In person…

Hey there! I know it’s been a while since our last post (where did October go, anyway?). But today is election day in the United States, and I urge all my fellow citizens—if you have not done so already—to get to the polls and make your voices heard, as these voters did in the early 1850s:

Bingham, George Caleb, artist. The County Election, 1852. St. Louis Art Museum

Or absentee…

Perhaps you already voted, by mail, or in person, as did these Civil War soldiers of the 3rd Pennsylvania Artillery, who took time from the fight to preserve the Union to cast their absentee ballots in the 1864 election.

Waud, William, artist. Pennsylvania soldiers voting, Army of the James, Petersburg, Virginia, [October] 1864. Library of Congress.

American self-governance has always been a bold—and imperfect—experiment, and we’ve come a long way since the early days of our republic, when only property-owning white men were eligible to vote. After centuries of struggle, we now have suffrage for (almost) all adult citizens, and we owe it to our predecessors to inform ourselves on the issues of the day and make our voices heard at the ballot box.

Want to know more?

For more information on these two images, just click the link and read on…

Bingham’s The County Election

Artist George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) painted The County Election in 1852. It is now part of the collection of the St. Louis Art Museum, and their staff has provided this note:

A large group of citizens gathers to place their votes in an election. Campaigning politicians anxiously press their party tickets toward individuals. One of the newest citizens, an Irish immigrant, is taking an oath that he had not voted elsewhere, just as one of the oldest, a Revolutionary War “76-er” veteran, is descending the steps. Merchants in top hats discuss the issues with laborers in shirtsleeves, an example of the rational exchange that sustains democracy. Other individuals present a less responsible and informed perspective. One drunken citizen, unable to stand, is nonetheless dragged to cast a vote. Another sits on a bench to steady his head, his clarity evidently lost in a brawl. Two boys on the ground play mumblety peg, a knife game that progressively increases in risk. George Caleb Bingham revealed what every American supportive of an election understands: that the democratic ideal must be embraced even though uninformed votes could prevail.

Pennsylvania Soldiers Voting

English artist William Waud (1832-1878) was an architect and illustrator. He is particularly remembered for his on-the-spot drawings made as an artist correspondent during the American Civil War. His older brother Alfred R. Waud (1828-1891) was also a well-know Civil War artist correspondent. Like like today’s illustration, many of their Civil War drawings, sketches, and published engravings may be found at the Library of Congress, and in several of my Civil War themed CHH blog posts.

Pennsylvania Soldiers Voting was drawn in October, 1864, during the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, and subsequently engraved and published on page 692 of the October 29, 1864 edition of Harper’s Weekly magazine.