Allegory of Freedom, 1863 or after

About the Art and the Artist

The central image in this painting is of a freed black man in the uniform of the US Colored Infantry, with broken shackles in his hands and on the ground. In a gesture of Union sympathy, he stands beside a pole on which the US flag is raised, while the flag of South Carolina lies in tatters beneath his feet. Union support is also expressed by the mounted soldier to the left, who waves the Union flag in the air as he drags the first Confederate national flag.

This print differs from similar emancipation-themed prints from the period, in which the black man is typically portrayed as prostrate before a paternalistic white man.

The tropical trees may be South Carolina palmettos, while the ruins may refer to the upheaval of the old order in the South, or the state of the war-ravaged nation in general. Atop the ruins is an eagle devouring a snake, a motif which conveys that good has triumphed over threatening foes. During the Civil War, the eagle assumed its role as a symbol of the nation in Union propaganda, while the serpent represented the Confederacy.