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The Liberal Republican Movement |
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“Will Robinson Crusoe (Sumner) Forsake His Man Friday? The Boat’s Crew That Is Going Over” |
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Source: Harper’s Weekly |
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Date:
April 20, 1872, p. 313
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Click to see
a large version of this cartoon |
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Complete HarpWeek Explanation:
“Will Robinson Crusoe (Sumner) Forsake His Man Friday? The Boat’s Crew That
Is Going Over” appeared in the April 20, 1872 issue of Harper’s Weekly.
The Boston Daily News called it “decidedly one of Nast’s best.” In it,
Liberal Republican Senators Carl Schurz and Thomas Tipton attempt to nudge their
intractable Massachusetts colleague, Charles Sumner (as Robinson Crusoe), into
accompanying them in the “Cincinnati Convention” longboat, which is destined to
join the schooner, Democrat, anchored in the open waters. Sumner, a
leading promoter of black civil rights, stiffly avoids eye contact with Horace
Greeley and his crew. Sumner/Crusoe’s man Friday, representing black voters,
prays on the cliff, with a “Lincoln School” in the background and the Ku Klux
Klan lurking behind a tree.
In reality, Sumner was pressed heavily to support the Liberal Republican move
to defeat President Grant. The senator’s concern for his own failing health and
his urgent desire to secure congressional passage of civil rights and amnesty
legislation left him little time or inclination to participate in the Cincinnati
movement. In addition, he feared it could only injure his most cherished
objectives if the liberals aligned later with the Democrats. Sumner, however,
opposed the president’s expansionist foreign policy and declared publicly that
Grant was unfit for renomination. Finally, on July 29, 1872, Sumner wrote an
open letter to black voters, asking them to support the Greeley ticket. He then
left the country for a vacation in Europe.
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