Existing comment:
The Emancipation of Slaves -- A Country Divided:
Nast and Volck reflected in their work the extremely polarized views that surrounded secession in their work. The emancipation of slaves was naturally one of the dominant topics in the Civil War drawings of both artists. Their portrayals were diametrically opposed, and were meant to harden the divisive stands on both sides.
Many of Nast's works -- both political cartoons and war illustrations -- explicitly show his strong ideal of freedom and equality for Native Americans, black soldiers and freed slaves. The figures of Columbia and Uncle Sam are often part of these drawings, underscoring Nast's belief that the American identity embraces all races. During the Civil War, he demonstrated his strong support of Lincoln's policy to free the slaves. He later advocated giving freed male slaves the right to vote.
Volck's view of emancipation was the exact opposite. He foresaw chaos and violence resulting from emancipation, and depicted the smugly superior North exploiting freed slaves and sacrificing white American society to the fervent abolitionists, greedy contractors and war mongers. For Volck, the Emancipation Proclamation was unconstitutional and threatened the Southern way of life. |