Banner

Object Name:

Banner

Object ID:

1967.558.02

Date:

1856

Description:

Political banner. Unbleached cotton. On obverse, painted in large black letters: "FREMONT / & / DAYTON." On reverse, painted in large black letters: "BUCK & BRECK.", above polychrome image of African-American boy riding on ram with his hands and ankles chained. Boy wearing white shirt and blue overalls. In large black letters under image: "BORDER RUFFIAN", and under that: "DEMOCRACY, & SLAVERY." Attached to wooden rods at top and bottom; acorn finials on ends of each rod. Green braided fringe.

Material:

Textile
Cotton

Dimensions:

H-38 W-46 inches

Provenance:

From the 1856 presidential campaign of Republicans John C. Fremont and William L. Dayton versus Democrats James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge. The banner refers to the attempts by Missouri "border ruffians" to force slavery on Kansas and links the Democratic Party with the extension of slavery.

Credit Line:

New Hampshire Historical Society Collection

People:

Fremont, John C. (1813-1890), Dayton, William L. (1807-1864), Buchanan, James (1791-1868), Breckinridge, John C. (1821-1875)

Subjects:

Elections, Campaigns, Political, Slavery, Slaves, African Americans, Black Americans, Presidential candidates, Presidential elections, Anti-slavery movement, Rams