2022-01 Raynors HCA Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/28/2022
Print 10-1/2" x 13-1/4", withdrawn from the British publication, PUNCH, 1861, VG. Titled "The American Difficulty." with the caption, "President Abe. 'What a nice White House this would be, if it were not for the Blacks!'". Here, the London cartoonist shows Lincoln contemplating the inconvenience of the issue of slavery, as he stokes the fire and his house fills with smoke. Among the many reasons Lincoln had to undertake and continue the Civil War, many assumed the two major issues were the preservation of the Union and the end of slavery. Lincoln himself was zealous in his belief that the Union must be preserved, but was more conflicted on the issue of slavery. In his correspondence to Greeley, Lincoln said, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that." For Lincoln, ending slavery was inconsequential to his decision to wage war against the South.
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