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| Political cartoons improved dramatically in popularity during the antebellum years. The combined secession of South Carolina and other Southern states provided ample material for political cartoonists to satirize. However, it was during the years from 1861 to 1865 that these cartoons really developed into a more expansive and competent genre. These years provided even more material that begged to be parodied, such as Lincoln’s presidency, the motives of the North and South in the war, and the Emancipation Proclamation. Historian Rufus Rockwell Wilson documents Lincoln’s sentiments, who comments upon the effectiveness of political cartoons during the Civil War. “‘Thomas Nast has been our best recruiting sergeant,’ said Mr. Lincoln near the successful conclusion of four years of battle. ‘His emblematic cartoons have never failed to arouse enthusiasm and patriotism, and have always seemed to come just when the articles were getting scarce’” (xiv). Harper’s Weekly, which featured many of Nast’s cartoons, had a weekly circulation of over 120,000 as 1861 drew to a close. Indeed, political cartoons were a viable means of influencing public opinion during the war years. |