The Inauguration at Richmond

The Inauguration at Richmond

In this cartoon published in Harper's Weekly on March 15, 1862, the artist mocked Jefferson Davis' Inaugural Address as President of the Confederate States of America at Richmond on February 22, 1862. The artist depicted Jefferson Davis as a cotton king who brought ruin and war to the country over the issue of slavery. His is pictured as a skeleton sitting on a throne of cotton and whiskey and holding a pirate flag with a slave bound at his feet. Davis holds a torch of desolation while a crowd cheers him on. A noose and gallows loom in the background. The cartoon shows the negative reaction of the northern Republican public to Jefferson Davis' Inaugural Address. Most northerners did not recognize the Confederacy as a legitimate nation with a just cause.

"The Inauguration At Richmond," Harper's Weekly, March 15, 1862.

1862-03-15

Justin Faircloth

Richmond, Virginia

THE INAUGURATION AT RICHMOND. "Fellow Citizens! On this the Birthday of the Man most identified with the Establishment of American Independence, and beneath the Monument erected &c.,&c.,&c., we have assembled to usher into existence the permanent Government of the Confederate States."--(Jeff Davis's Inaugural Address at Richmond.)