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Superb Hancock and Awful Democrats |
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General Hancock Gulliver, How Do You Like It As Far As You’ve Got?” |
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Cartoonist: Thomas Nast |
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Source: Harper's Weekly |
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Date:
July 31, 1880, p. 484
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Click to see a large version of this cartoon |
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Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
The theme of A. B. Frost's "The Democratic Trojan Horse" is replicated
by his artistic colleague Thomas Nast in this cartoon, appearing in the same
issue of Harper's Weekly as the previous illustration. Their message is that
Democratic presidential nominee Winfield Hancock, while a giant in his own
stature, is controlled by the disreputable and dangerous forces of the
Democratic party. Here, Nast translates a widely recognizable motif from
Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726) into a commentary on the 1880
presidential race. General Hancock appears in uniform as the title character in
a scene from the beginning of the book when the shipwrecked Gulliver awakes to
find himself bound by the miniature Lilliputians. The quote reinforces the twin
notions of Hancock's potential strength and his willing submissiveness to keep
it in check.
The Democratic figures on Hancock are (clockwise from the left): Tammany Hall
boss John Kelly as an American Indian (Tammany Hall leaders were called
"sachems," a type of American Indian chief); possibly former
congressman Benjamin Butler with tomahawk in hand; Louisville Courier-Journal
editor Henry Watterson crawling on Hancock's forehead; a former Confederate
soldier, representing Southern Democrats, in front of Watterson; an
Irish-American (from a key urban voting bloc for the Democratic party) wears a
servant's livery and rides the bridge of Hancock's nose; General Fitz-John
Porter, police commissioner of New York; Senator Daniel Voorhees of Indiana, a
"soft-money" advocate, with a devalued 85-cents silver-dollar coin
around his neck; unknown; a distinguished-looking Fernando Wood, congressman and
former mayor of New York City, poses to the right of Voorhess; Senator (and
former Confederate general) Wade Hampton of North Carolina stands beside an
elderly Jefferson Davis, former president of the Confederacy; crouching on
Hancock's chest, with his pistol drawn, is a "shoulder-hitter" who
enforces the will of his urban political boss; Hancock's campaign-biographer
John Forney tugs on Hancock's mustache; while former Democratic party chairman
August Belmont whisker's in the nominee's ear. In the background is Fort
Columbus (today, Fort Jay) on Governor's Island, New York, where Hancock was
stationed as commander of the U.S. Army's Atlantic Division. |
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