Compromise with the South

[frontrank2]

Political cartoon by Thomas Nast for Harpers Weekly in 1864.

Nast powerfully combats the defeatism that pervaded the Union during the summer of 1864, when Lincoln himself expected to be defeated for reelection. A tattered American flag hangs upside down in a signal of distress because northern cities are devastated. Columbia, symbolizing the nation, weeps as a disabled Union veteran's handshake with a Confederate officer dissolves into an abject surrender. The triumphant Confederate's foot treads on a Union soldier's grave and breaks the northern sword and northern power. In the South, its flag resplendent in victory despite the crimes listed in its folds. An African American Union veteran and his family are reshackled in slavery. The title of the work refers to the recent Democratic presidential nominating convention, which had promulgated a platform pronouncing the war a failure, criticized emancipation, and advocated a cease-fire and negotiations with the Confederacy. This cartoon was widely reproduced by the Republican Party for use in President Lincoln's campaign.
http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/cartoon-corner/civil-war/compromise-with-the-south/

 

[jackt62]

By 1864, the north had too much blood and treasure invested in fighting the war and seeing the confederacy defeated. So even though there was war weariness in the north, would the northern population have simply given up the fight by giving the south its independence? Even McClellan, by not accepting the Democratic peace platform in its entirety, and running as a "War"Democrat, would have been hard pressed to simply grant the south its terms had he won the presidency instead of Lincoln.

 

[Potomac Pride]

Political cartoon by Thomas Nast for Harpers Weekly in 1864.

Nast powerfully combats the defeatism that pervaded the Union during the summer of 1864, when Lincoln himself expected to be defeated for reelection. A tattered American flag hangs upside down in a signal of distress because northern cities are devastated. Columbia, symbolizing the nation, weeps as a disabled Union veteran's handshake with a Confederate officer dissolves into an abject surrender. The triumphant Confederate's foot treads on a Union soldier's grave and breaks the northern sword and northern power. In the South, its flag resplendent in victory despite the crimes listed in its folds. An African American Union veteran and his family are reshackled in slavery. The title of the work refers to the recent Democratic presidential nominating convention, which had promulgated a platform pronouncing the war a failure, criticized emancipation, and advocated a cease-fire and negotiations with the Confederacy. This cartoon was widely reproduced by the Republican Party for use in President Lincoln's campaign.
http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/cartoon-corner/civil-war/compromise-with-the-south/

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It's interesting to speculate what would have happened if the Union had actually decided to reach a compromise. I wonder just how long slavery would have lasted in the states that fought on the Union side.