Harper's Weekly
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Harper's Weekly (A Journal of Civilization) was an American political magazine based in New York City. It was published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916. It sometimes had long articles on the political intrigues and scandals of the day.
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[edit] History
[edit] Inception
Harper & Brothers publishing was started in 1825 by James, John, Joseph and Fletcher Harper. Following the successful example of the Illustrated London News, Fletcher began publishing Harper’s Monthly in 1850. The publication was more intent on publishing established authors such as Dickens and Thackeray, but was a great enough success to begin publishing the Harper’s Weekly in 1857.
By 1860 the Weekly’s circulation had reached 200,000. Among its recurring features were the political cartoons of Thomas Nast who was recruited in 1862 and would remain with the Weekly for more than 20 years. Nast was a feared caricaturist, considered by some the father of American political cartooning. He was the originator of the use of animals to represent the political parties—the Democrat’s donkey and the Republican’s elephant—as well as the familiar character of Uncle Sam.
[edit] Around the Civil War
So as not to upset its wide readership in the South, Harper’s took a moderate editorial position on the issue of slavery. For this it was called by the more hawkish publications “Harper’s Weakly.” The Weekly supported the Stephen A. Douglas presidential campaign against Abraham Lincoln, but as the American Civil War broke out, Lincoln and the Union received full and loyal support of the publication. Arguably, some of the most important articles and illustrations came from the Weekly’s reporting on the war. It published many renderings in woodcut, by artists such as Alfred Waud, which are now important archives.
[edit] "Presidential maker"
After the war Harper's Weekly became more supportive of the Republican Party, playing an important role in the election of Ulysses Grant in 1868 and 1872. In the 1870s cartoonist Thomas Nast began an aggressive campaign in the journal against the corrupt New York political leader William “Boss” Tweed. Nast turned down a $500,000 bribe to end his attack, and eventually Tweed was arrested in 1876 and convicted of fraud. Nast and the Weekly also played an important part in securing Rutherford B. Hayes’ 1876 presidential election. Later on Hayes remarked that Nast was "the most powerful, single-handed aid [he] had." However, in 1884 Nast supported the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland for president. In doing so, Nast helped Cleveland become the first Democratic president since 1856, and became known as the “presidential maker”.
Illustrations were an important part of the Weekly’s content, and it developed a reputation for employing some of the most renowned illustrators, notably Winslow Homer along with Livingston Hopkins. After 1900, Harper’s Weekly devoted more print to political and social issues, and featured articles by some of the more prominent political figures of the time, such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Free Access for Issues 1861-1865
- HarpWeek – for-fee electronic full-text access and index of Harper's Weekly issues from 1857 to 1912
- Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers – Over 90% of all Harper's Weekly originals (old newspapers) available for purchase - from 1857 to 1912 (Choose the Harper's Weekly Category).
