"A Warning," December 3, 1864

This political cartoon is something of a counterpoint to the one I wrote about last week.

“A Warning” appeared in a British publication called Fun on December 3, 1864, just a few weeks after Lincoln’s victory in the Election of 1864.

The artist portrays Lincoln as a war monger who is bent on prosecuting a costly and pointless war. The knife he is holding carries the words “Yanke LIBERTY.”

The woman leading the president away from the battlefield is, once again, Lady Columbia, who represents the nation. She tells the president:

“Lincoln, you have brought me to this, yet I have not flinched to perform my part of our contract. I still cling to you, that you may fulfil yours. You have swollen the earth with the blood of my children. Show me what I am to gain by this, or look for my dire vengeance in the future!”

Click Here to view a much larger version of this political cartoon.