The Political Quadrille, Music by Dred Scott
(Artist Unknown, 1860. Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
This parody of the 1860 election highlights the impact of the Dred Scott decision on the race. Four presidential candidates dance with members of their constituencies to a tune played by Dred Scott. On the top left, Breckinridge dances with Buchanan, a "goat," on the top right, Lincoln dances with a black woman; on the bottom left, Douglas dances with an Irish immigrant (in tattered clothes); on the bottom right, Bell dances with a Native American.
Dred Scott was a Missouri slave who sued for his freedom
after his owner had taken him for an extended stay to
the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin. In this cartoon,
the artist captures the complexity of the 1860 campaign
and the degree to which race played an integral role in
the American political landscape. By tying the election
to the landmark Supreme Court case, the artist also reveals
the extent to which slavery divided the nation and dominated
the election.
| 
