Civil War Political Cartoons

As in earlier American conflicts, women were popular subjects of political cartoons during the Civil War. Artists in the Union and the Confederacy featured women prominently in their work to represent the general civilian experience of the war. Women were also featured to explore how the war was breaking down antebellum gender expectations.

These two cartoons are from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. Both deal with women’s roles in promoting enlistment in the Union and Confederate armies, but they have very different tones.

“Sowing and Reaping,” published in May 1863, mocks Southern women for encouraging men to join the Confederate Army. In the “sowing” panel, idealized drawings of genteel Southern women are shown waving their men off to war, in full support of their enlistment. In the “reaping” panel, the same women have been ravaged by the war. Dressed in rags and emaciated, they are shown fighting in the streets for bread. This second panel was based on a real event that took place in Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital, on April 1, 1863. With hungry families at home, the women of Richmond rioted to protest food shortages. Their behavior was viewed as appalling and inappropriate. This cartoon lays some blame for the food shortage on the women themselves because they promoted participation in the war.

“The Art of Inspiring Courage” was published in October 1863, six months after “Sowing and Reaping.” Published at a time when Union enlistment was falling, and people were rioting to protest the new draft, it offers humorous advice about how Union women can pressure men into joining the Union Army. It is fascinating that this cartoon was published after “Sowing and Reaping.” Evidently the staff of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper did not believe Union women would suffer the same dire consequences as their Confederate counterparts.

• Antebellum: Before the American Civil War.
• civilian: A person who is not in the armed forces.
• Confederate: Relating to the group of states that seceded from the United States before the Civil War in order to preserve slavery.
• emaciated: Very thin and malnourished.
• enlistment: Signing up to join an army.
• Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper: A weekly newspaper published in the Union.
• reaping: Harvesting.
• sowing: Planting.
• Union: The name for the states that remained a part of the United States during the Civil War.

• Use these cartoons to help students understand Union attitudes toward the Confederacy during the war.
• Imagine you are a nineteenth-century woman who regularly reads Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. How might you feel about the messaging in these cartoons? Write a letter to the editor expressing your opinions.
• Compare and contrast these Union cartoons with the work of Confederate artist Dr. Adalbert John Volck. How do the depictions differ? What are the artists trying to elicit in their viewers?
• Invite students to compare the 1863 depiction of Confederate women in “Sowing and Reaping” with John Roger’s 1865 sculpture Taking the Oath and Drawing Rations and write an essay about why Union attitudes toward Confederate women shifted so radically in the final years of the war.
• Ask students to research the Richmond Bread Riot and write an essay on how this cartoon warps a critical moment in Civil War history.
• Contrary to the tone of “The Art of Inspiring Courage,” Union women suffered tragic consequences during the Civil War. For more information, read Mourning Clothing.
• For an in-depth lesson about the lives of Confederate women during the war, combine these images with the following resources: Smuggling, Scenes from the Confederate Home Front, Surviving the Siege of Atlanta, Changing the Rules of War, Cherokee Home Front, Swearing Loyalty, Life Story: Emily Jane Liles Harris, Life Story: Loreta Janeta Velázquez, Life Story: Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas.

POWER AND POLITICS