Taking the Stump or Stephen in Search of His Mother

The print is a reproduction of a political cartoon satirizing Stephen Douglas\u27s July 1860 presidential campaign tour of upstate New York and New England. Douglas was widely criticized for his 1860 campaign tours. Thus, he feigned a trip to see his mother as a coverup and was lambasted in the media as a result. The cartoon plays off of the word stump, in the literal sense (wooden leg) and in the figurative sense (campaigning). Important figures depicted in the cartoon include: John Bell, Henry A. Wise, Stephen A. Douglas, James Buchanan, John C. Breckinridge, and Abraham Lincoln. The print is organized and stored in a black album with other reproductive prints.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/fvw-cartoons/1137/thumbnail.jp