Thomas Nast Illustrates Values: Columbia

Thomas Nast used the figure of Columbia to represent the moral conscience of the United States. During Reconstruction from 1865-1875, Nast transformed this allegorical figure from a figure representing the grief of a wounded nation to one personifying justice and equal treatment. Click through the slide show to see how Nast used the image of Columbia in three different political cartoons.

Election Day- November 8, 1864

In this double folio image, Columbia stands proud in the large top vignette casting her vote for the Union and Abraham Lincoln. The bottom three scenes show the soldiers still fighting in the war casting their votes for President Lincoln; in the central scene the Veterans vote for “no compromise, down with slavery” and “down with the rebels.” The final scene shows citizens voting. This cartoon, though dated November 12, 1864 actually ran on November 2— almost a full week before the November 8 election