Collage of historical images and cartoons of the American Civil War

Visual Culture of the American Civil WarA Special Feature of Picturing US History

"Expulsion of Negroes and Abolitionists from Tremont Temple, Boston, Massachusetts, on December 3, 1860."

Marking the one-year anniversary of John Brown&rsquo;s execution, a group of abolitionists held a large public meeting in Boston on December 3, 1860, shortly after Lincoln was elected president. Many of Boston&rsquo;s wealthy mill owners, merchants, and bankers opposed Lincoln and feared huge business losses if the South seceded. When Frederick Douglass attempted to speak, anti-abolitionists in the audience disrupted the meeting, drawing in the police who forcibly removed the abolitionists from the stage. Winslow Homer&rsquo;s illustration for the December 15, 1860 <em>Harper&rsquo;s Weekly</em> was most likely based on a sketch from another artist present at the meeting.Marking the one-year anniversary of John Brown’s execution, a group of abolitionists held a large public meeting in Boston on December 3, 1860, shortly after Lincoln was elected president. Many of Boston’s wealthy mill owners, merchants, and bankers opposed Lincoln and feared huge business losses if the South seceded. When Frederick Douglass attempted to speak, anti-abolitionists in the audience disrupted the meeting, drawing in the police who forcibly removed the abolitionists from the stage. Winslow Homer’s illustration for the December 15, 1860 Harper’s Weekly was most likely based on a sketch from another artist present at the meeting.

Creator: Winslow Homer

Source: Boston Public Library

Publisher: Harper's Weekly

Date: December 15, 1860