Description

Freed male slave in a straw hat. The man is superimposed on a black triangle containing the abbreviations of the states of the Confederacy. The black triangle is itself superimposed on an upside-down trangle containing horizontal lines. The image is a reference to General Benjamin Butler's contraband\ policy, by which escaping slaves reaching Union lines would not be returned to slavery. Butler, a trained attorney, used Virginia's secession to argue that under international law that escaped slaves were \contraband of war\ and he was not required to return them to their former owners.\Illustrated Civil War envelopes with patriotic symbols, slogans and cartoons, mostly Northern, including a few Southern ones.

Record Contributed By

Georgetown University Library

Record Harvested From

District Digital