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The Union Must and Shall be Preserved

Creator:
W.H. Rease
Location:
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, Philadelphia
Origin Date:
1860
Materials:
paper, print
Measurements:
overall: 20 in x 25 in
Item ID:
71.2009.081.0201
Holding Institution:
Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum
Available for Viewing:
No
Category:
Fine Art

Description

This print was used as a campaign banner for the 1860 Republican ticket. Oval bust portraits depict Abraham Lincoln and his running mate Hannibal Hamlin. Lincoln's image is based on an 1859 photograph by Fasset. A banner bearing the words, "The Union Must and Shall be Preserved" ripples across the top of the composition. A rustic, bent-wood frame surrounds the portraits, a nod to Lincoln's humble backwoods origins; the frame is draped with a banner reading, "Free Speech, Free Homes, Free Territory." Two laborers flank a shield at the center bottom of the composition reading, "Protection to American Industry." Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum.