Torn Asunder
This print satirizing all four of the 1860 presidential candidates depicts the foregone conclusion that the results of the election would irreparably divide the nation. As Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, the Republican and Democratic candidates respectively, wrench the western part of the map apart, Lincoln raises his hands as if to stop Southern Democratic Party candidate John C. Breckinridge (center) from carrying away the South. The fourth candidate from the Constitutional Union party, John Bell (right), vainly attempts to repair the northeastern section of the United States with a jar of Spalding’s glue, while hopelessly staring down at Breckinridge.
This print satirizing all four of the 1860 presidential candidates depicts the foregone conclusion that the results of the election would irreparably divide the nation. As Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, the Republican and Democratic candidates respectively, wrench the western part of the map apart, Lincoln raises his hands as if to stop Southern Democratic Party candidate John C. Breckinridge (<em>center</em>) from carrying away the South. The fourth candidate from the Constitutional Union party, John Bell (<em>right</em>), vainly attempts to repair the northeastern section of the United States with a jar of Spalding’s glue, while hopelessly staring down at Breckinridge.