Salmon Portland
label: depicted
content: Seward, William Henry
label: depicted
content: Blair, Montgomery
label: depicted
content: Welles, Gideon
label: depicted
content: Stanton, Edwin McMasters
label: depicted
content: Smith, Caleb Blood
label: depicted
content: Bates, Edward
label: maker
content: Meichel & Plumly
label: artist
content: Wust, D.
notes: label: Description
content: After Lincoln’s assassination, printmakers faced a sudden demand from the Northern public for illustrations of the man that many perceived to be the savior of their nation. Prints often made reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, fostering an emerging image of Lincoln as a steadfast supporter of human freedom. This commemorative print of Lincoln reading the Proclamation before his Cabinet shares many similarities with a variety of other popular wartime and postwar prints depicting the same event. On July 22, 1863, Lincoln first revealed his plans to issue the Proclamation to his Cabinet. They were hesitant at first, but ultimately gave them his support, provided that he wait to announce it until after a Union victory. Five days after the Union Army repelled the Southern invasion of Maryland at Antietam, his Cabinet met again to revise the initial draft of the Proclamation. It was issued on January 1, 1863, and freed all slaves living in areas of the nation under rebellion. This freedom ultimately relied on a Northern military victory and the Proclamation did not affect the millions of slaves living in the Border States that had not seceded. It did, however, recognize the abolition of American slavery as a stated objective of the war and allowed Africa-American men to serve as soldiers in the Union Army.
label: Description
content: Little is known about the work’s artist, D. Wust, or its printer, the firm of Miechel & Plumly. Beneath the illustration, a caption reads, “Annual Greeting of the Carriers to the Patrons of ‘The Press’ / For January 1st, 1866.” It was therefore likely published in late 1865 by John W. Forney, the founder of the Philadelphia Press, for distribution to subscribers sometime around New Year’s Day.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
topic: label: Subject
content: U.S. National Government, executive branch
label: Subject
content: Communication, newspapers
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1860-1869
label: Subject
content: Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols
label: Subject
content: Furnishings
label: referenced
content: Civil War
label: Subject
content: emancipation
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: Clothing & Accessories
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.60.2549
label: catalog number
content: 60.2549
label: accession number
content: 228146
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: 6 in x 8 1/4 in; 15.24 cm x 20.955 cm