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I'se Contraband
Image
Freed male slave in a straw hat. He is superimposed on a black star with the abbreviations of the states of the Confederacy. Behind the black star is an upside down star containing horizontal lines. The caption below reads: "I'SE CONTRABAND." The illustration is a reference to General Benjamin Butler's contraband policy, by which escaping slaves reaching Union lines would not be returned to slavery. Butler, a trained attorney, used Virginia's secession to argue that under international law escaped slaves were "contraband of war" and he was not required to return them to their former owners. Black ink on beige envelope. Illustration on left side, printed on envelope, mounted on a decorative border and collected in an album.
1860
United States. Post Office Department
Publication Information
Physical Description
Collection Information
Copyright Information
W0146SO
WHi 75935
Image
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Slaves Escaping at Fort Monroe
1860
Scene of 16 figures. A slave owner is raising his whip as black families are racing towards Fort Monroe, with some remaining behind picking cotton. The slave owner is saying: "Come back here, you b...
The Latest Contraband of War
1860
A freed slave with a hoe in his left hand and his right hand on his hip. Caption at the top reads, "Massa can't have dis chile, dat's what's de matter." Caption below reads, "The latest contraband ...
John Bull's Sympathy
1860
A slave is being whipped by a slave owner as he kneels and prays next to a bale of cotton labeled "COTTON" and "CSA." John Bull sits on the bale facing away from and ignoring the slave. The charact...
Wigfall on His Promised Descent on Washington
1860
Illustration of the head of Louis Wigfall, on the body of an Indian with tomahawk in hand. The caption reads: "WIGFALL on his promised descent on Washington." This is a barb at the provincial cultu...
The C.S.A. Man of War
1860
Jefferson Davis, dressed as a woman, floating in a washtub labeled: "Lady Davis" which is flying the Confederate flag. He is holding a bottle in his left hand and steering with a broom in his right...
The Confederate Flag
1860
The Confederate flag. Pro-Confederate envelopes were not as common as pro-Union envelopes. Black ink on beige envelope, image covers entire front. Image printed on envelope, mounted on various colo...
