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The 1896 Presidential Campaign:
Cartoons & Commentary

Created by Rebecca Edwards and Sarah DeFeo

The 1896 presidential election was one of the most exciting and complicated in U.S. history. This website provides an introduction to one aspect of the campaign: the hundreds of political cartoons published in newspapers around the country. Most of these cartoons have been buried in archival microfilms, where students can't reach them. They offer a window into political structures and issues, society, and culture in the United States, just before the turn of the last century. We will be adding more cartoons and features--check back occasionally to see what's new.

The site includes presidential Election Results by state. The links above take you to the various sections of the site e.g Leaders, Themes etc. Use the Bibliography and Journal pages to explore our sources; consult the Teaching page for ideas on using "1896" with students of history, politics, or literature. If you or your class wish to do your own research and add to the site, please write to us with your proposal.

"1896" contains many images and arguments that the site's architects find offensive, including antisemitic and racial slurs. These themes--and protests against them, which were largely ignored in the press--represented the state of public opinion at the time. We include such material as part of our commitment to a full understanding of the past and its legacies today.

Created by Rebecca Edwards, Assistant Professor of History and Sarah DeFeo, Vassar '99, with help from students in History 276, "A House Divided: The United States, 1830-1890."

Profuse Thanks to:

Michael Joyce
Vassar CELT (Center for Electronic Learning & Teaching),
especially Chris Asta '03 (for extensive help with images) and Sarah Torre '01
Vassar College Library
. . . with special appreciation to Sabrina Pape, Kathy Kurosman, and Robin Walsh
The Ford Scholar Program of Vassar College
The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities
H-Net: History Online
Edward Ayers, University of Virginia
Anne Rubin, University of Virginia
Fitzhugh Brundage, University of Florida
Ray Hyser, James Madison University
Robert Phipps, West Virginia University
Shira Jacobs, Vassar '96
Heather Harmon, Vassar '97
Daniel Rosan, Vassar '00
Kate Stewart, Vassar '01

Major events of the campaign,
in cartoon and story. (Click date)

