The Democratic Party's "Free Ballot and Fair Count."
- Title:
- The Democratic Party's "Free Ballot and Fair Count."
- Alternate Title:
- The Democratic Party's "Free Ballot and Fair Count."
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown
- Date:
- 1880
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2509.02
- File Name:
- PJM_2509_02.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1870 - 1899
- Subject:
- New York City
Deception/Distortion
Politics & Government
Slavery/Race - Measurement:
- sheet 71 x 54 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This broadside from the 1880 Presidential campaign is a stark reminder that allegations of electoral misconduct in the states are not unique to the 21st century. And as an exercise in persuasion, it is deceptive in a number of ways. Although there is no indication of where or by whom it was created, it is an extensive and vicious attack on the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, meant to be inserted into local newspapers. The layout and type make it appear to be a "Supplement" to a typical newspaper of the time. And the large map on the recto uses three categories of choropleth shading to suggest it is based on scientific data, when none is suggested by the map or the accompanying text.
The broadside is not so much an assault on the Democratic candidate in 1880, General Winfield Scott Hancock, as on the Democratic Party's "Conspiracy Against the Free Ballot." It focuses primarily on "two baleful elements" of the party, "Tammany, as controlled by thieves, and the Southern wing as directed by traitors." "The alliance of the Solid South and of the New York Democracy is a conjunction proven to be corrupt and vicious, always ominous of evil and sure to result in fraud."
The map on the recto (ID #2609.01) "is designed to show to the eye . . . the vast extent . . . of the enormous frauds which have been perpetrated during more than the past decade through the Democratic party. The region indicated by the black lines and the dark shading show where the effects of political terrorism are now sought to be made permanent by personal ostracism, fraudulent ballots and counts, and by unjust laws. The dark spaces further north show the localities affected by the repeater and naturalization frauds, which, since 1868, have controlled the city of New York . . . ." There is no explanation of the three different categories of shading on the map, but the impact is nevertheless powerful.
The detailed text on the recto focuses primarily on the undoing of Reconstruction in the south, with much emphasis on the role of the "Invisible Empire," the Ku Klux Klan. Democratic politicians and the Klan are charged with "bulldozing," a term minted in the 1870s to describe the use of "violence and intimidation to coerce Republicans, black and white. The object was to purge them from office or to prevent them from voting the Republican ticket. It was a brutal but effective process." Wetta 1980, 50. In addition to traditional bullying and ballot stuffing, the text discusses the Democrats' use of "tissue ballots, . . . perhaps one of the most widespread and ingenious methods of fraud used . . . in the South generally.” Goldman 2001, 68. A number of tissue-thin ballots were stuck together and deposited in the ballot box as one. After the polls closed, officials would shake the ballot boxes vigorously, and the ballots would separate. Saltman, 2006, 92.
The text on the verso (ID #2609.02) is more focused on the corruption in New York, with repeated references to Tammany Hall. There is extensive detail on various forms of ballot stuffing, "repeaters" (those who vote multiple times), and the fraudulent naturalization of immigrants so that they could deliver more votes. The result is described as a "great army of vagrants, criminals, depraved and desperate men," along with aliens, "very many of whom know absolutely nothing of our institutions or the principles of our Government, [and] are the mere dupes of designing, wicked politicians . . . under the absolute domination of the Democratic party."
The result of a Democratic victory is deplored: "The success of Hancock and English, the democratic nominees, will be the success of this conspiracy. . . . It is the success of the confederate ideas, as enforced by the methods of the Tweed ring and the barbarous raids of the Ku-Klux. . . . and it will more than all enthrone . . . the party which contains six-tenths of the illiteracy of the land, most of its evil and malignancy, and all of its assailants and enemies."
The broadside concludes with a plea for votes: "Over nineteen years ago the echoes of the bombardment of Fort Sumter awoke this continent to all the horrors of civil war. . . . If the citizens who believe in a National Union, who fought for it, and who have maintained it so far against its Democratic enemies, desire to express their hostility to the attack on the ballot and the freedom of elections, the constitutional amendments and the resultant legislation, with the other historical consequences of the war, and to see them vindicated again and made supreme for all time, they must all vote next November for GARFIELD AND ARTHUR."
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.