AN AU-GUST CONVENTION

Philadelphia: J.L. Magee, 1866. Oblong lithograph broadside, 12-1/4" x 17-1/4." Uniformly toned, with spotting in right margin and lower right corner with slight effect on text. A couple of margin chips, matting remnants on blank verso. Good+.

President Andrew Johnson's supporters gathered in Philadelphia in August 1866 to support his program of immediate Reconstruction for the upcoming midterm elections, in opposition to Congressional Reconstruction. "Here the convention is portrayed as a gathering of muzzled dogs, their collars inscribed with state names, who file toward a large doghouse, the 'Wigwam'." The necks of Clement Vallandigham and (truncated) Fernando Wood, infamous wartime Copperheads, portrayed here as cats, are held firmly in the jaws of bulldogs Edgar Cowan and J.R. Doolittle, guardians of the Wigwam.
Presenting a picture of harmony, two dogs named Massachusetts and South Carolina "lead the pack toward the Wigwam. . . In the background 'The Dead Dog of the White House,' incumbent Andrew Johnson, lies in the road in front of the presidential mansion, which flies from its roof an American flag labeled 'My Policy,' Johnson's campaign catchword" [Reilly]. Johnson and his followers suffered a disastrous defeat in the elections, which resulted in a Republican veto-proof majority in Congress.
Reilly 1866-4. Weitenkampf 154. Not located on OCLC or at AAS as of December 2023. (Inventory #: 39735)