Content note: 1864 anti-McClellan print with a racial slur and an Irish caricature. This object is shown as it was published. Why
The Chicago platform and candidate
Currier & Ives lithograph, probably drawn by Louis Maurer, hostile to McClellan and the Democratic ticket. A two-faced McClellan stands on a rickety 'Chicago Platform' held up by a devil, Jefferson Davis, Fernando Wood and Clement Vallandigham; one face cites his letter of acceptance ('War ... preservation Union') and the other accepts the platform. A Union soldier turns away at left, while a club-wielding 'Peace Democrat' caricatured as an Irishman cheers 'resistin the draft, killing the Niggers'. Davis lists Confederate losses (Atlanta, Mobile, Weldon Road).
- Date
- October 1864
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Currier & Ives (probably drawn by Louis Maurer)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- Regime
- Lincoln Administration
- Leader
- Abraham Lincoln
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Demonize
- Event
- 1864 US Election
- Techniques
- Name-callingTransfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published circa 1864; work is over 160 years old)
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
