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Primary sourcePainting1868

The Situation

Harper's Weekly · 1868

An 1868 magazine print showing Grant and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton during the political fight between Congress and President Johnson.

Depicts Grant during the Johnson-Stanton power struggle over Reconstruction, just before he became president.

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Black-and-white engraved political cartoon from Harper's Weekly, 1868. At left, several men stand beside a cannon labeled CONGRESS with a sponge-rammer; a sign reads WAR OFFICE. On right, two men in dark military-style coats walk forward, one holding a sword, the other carrying a rolled paper labeled with a document.
"The Situation," Harper's Weekly, 1868.

About this source

What it is

This is an engraved print published in Harper's Weekly in 1868. It shows Ulysses S. Grant and Edwin Stanton standing near a cannon labeled "Congress," aimed at Lorenzo Thomas and President Andrew Johnson.

Why it matters

The print captures the conflict between Congress and President Johnson over Reconstruction policy, a struggle that involved Stanton's removal as Secretary of War and set the stage for Johnson's impeachment. Grant's appearance in the image shows his place in this tense political moment, just before his own election to the presidency.

Look closer

  • What does the cannon labeled "Congress" suggest about how the artist saw the balance of power at the time?
  • Why might Harper's Weekly have chosen to depict this conflict as a military standoff?
  • What does the cartoon assume its readers already knew about this dispute?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ulysses S Grant on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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