'Retrogression (A Very Sad Picture)', 1862. Artist: Unknown
'Retrogression (A Very Sad Picture)', 1862. 'War-Dance of the IOU Indian'. The American dancing in 'native' feathers bears a striking resemblance to President Abraham Lincoln. Recently a number of American states and private debtors repudiated loans made to them by Britain. To accompany this cartoon, Punch ran an article headed The IOU Indian. Presented under the guise of a paper presented by the Ethnological Society, it tells how the first inhabitants of America were wise, brave and independent until the deteriorating effects of climate were enhanced by 'a vast infusion of inferior animalism, in the form of convict Irish, deboshed Germans, and the accumulated scum of other nations'. This mixture meant that the American had gradually lost the fine characteristics of his English descent, leaving him with only the savage propensities of one who plunders foreigners of their money and believes that the dollar is the Great First Cause of all his actions. From Punch, or the London Charivari, February 1, 1862
Size: 3687px × 5100px
Location:
Photo credit: © The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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