1862

One Good Turn Deserves Another. Punch, Volume 43, August 9, 1862, p. 55

In response to Lincoln's call for troops following the fall of Fort Sumter, free Northern blacks in several cities attempted to volunteer for the Union army, but their offers of service were rejected by the War Department. Blacks had long been excluded from state and local militia duty, and for decades had also been barred from serving in the regular army (although black sailors comprised a significant proportion of enlisted men in the U.S. Navy). By the summer of 1862, however, soaring casualty rates and concerns about enlistment shortages convinced many in the North that all available manpower resources should be exploited.

The Militia Act, passed by Congress on July 17, authorized the Commander in Chief to accept "persons of African descent" to perform "any war service for which they may be found competent." This controversial measure was intended primarily as a way of putting "Contrabands" (the large numbers of slaves escaping into Union lines from Confederate-held territory) to useful work as cooks, teamsters, and construction labor for building fortifications. But the Militia Act also opened the possibility of enlisting free Northern blacks as combat troops. Many abolitionists, radical Republicans, and black leaders increasingly saw military service by African Americans as a necessary step towards the ultimate goals of equal rights and full citizenship. Among these was Frederick Douglass, who called on young men of color to fight for both the Union cause and their own place in post-war society: "Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters U.S., let him get an eagle on his button and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship."

Here an importuning Lincoln--improbably wearing the high-crowned straw hat typically associated with Brother Jonathan--holds out a musket, bayonet, and cartridge box towards a free Northern black man. "Father Abraham" is attired in the striped high-waisted trousers and open square-tailed coat that will in time become the characteristic costume of Uncle Sam. His long, lanky limbs are counterbalanced by his enormous feet, stuffed into comically oversized boots.

The black man regards the proffered "gifts" with obvious suspicion: his closed stance and aloof expression clearly indicate that he is wary of Lincoln's motives. While Tenniel typically represents the Southern black slave as barefoot, clad in simple homemade breeches and shirt, this free Northern black man is dressed in modest yet dignified tailored clothing, with well-made shoes and a carefully knotted stock at his neck.

Sambo was the name of a foolish stock character in blackface minstrel shows, and this name was often used generically by whites as a dismissive way of addressing any black adult male. The condescending, disrespectful language which the cartoon's sub-caption unjustifiably ascribes to Lincoln seems wholly at odds with both his public utterances and his personal beliefs.