Below is Adalbert Johann Volck's negative depiction of Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation. It is hard to fathom that, at one time in our history, owning humans was a legitimately debatable issue.

Lincoln's foot is on the Constitution as he signs the proclamation with a pen dipped in the devil's inkstand. Behind Lincoln, a painting on the wall depicts John Brown as a saint next to another painting showing the atrocities that followed a slave insurrection in Santo Domingo. A liquor decanter is visible on the table within arm's reach—an attempt by Volck to slander Lincoln as inebriated or unstable while making monumental national decisions.

Volck was part of the pro-slavery Copperheads movement. One of their main points was an argument frequently used against immigrants today: freeing slaves would threaten the jobs of white workers.