Illustrated by
Frost, Arthur Burdett, American, 1851 - 1929
Published by
Harper's Weekly, American, 1857 - 1916
Subject of
Watterson, Harvey Magee, American, 1811 - 1891
Date
October 21, 1876
Medium
ink on wove paper
Dimensions
H x W x D (framed): 16 1/4 × 20 3/16 × 11/16 in. (41.3 × 51.2 × 1.7 cm)
Description
A framed illustrated print of from Harper's Weekly.
The primary depiction is of two men threatening an unarmed man with pistols. The overall scene shows several men crowded in a small room. On the left, a man wears dark jacket, bright shirt and trousers, bent hat, and rests his proper left hand on the shoulder of an unarmed man. In the middle, the unarmed man with curly hair wears a bright long sleeve shirt and patched trousers. With his right arm crossed over his chest, he holds a small paper in his hand that reads “DEMOCRATIC TICKET”. Pistols are pointed at both sides of his head. On the right, a man wears a long sleeve shirt, dark trousers, and large hat. He carries a pistol on each hip, and his proper left hand is in his pocket. Immediately below the three main characters’ feet is the title and caption in black ink: ["OF COURSE HE WANTS TO VOTE THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET!"/ DEMOCRATIC "REFORMER." "You're as free as air, ain't you! Say you are, or I'll blow yer black head off!"].
To the left of the major scene, a crowd of men in the background smile and watch the interaction.
On a table in front of the open door are two wooden ballot boxes, a liquor bottle, glass, and pistol. A man in a small hat stands outside the door, looking to his proper right, into the room with the tense scene. Beyond him, in the daylit road, two armed men on horseback pull another man between them, in the direction of the primary scene.
In the bottom left quadrant of the illustration, bordered by a thin black line on three sides is: [“The negroes of the South are free-- / free as air,” says the parliamentary Wat- / terson. This is what the State, a well- / known Democratic organ of Tennessee, / says, in huge capitals, on the subject: “Let it be known before the election that / the farmers have agreed to spot / every leading Radical negro in the county, / and treat him as any enemy for all time to come. / The rotten ring must and shall be broken / at any and all costs. The Democrats have / determined to withdraw all employment / from their enemies. Let this fact be known.”
In the upper right quadrant of the newsprint in black ink is “848”; in the middle right side of the newsprint is “HARPER’S WEEKLY”, and in the bottom right quadrant of the newsprint is “[October 21, 1876.”. The illustration is signed, “A. B. FROST” by the right-most male character’s boot.
The newsprint is bordered by custom black backing and a decorative, silver and oiled-bronze-like metal frame. The frame, on verso, features a grey wire for hanging; a dark green circle sticker (bottom right) with “10” handwritten inside, and a bright yellow square provenance label.
Place depicted
Tennessee, United States, North and Central America
Place printed
United States, North and Central America
Classification
Slavery and Freedom Objects
Books and Published Materials
Type
illustrations
newspapers
Topic
American South
Men
Politics
Race discrimination
Reconstruction, U.S. History, 1865-1877
Suffrage
Violence
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Stanley Turkel's Collection of Reconstruction Era Materials
Object number
2012.160.64
Restrictions & Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5ae25a7e9-0852-44ce-96ba-b6f048521d4e

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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