Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction
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Object Details
- Artist
- Thomas Nast, 27 Sep 1840 - 7 Dec 1902
- Sitter
- Andrew Johnson, 29 Dec 1808 - 31 Jul 1875
- Exhibition Label
- When Andrew Johnson became president following Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, he favored a policy of leniency toward former secessionists at the expense of freed slaves, whose newly won liberties were being infringed upon. The North’s popular cartoonist, Thomas Nast, satirizes Johnson in this illustration for the September 1, 1866, issue of Harper’s Weekly by portraying him as the evil schemer Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello. Johnson professed to be a “best friend” to African Americans in the South, while vetoing such empowering legislation as the Freedman’s Bureau Bill, the Civil Rights Bill, and three military Reconstruction acts, all designed to protect and advance their civil rights.
- Cuando Andrew Johnson ocupó la presidencia a raíz del asesinato de Abraham Lincoln, favoreció una política de indulgencia hacia los antiguos secesionistas, pero esto fue en detrimento de los nuevos derechos de los esclavos libertos. El popular caricaturista norteño Thomas Nast satiriza a Johnson en esta ilustración para la edición del 1 de septiembre de 1866 del Harper’s Weekly, presentándolo como el malvado intrigante Yago en el Otelo de Shakespeare. Johnson profesaba ser un “gran amigo” de los afroamericanos en el sur, mientras por otro lado vetó legislación como la Ley de la Oficina de Libertos, la Ley de Derechos Civiles y tres leyes militares de la Reconstrucción, todas diseñadas para proteger y adelantar los derechos civiles de la población negra.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- 1866
- Object number
- NPG.87.84
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Medium
- Wood engraving on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 52.2 x 34.7cm (20 9/16 x 13 11/16")
- Sheet: 54.3 × 39.6cm (21 3/8 × 15 9/16")
- Mat: 71.1 × 55.9cm (28 × 22")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Andrew Johnson: Male
- Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\Vice-President of US
- Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\Governor\Tennessee
- Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\US Senator\Tennessee
- Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\President of US
- Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\State Senator\Tennessee
- Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\Public official\Mayor
- Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Tennessee
- Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\State Legislator\Tennessee
- Andrew Johnson: Crafts and Trades\Textile worker\Tailor
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.87.84
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4b97fb3c5-fdc4-49b3-8155-04396cca7209
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