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 Liberal Republican Movement

 


 "Adding Insult to Injury"
  Cartoonist:  Thomas Nast
  Source:  Harper's Weekly
  Date:   May 25, 1872, p. 401

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

Click to see a large version of this cartoon

Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
The surprising result of the Cincinnati Convention-the presidential nomination of Horace Greeley-is interpreted by Thomas Nast in this Harper's Weekly cover as an insult to the nation. A snickering Senator Carl Schurz presents to an offended Columbia the scepter of power, which is actually a jester's stick with Greeley's head where the orb should be. Other symbols of national authority are the Capitol Building in the right-background and the fasces (ax in a bundle of rods) on the fence surrounding the Capitol. (Fasces were carried by Ancient Roman magistrates to signify their power.) The epithet "adding insult to injury" derives from a first century (CE) Greek fable by Phaedrus. A fly bites the pate of a bald man, who forcefully slaps his own head in retaliation. The fly responds: "You wanted to revenge the sting of a tiny insect with death; what will you do to yourself, who have added insult to injury?"
 

 

 

 
 

 

     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 
     
 

 

 

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