Heir to the Throne

This cartoon exaggerates the Republican Party’s stance on the expansion of slavery and racial equality. Published in 1860 during the presidential race, the cartoon attacks Lincoln for his sentiments on slavery. In the cartoon Horace Greely, a Republican and abolitionist, is introducing an African American as the “Heir to the Throne” of the Republican Party. Lincoln is depicted as stating that this candidate will “prove to the world the superiority of the Colored over the Anglo Saxon race.” While the Republican Party opposed the expansion of slavery, they nonetheless viewed African Americans as inferior to whites.”