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"Lincoln & Douglas In A Presidential Footrace." 1860. In this caricature, the two candidates for the presidency race toward the U. S. Capital. They are separated by a rail fence, a reference to Lincoln's popular image as a rail-splitter, meaning someone who hailed from the common man and worked with his hands in splitting logs to build cabins and fences. The print makes fun of Douglas's short stature and Lincoln's long legs, which give him a clear advantage in the race. Notice that gambling cards are spilling fron Douglas's pockets. The black man in the fence is mocking Douglas's attempt to keep the slavery issue out of the election. Among the symbols here for discussion are the Missouri Compromise, represented by the jug marked M. C. carried by Douglas. In the popular mind, Douglas was responsible for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854. Library of Congress.	"5 To One, Ha." This picture shows the commonly held view in the North that defeating the Confederacy would be easy and quick. Uncle Sam just has to aim his musket at the rebels to cause five southern soldiers to run away in panic, dropping the Confedrate flag. Notice the blacks in the background overjoyed at the sight of the fleeing rebel soldiers. Image appeared in 1861. Library of Congress.	"The (Fort) Monroe Doctrine." 1861. This picture ridicules the contraband order issued May 27, 1861, by General Benjamin Butler. Commander of Union forces in Virginia and North Carolina, he decreed that escaped slaves were to be considered "contraband of war" and thus were not to be returned to their Confederate masters. The order resulted in waves of enslaved people fleesing to Union lines around Fort Monroe, Butler's headquarters in Virginia. The picture depicts an enslaved man defying his owner: "Can't come back nohow massa Dis chile's contraban." Butler's order pre-dated Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and extended Union protection to escaping slaves throughout the South in the first two years of the Civil War. Library of Congress.
The 'Contraband" schottische. This cover for a music sheet shows slaves tumbling to freedom as contrabands of war with an overseer in pursuit. It appeared in 1861 at the time of Union General Benjamin F. Butler's order stating that escaped slaves were contrabands of war and did not have to be returned to their Confederate masters. The Song was composed by Septimus Winner. Library of Congress.	"John Brown On His Way To Execution." 1863. This Currier & Ives print, depicting the last day in the life of the radical abolitionist John Brown, appeared in 1863. At the time of its printing, John Brown was celebrated as a martyred hero of the Union. The image shows him on on the steps of the Charles Town jail the day of his execution in 1859, convicted of treason, inciting slave rebellion, murder, and insurrection. Brown was captured when he attempted to seize the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, intent on using the weapons to support an uprising of slaves. Notice the resolute features of all the figures. The black woman with the Christ-like child looks very much like popular images of the Madona, the mother of Jesus. Th Virgina state flag, with its motto "Sic Semper Tyrannis," flies behind Brown in contrast to the statue of Justice, with its arms and scales broken. Library of Congress.	"The Mower." 1863. This peacefully pastoral scene contrasts northern free labor with the work on a slave plantation. In the center, a bearded farmer, who resembles Lincoln, catches snakes as he cuts the grass. Behind him to the left, several free black farmers are also mowing, surrounded by sunlight. On the right, slaves harvest cotton under dark clouds and the watchful eye of an overseer with a whip. In the background, an escaping slave is chased by bloodhounds. For the artist, the snakes in the grass are copperheads, those nothern Democrats who wanted to negotiate a settlement with the South. Library of Congress.

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