Graphic of part of the Emancipation Proclamation
Rights and POwer: The POlitics of Reconstruction
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Hiram Revels, by Theodor Kaufmann, c. 1870. (Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University)

Hiram Revels, by Theodor Kaufmann, c. 1870. (Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art,
Cornell University)

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Lithograph copies of the Revels portrait by Theodore Kaufman, who had emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1855, sold widely in the North during Reconstruction.

Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass, commenting on the dignified image in the lithograph, noted that African-Americans "so often see ourselves described and painted as monkeys, that we think it a great piece of fortune to find an exception to this general rule."
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he Meaning of Freedom: Black and White Responses to Slavery From Free Labor to Slave Labor Rights and Power: The Politics of Reconstruction The Ending of Reconstruction Epilogue: The Unfinished Revolution Additional Resources Credits for this Exhibit Link to return to Digital History Home Link to return to Reconstruction Home Introduction