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| Political cartoons blossomed as a critical form during the Civil War Era. Emerging current events during this era provided artists with ample opportunity for parody. As the number of weekly publications increased, more and more cartoonists were featured in those pages. Americans enjoyed political cartoons for their simplicity and effectiveness in analyzing current events. |
The sources of these cartoons increased as the war dragged on over the years. During the crucial election of 1860, most of the cartoons centered around Lincoln. When secession fever hit America, cartoonists were quick to respond. Northern cartoons bashed the Southern states, while cartoons from abroad tended to attack the North. Once Southern printing presses established themselves during the war years, their cartoons viciously attacked both Lincoln and the Unionist agenda. |
| Political cartoons were able to become so effective in the last half the the nineteenth century because they developed so rapidly during the Civil War era. Men such as Thomas Nast, Sir John Tenniel, and John Adalbert Volck provided the impetus for these cartoons to be so powerful. It is hard to determine exactly how large their impact was during the Civil War era, but it goes without saying that the pens of the cartoonists spoke passionately for their readers. Cartoons captured the conflicting emotions and issues that swirled around America during this period, and continue to do so today. |