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Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction

Andrew Johnson
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Thomas Nast, 27 Sep 1840 - 7 Dec 1902
Sitter
Andrew Johnson, 29 Dec 1808 - 31 Jul 1875
Date
1866
Type
Print
Medium
Wood engraving on paper
Dimensions
Image: 52.2 x 34.7cm (20 9/16 x 13 11/16")
Sheet: 54.3 × 39.6cm (21 3/8 × 15 9/16")
Mat: 71.1 × 55.9cm (28 × 22")
Topic
Andrew Johnson: Male
Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\Vice-President of US
Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\Governor\Tennessee
Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\US Senator\Tennessee
Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\President of US
Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\State Senator\Tennessee
Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\Public official\Mayor
Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Tennessee
Andrew Johnson: Politics and Government\State Legislator\Tennessee
Andrew Johnson: Crafts and Trades\Textile worker\Tailor
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Object number
NPG.87.84
Exhibition Label
When Andrew Johnson became president following Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, he favored a policy of leniency toward former secessionists at the expense of freed slaves, whose newly won liberties were being infringed upon. The North’s popular cartoonist, Thomas Nast, satirizes Johnson in this illustration for the September 1, 1866, issue of Harper’s Weekly by portraying him as the evil schemer Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello. Johnson professed to be a “best friend” to African Americans in the South, while vetoing such empowering legislation as the Freedman’s Bureau Bill, the Civil Rights Bill, and three military Reconstruction acts, all designed to protect and advance their civil rights.
Cuando Andrew Johnson ocupó la presidencia a raíz del asesinato de Abraham Lincoln, favoreció una política de indulgencia hacia los antiguos secesionistas, pero esto fue en detrimento de los nuevos derechos de los esclavos libertos. El popular caricaturista norteño Thomas Nast satiriza a Johnson en esta ilustración para la edición del 1 de septiembre de 1866 del Harper’s Weekly, presentándolo como el malvado intrigante Yago en el Otelo de Shakespeare. Johnson profesaba ser un “gran amigo” de los afroamericanos en el sur, mientras por otro lado vetó legislación como la Ley de la Oficina de Libertos, la Ley de Derechos Civiles y tres leyes militares de la Reconstrucción, todas diseñadas para proteger y adelantar los derechos civiles de la población negra.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view