REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-36161 (b&w film copy neg.)
SUMMARY: On May 27, 1861, Benjamin Butler, commander of the Union army in Virginia and North Carolina, decreed that slaves who fled to Union lines were legitimate "contraband of war," and were not subject to return to their Confederate owners. The declaration precipitated scores of escapes to Union lines around Fortress Monroe, Butler's headquarters in Virginia. In this crudely drawn caricature, a slave stands before the Union fort taunting his plantation master. The planter (right) waves his whip and cries, "Come back you black rascal." The slave replies, "Can't come back nohow massa Dis chile's contraban." Hordes of other slaves are seen leaving the fields and heading toward the fort.
MEDIUM: 1 print : Lithograph on wove paper ; 23.1 x 36.5 cm (image)
CREATED/PUBLISHED: 1861.
NOTES:
Title appears as it is written on the item.
Weitenkampf, p. 126
Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1861-37.
TOPICS:
Butler, Gen. Benjamin F.
Fort Monroe
Plantations and planters
Slaves and slavery, slaves as contraband of war
FORMAT:
Political cartoons.
Lithographs.
REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
{{Information| |Description=Cartoon of Fort Monroe Virginia depicting slaves rushing to the fort for escape |Source=Librar of Congress |Date=1861 |Author= |Permission=Public domain |other_versions= }} TITLE: The (Fort) Monroe Doctrine CALL NUMBER: PC/U