Southern and border state unionists, loyal slaveholders, and Democrats denounced the Emancipation Proclamation as "revolutionizing the war." This commentary was drawn by Baltimore artist and Confederate sympathizer Adalbert Volck, whose images were not published until after the war. Explore the hotspots and discuss how this might make someone feel about Abraham Lincoln if they didn't know anything else about him. Is this how you have learned about Abraham Lincoln? Why might certain people feel this way about him?

(VMHC Collection - Abraham Lincoln at His Desk Signing the Emancipation Proclamation—A Southern Point of View, by Adalbert Volck, c. 1863)

A liquor container is meant to suggest that Lincoln drinks excessively, and that he is untrustworthy and/or not in his right mind when he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. 

A portrait of John Brown with a halo, labeled St. Ossawatomie, refers to Osawatomie, Kansas, where Brown helped prevent the territory from becoming a slave state. Like Brown, Lincoln opposed expansion of slavery into the territories.

The devil holds Lincoln’s inkwell for writing the Emancipation Proclamation, suggesting that the Emancipation Proclamation is the devil's work. 

An image on the wall depicts the massacre of whites by rebelling enslaved people on the island of Sainte Domingue (Haiti) in the Caribbean. It suggests that Lincoln would tolerate a similar event in the South and/or that freeing enslaved people will lead to violence. 

Lincoln tramples the Constitution underfoot, suggesting he doesn't care about the law of the land. 

Lincoln's face and body language suggest he is haggard and devilish. 

Goat imagery is often associated with the devil 

The outside view is stormy and cloudy, with flocks of birds. 

Lincoln was criticized by opponents for “secretly” arriving in Washington, D.C., on February 23, 1861, to avoid a rumored assassination attempt. A myth arose that he was disguised in a long cloak and “scotch cap” [Scottish hat] which here covers the eyes of a statue of Justice. This suggests he is untrustworthy and doesn't care about the law. 

Standards for Perspectives on the Emancipation Proclamation #1

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework