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Lincoln and the Republicans |
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“Chief of the Wigwam” |
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Cartoonist: Unknown |
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Source: Campaign Plain Dealer |
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Date:
July 21, 1860, p. 4
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Click to see a large version of this cartoon |
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Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
Given that Abraham Lincoln was nominated for president at the Republican National Convention held in Chicago’s Wigwam, this Campaign Plain Dealer cartoon caricatures “Old Abe” as a tobacco smoking American Indian chief. The accompanying commentary argues that the Republican delegates’ choice of casting aside a candidate of “personal merits” (frontrunner William Henry Seward of New York) for “a weak nomination” (Lincoln) is causing the party to compensate by creating homespun myths for the nominee similar to those the Whig Party created in 1840 for William Henry Harrison. In particular, the idea of building Lincoln wigwams in mimicry of the Harrison log cabins did not catch the public’s fancy. |
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