Feb 27: People’s Advocate: Reading Tillman's Speech
Mar 19: People’s Advocate: Pitchfork
Apr 4: The Ram’s Horn: Rescued
Apr 15: Sound Money: History Repeats Itself
Apr 25: The Ram’s Horn: The Stranger at Our Gate
May 28: Prohibitionist’s convention, Pittsburgh, PA
June 16: Republican convention, St. Louis, MO
June 21: Denver New Road: Cleveland's Romance
June 28: L.A. Times: Bucking a Wall
July 4: Socialist convention, New York, NY
July 11: Democratic convention, Chicago, Illinois
July 9: Rocky Mountain News: A Soliloquy
July 11: Harper’s Weekly: Gold Bugs
July 12: L.A. Times: The Old Lady and Her New Wheel
July 16: People’s Advocate: McKinley's Evil Sprit
July 18: Harper’s Weekly: Altgeld and Bryan
July 22: Silver convention, St. Louis, MO
July 25: People’s Party convention, St. Louis, MO
July 22: Rocky Mountain News: Wall Street's Private Studio
July 25: Harper’s Weekly: Farmer McKinley
July 25: Judge: The Silver Candle
July 27: Chicago Record: Bryan's Tightrope
Aug 5: Rocky Mountain News: The Plain English of It
Aug 6: Sound Money: Spain and Rothschilds
Aug 8: McKinley accepts Republican nomination
Aug 9: Denver New Road: Bryan's Romance
Aug 12: Bryan accepts Democratic nomination
Aug 13: American Non-Conformist: Farmer Hanna
Aug 15: Rocky Mountain News: Bryan the Lion
Aug 16: L.A. Times: Aesop's Fox
Aug 18: Rocky Mountain News: Hanna the Wizard
Aug 20: Sound Money: The Cross of Gold
Aug 20: L.A. Times: Popocratic Witches
Aug 22: The Ram’s Horn: A Double Burden
Aug 29: Harper’s Weekly: McKinley the Veteran
Aug 29: Labor Advocate: Look at This
Aug 30: St. Louis Globe Democrat: Dime Museum
Sept 2: National (Gold) Democratic convention, Indianapolis, IN
Sept to Nov 1: McKinley front-porch campaign, Canton, OH
Sept 3: New York Journal: Li Hung Chang
Sept 5: Harper’s Weekly: The Crown of Thorns
Sept 5: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Just the Bare Facts
Sept 6: L.A. Times: Comrades in Arms
Sept 6: St. Paul Pioneer Press: A Bryan Dollar
Sept 8: Early election day in Arkansas and Vermont
Sept 9: Rocky Mountain News: John Bull
Sept 10: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Arkansas and Vermont
Sept 11 to Nov 1: Bryan travels 13,000 miles by train, stump-speaking around the nation.
Sept 11: St. Paul Pioneer Press: The Divorcee
Sept 11: St. Louis Globe Democrat: Uncle Sam Diagnoses
Sept 12: Labor Advocate: Their Argument Misses Fire
Sept 12: The Ram’s Horn: Building Up His Business
Sept 12: Harper’s Weekly: Populist Supreme Court
Sept 12: New York Journal: Hanna's Funds
Sept 13: Boston Globe: The Silver Dog
Sept 13: L.A. Times: Uncle Sam's Circus
Sept 14: L.A. Times: Populist Pandora
Sept 14: Rocky Mountain News: Playing Upon a Single String
Sept 17: Rocky Mountain News: Chinese Immigration
Sept 18: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Against Turkey
Sept 18: Rocky Mountain News: A Horrible Suspicion
Sept 19: Judge: Bryan's Cross
Sept 19: Labor Advocate: How They Love The Farmers
Sept 19: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Election-Year Friend
Sept 20: Boston Globe: Writ of Replevin'
Sept 20: L.A. Times: Populist Delilah
Sept 20: L’Abeille de Nouvelle Orleans: The Sultan Laughs
Sept 20: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: John Bull's Theft
Sept 21: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The Robber And His Victim
Sept 24: L.A. Times: Resurrecting Secession
Sept 24: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Treachery
Sept 25: Daily Inter-Ocean: Democratic Jonah
Sept 26: Harper’s Weekly: Silver Bullfight
Sept 26: L.A. Times: For Sale
Sept 26: National Reflector: Rings On The Hog
Sept 26: Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Bicyclist Bryan
Sept 29: L.A. Times: Poor Circulation
Oct 1: Pioneer Press: Silver Trust Hog
Oct 3: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Workingman's Friend
Oct 4: Raleigh New and Observer: Hanna and Dixon
Oct 6: Election Day in the state of Florida (not all states voted on the first Tuesday in Nov).
Oct 6: Chicago Times: X-Ray of Bryan's Brain
Oct 6: Pioneer Press: Silver Conversation
Oct 6: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Florida's Lifeline
Oct 8: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Democratic Florida
Oct 8: New York Journal: Confident Hanna
Oct 10: Harper’s Weekly: Three Witches
Oct 10: The Coming Nation: The Worker's Treadmill
Oct 11: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Resurrection
Oct 13: New York Journal: Hanna and Workers
Oct 13: St. Louis Globe Democrat: Bryan as Jack Cade
Oct 13: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The Gold Balloon
Oct 15: Coxey's Sound Money: Uncle Sam Enslaved
Oct 15: Rocky Mountain News: Elected McKinley
Oct 16: Boston Globe: Bryan the Salesman
Oct 17: Coming Nation: Labor Exploitation
Oct 20: L.A. Times: Burning Cross of Gold
Oct 21: The Coming Nation: Socialism
Oct 22: Sound Money: The Old Party Scale
Oct 22: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Hanna's Crown of Thorns
Oct 24: Harper’s Weekly: Altgeld and Guiteau
Oct 25: Daily Inter-Ocean: Bryan's Balloon
Oct 25: Omaha World Herald: Getting Women to Register
Oct 27: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Hanna, Trusts, and Morgan
Oct 28: Puck: A New Civil War
Oct 30: St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Hanna in Lehigh Valley
Oct 31: Republicans announce “Flag Day,” then argue with Democrats and Populists over meaning of the flag
Oct 31: Harper’s Weekly: Democratic Wind-Up Toys
Oct 31: New York Journal: Buncombe Brigade
Oct 31: The Ram’s Horn: Ignorance, Stupidity, and Fraud
Nov 2: McKinley wins presidential election
Nov 2: L.A. Times: Clown Bryan
Nov 4: L’Abeille de Nouvelle Orleans: Knock-Out Punch
Nov 4: St. Paul Pioneer Press: Elephant on the Silver Pillow
Nov 5: Sound Money: Prediction for 1900
Nov 14: Judge: Republican Tam O'Shanter
Nov 14: Coming Nation: Our Farmers Situation
Dec: Overland Monthly: Uncle Sam Looks Abroad

The 1896 Presidential Campaign: Cartoons & Commentary

The 1896 Presidential Campaign:
Cartoons & Commentary