Harper's Weekly marks Italian Unification

[joetucciarone]

On September 9, 1871 - 150 years ago today - Harper’s Weekly magazine celebrated the final stage of Italian unification with a classy front-page illustration by Thomas Nast:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id= ... up&seq=822

The woman in the center of the drawing is Italia Turrita, the national personification of Italy.

[Tessa78]

Nice find!

Thank you for sharing

T.

[joetucciarone]

You're welcome, Tessa. Italian history is my hobby, and I like sharing what I find.

An interesting part of the 1871 illustration is the man on right (holding the hand of Italia turrita), who is dressed as an Italian bandit (bandito), very similar to the one in this 1875 photograph:

https://www.alinari.it/en/explore?isPos ... geNumber=2

Several Italian banditti are depicted in another illustration by Nast. They are holding a young woman hostage. As with Italia turrita, she was the national personification of the United States, who was known as Columbia. In this case, Columbia represents the State of Louisiana. Her antagonists are Louisiana Democrats who are trying to overturn an election in that state. Because of that, Nast has depicted them as Italian banditti:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id= ... &skin=2021

This drawing appeared in the March 6, 1875 issue of Harper’s Weekly. Nast’s depiction of the rebels as Italian banditti resulted after General Sheridan asked Congress to declare the Louisiana Democrats “banditti,” or military outlaws, a designation that would allow him to try the rebels in a military court.

Here is another of Nast’s depictions of Columbia. Here, she is protecting a Chinese immigrant, saying “Hands off, gentlemen! America means fair play for all men.”:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id= ... &skin=2021

[Tessa78]

In the Louisiana as hostage image, the bandit with the gun has "White League" on his hatband.

The white league appears to have been a paramilitary terrorist group formed after the Civil War, affiliated with the KKK. I don't believe they represent Louisiana Democrats as you stated. Happy to hear a clarification if I'm mistaken.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_League

Again, thank you for the images and interesting depictions.

T.

[joetucciarone]

Hi Tessa - I'm glad you're enjoying these little bits of history.

In the winter of 1874-75, the Democrats of Louisiana (New Orleans) were trying to overturn a legitimate election. That's when Sheridan called them "banditti." The following link will open the January 9, 1875 edition of the New Orleans Republican. In the second column are red-highlighted references to five "democratic claimants." These were non-elected members of the Democratic Party of Louisiana who were trying to appropriate seats in that state's House of Representatives even though they lost the 1874 election:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn ... nge&page=1

The following link will take you to the January 7, 1875 edition of the New York Herald. Look closely at the red-highlighted words about 2/3 of the way down in the fourth column:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn ... nge&page=1

Those words are part of this sentence from the article: "Mr. West closed his speech by speaking of the democrats of New Orleans as a mob, adding 'and as a mob they were put down.' "

You are correct that "White League" appears on the headband of the gun-wielding bandito. Northerners believed that many Louisiana Democrats were members of the KKK. Some of them were, which is why Nast depicted them as such. But the generalization was unfair.

Joe

[joetucciarone]

Hi Tessa - I'm sorry about the confusion I caused. My original intent was to compare Italia turrita and Columbia, but I should also have explained why Nast included "White League" in his illustration.

Best Regards,

Joe

[Tessa78]

Non ti preoccupare!

Joe, I have enjoyed it all! And it is good to be inquisitive about the information presented.
You are providing a glimpse into the thinking of another time, and it is quite interesting to read.
And we can't forget that these illustrations were those of Thomas Nast - who expressed STRONG opinions in his caricatures and editorials. There are so many things being said in his illustrations.

Thank you so much for your efforts. I hope you will continue to post these tidbits (like the use of the Banditti image in the contemporary reporting of the time ) for those of us who also enjoy the history.

T.