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One of the Rarest Political Maps from the Prelude to the Civil War.
This hand-colored lithograph is a political campaign chart supporting the Republican Party and their first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, in the election of 1856. The map prominently features a portrait of Fremont and delineates the United States into slave states, free states, and territories. It includes detailed statistical data comparing the North and South, such as population (both free and enslaved), electoral votes, number of slaveholders, representation in Congress, school attendance, literacy rates, property valuation, and economic output including products and capital in manufacturing. Additionally, it provides information on the area and agricultural productivity of the regions, emphasizing the disparities between slave and free states. The potential opening of 1,472,061 square miles to slavery by the Kansas-Nebraska bill is noted.
Persuasive cartography played a key role in the Fremont campaign of 1856. Many of his campaign posters were thematic maps lambasting slavery and the slave states and prominently featuring the candidate's portrait. Some examples can be seen in the Elliot Map, the Ranney Map, and the Reynolds Map. While the aforementioned are by no means common, the present map, published in Cincinnati, survives in maybe two examples.
Moreover, unlike the Elliot, Ranney, and Reynolds maps, the present map has an unusual focus on education and literacy, including attendance of school children in Free and Slave States and similar statistical details on White Adult Literacy and Public Libraries.
The Presidential Election of 1856
The United States presidential election of 1856 was a pivotal moment in American history, marking the rise of the Republican Party as a major political force. The election saw three main candidates: John C. Fremont representing the newly formed Republican Party, James Buchanan for the Democratic Party, and former President Millard Fillmore running under the American Party, also known as the Know-Nothing Party. The central issue of the election was the expansion of slavery into the western territories, a highly contentious topic that heightened regional tensions. Buchanan ultimately won the presidency, largely due to his support in the Southern states, but Fremont's strong showing in the North signaled a significant shift in American politics, setting the stage for the intense sectional conflicts that would lead to the Civil War.
Rarity
Extremely rare; not in OCLC. We trace only an example at the Gilder Lehrman Institute.
