The Coming Man's Presidential Career, a la Blondin
About this illustration
Cartoon by Jacob Dallas (?) in Harper's Weekly, August 25, 1860, p. 544.
- Date created
- August 25, 1860
- License
- This work is believed to be in the public domain. Users are advised to make their own copyright assessment and to understand their rights to fair use.
- Source
- Original image housed by HarpWeek.com
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- Search LEARN NC for Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, and elections.
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Charles Blondin was a French-born acrobat who became famous in the late 1850s for his daring tightrope walks over Niagara Falls. He repeated the feat several times, once carrying his agent across the falls on his shoulders. Here, Lincoln is shown in the guise of Blondin performing a similar stunt with a slave on his shoulders. The cartoon suggests that the Republican party’s view of slavery is a burden to Lincoln as he runs for President, but the Constitution is the balancing rod that keeps him steady.
