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 Democratic Party

 


 "Political Bodies Embalmed"
  Cartoonist:  Frank Bellew
  Source:  Harper's Weekly
  Date:   August 8, 1868, p. 503

Click to see a large version of this cartoon...

Click to see a large version of this cartoon

Caption: Mrs. MacRightwing. "Och! Sorrer, thin, and is the poor crayter jist dead?"

Undertaker Belmont. "Oh no, he's been dead this long time, but his friends couldn't bear the notion of his being buried; so we embalmed him and kept in sight till-well, till we couldn't keep him any longer."

Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
This Frank Bellew cartoon pronounces the death of the Democratic party. The undertaker is August Belmont, the national chairman of the Democratic party. The woman represents Irish-Catholic immigrants, a major voting bloc for the party. Her dark-skinned face may be flushed or it may convey the common notion in 19th-century America that Irish-Catholics were not "white." The boy's stick and clothes suggest the violence and poverty associated with Irish-Catholics by their detractors. The miniature heads on the casket include (back row, l-r, beginning with 2nd from left): Salmon Chase, Andrew Johnson, George McClellan, George Pendleton, Horatio Seymour, and Andrew Jackson. The bespectacled miniature head in front is probably Congressman James Brooks.
 

 

 

 
 

 

     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 

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