The most popular American play of the antebellum period was the historical melodrama The Gladiator (1831), by the Philadelphia physician-turned-playwright Robert Montgomery Bird (1806-1854). Bird wrote the play, but actor Edwin Forrest owned it—literally. Bird sold Forrest (1806-1872) the rights to the play for $100, and Forrest performed the title role of Spartacus to sold-out […]
20
Jul
10
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20
Jul
10
Battle of Nashville: December 15-16, 1864
Posted by mckelveb Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Images, Maps, Places to Visit, Recent ScholarshipThe Battle of Nashville took place on December 15-16, 1864 in Davidson County, Tennessee as a part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. Beginning in November 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood led the Army of Tennessee towards Nashville in a last attempt to move Union Major General William T. Sherman out of Georgia. By December 1, 1864 Union […]
20
Jul
10
“An Heir to the Throne,” 1860 political cartoon
Posted by solnitr Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Images“An Heir to the Throne, or the Next Republican Candidate” satirizes the Republican Party’s stand on slavery in the 1860 presidential election. Democrats attacked Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party for rejecting the expansion of slavery into new territories. Louis Maurer, the artist of this 1860 Currier & Ives cartoon, depicted the ultimate allegiance between […]
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Jul
10
Election of 1860 – “Read Your Ballot”
Posted by sailerd Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Historic Periodicals“We must for the last time warn all republican voters to look to it that they have the real republican ticket.” – Boston (MA) Advertiser, November 6, 1860 Ballots for the election of 1860 were not printed or approved by any government office or nonpartisan group. Instead, political parties were responsible for producing and distributing […]
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Jul
10
“Stephen Finding His Mother” 1860 Political Cartoon
Posted by rothenbb Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Images, Recent ScholarshipLouis Maurer mocked presidential candidate Stephen Douglas in the cartoon “Stephen Finding His Mother.” Through the months leading up to the election in late 1860, Douglas engaged in an unprecedented national campaign tour. In response to critics of his new vote-gathering methods, he falsely claimed to visit his mother when he lead his tour through New […]
19
Jul
10
Battle of Mobile Bay: August 2-23, 1864
Posted by mckelveb Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Images, Lesson Plans, Maps, Places to Visit, Recent ScholarshipThe Battle of Mobile Bay (also known as the Passing of Forts Morgan and Gaines) took place from August 2-23, 1864 in Mobile and Baldwin Counties, Alabama. In early August, a large Union fleet under the command of Admiral David G. Farragut entered Mobile Bay and came under fire from Confederate forces. Farragut led his forces past the […]
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Jul
10
Louis Maurer (1832-1932) lived to be 100 years old—fulfilling one century’s worth of accomplishments. The New York Times described Maurer in his obituary as a “lithographer, painter, cabinetmaker, shell expert, wood and ivory carver, anatomist, crack shot, winner of a blue ribbon in the first New York horse show, and the first to ride a […]
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Jul
10
Election of 1860 – Republican National Convention
Posted by sailerd Published in Antebellum (1840-1861), Historic PeriodicalsRepublicans selected Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the 1860 at their convention in Chicago, Illinois, but few newspaper editors had predicted that outcome in the months before the convention. One of the other prominent Republican politicians, such as New York Senator William Seward, seemed to be the more likely choice. While the Republican Milwaukee […]
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Jul
10
Battle of Resaca: May 13-15, 1864
Posted by mckelveb Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Letters & Diaries, Maps, Recent ScholarshipThe Battle of Resaca took place from May 13-15, 1864 in Gordon and Whitfield Counties in Georgia as a part of the Atlanta Campaign. A majority of the fighting took place on May 14 when Union Major General William T. Sherman and the Military Division of the Mississippi attacked Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and the Army of […]
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Jul
10
The German artist, Louis Maurer, drew upon an American sport—baseball—for this pro-Lincoln political cartoon, which Currier & Ives published in September 1860, only two months before the presidential election of 1860. Maurer created a parody of the four main presidential candidates (from left to right): Constitutional Union Party candidate John Bell, Northern Democratic Party candidate […]
