Description

General Benjamin Butler is protecting a runaway slave from his former owner at swordpoint in front of Fort Monroe. The slave owner, from one of the first families of Virginia, is depicted as a scarecrow. He is holding a dog by the collar with one hand, and a cat-o'-nine-tails with the other. The phrase D. Murphy's Son, Print. 65 Fulton and 372 Pearl Street, N.Y. appears to the left of the image. 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