The Lost Museum Archive

Jefferson Davis as an Unprotected Female

Jefferson Davis as an Unprotected Female

This cartoon from Harper's Weekly presented a disarmed and thoroughly cowed Jefferson Davis surrounded by mocking Union soldiers. Not only is Davis wearing a dress and bonnet, he carries a hatbox marked "C.S." for Confederate States, suggesting that not only Davis himself but the entire Confederacy was characterized by feminine attributes.

Source: Harper's Weekly, May 27, 1865. American Social History Project.