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''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, alongside illustrations. It carried extensive coverage of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
, including many illustrations of events from the war. During its most influential period, it was the forum of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast.


History


Inception

Along with his brothers James, John, and Wesley, Fletcher Harper began the publishing company Harper & Brothers in 1825. Following the successful example of '' The Illustrated London News'', Harper started publishing '' Harper's Magazine'' in 1850. The monthly publication featured established authors such as Charles Dickens and
William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...
, and within several years, demand for the magazine was great enough to sustain a weekly edition.Palmquist & Kailborn 2002, p. 279. In 1857, his company began publishing ''Harper's Weekly'' in New York City. By 1860 the circulation of the ''Weekly'' had reached 200,000. Illustrations were an important part of the ''Weeklys content, and it developed a reputation for using some of the most renowned illustrators of the time, notably Winslow Homer, Granville Perkins, Porte Crayon, and Livingston Hopkins. Among the recurring features were the political cartoons of Thomas Nast, who was recruited in 1862 and worked with the ''Weekly'' for more than 20 years. Nast was a feared caricaturist, and is often called the father of American political cartooning. He was the first to use an elephant as the symbol of the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
. He also drew the legendary character of Santa Claus; his version became strongly associated with the figure, who was popularized as part of Christmas customs in the late nineteenth century.


Civil War coverage

''Harper's Weekly'' was the most widely read journal in the United States throughout the period of 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 Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
prior to the outbreak of the war. Publications that supported abolition referred to it as "Harper's Weakly". The ''Weekly'' had supported the Stephen A. Douglas presidential campaign against
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, but as the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
broke out, it fully supported Lincoln and the Union. A July 1863 article on the escaped slave Gordon included a photograph of his back, severely scarred from whippings; this provided many readers in the North their first visual evidence of the brutality of slavery. The photograph inspired many free blacks in the North to enlist. Some of the most important articles and illustrations of the time were ''Harper's'' reporting on the war. Besides renderings by Homer and Nast, the magazine also published illustrations by
Theodore R. Davis Theodore Russel Davis (1840–1894) was a 19th-century American artist, who made numerous eye-witness drawings of significant military and political events during the American Civil War and its aftermath. Early years As a child, Theodore R. Da ...
, Henry Mosler, and the brothers Alfred and William Waud. In 1863, George William Curtis, one of the founders of the Republican Party, became the political editor of the magazine, and remained in that capacity until his death in 1892. His editorials advocated civil service reform, low
tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...
s, and adherence to the
gold standard A gold standard is a Backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...
.


"President maker"

After the war, ''Harper's Weekly'' more openly supported the Republican Party in its editorial positions, and contributed to the election of Ulysses S. Grant in 1868 and 1872. It supported the Radical Republican position on Reconstruction. In the 1870s, the 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. Tweed was arrested in 1873 and convicted of fraud. Nast and ''Harper's'' 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 ehad". After the election, Nast's role in the magazine diminished considerably. Since the late 1860s, Nast and George W. Curtis had frequently differed on political matters and particularly on the role of cartoons in political discourse. Curtis believed that mockery by caricature should be reserved for Democrats, and did not approve of Nast's cartoons assailing Republicans such as Carl Schurz and Charles Sumner, who opposed policies of the Grant administration. ''Harper's'' publisher Fletcher Harper strongly supported Nast in his disputes with Curtis. In 1877, Harper died, and his nephews, Joseph W. Harper Jr. and John Henry Harper, assumed control of the magazine. They were more sympathetic to Curtis' arguments for rejecting cartoons that contradicted his editorial positions. In 1884, however, Curtis and Nast agreed that they could not support the Republican candidate
James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative ...
, whose association with corruption was anathema to them. Instead they supported the Democratic candidate,
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
. Nast's cartoons helped Cleveland become the first Democrat to be elected president since 1856. In the words of the artist's grandson, Thomas Nast St Hill, "it was generally conceded that Nast's support won Cleveland the small margin by which he was elected. In his last national political campaign, Nast had, in fact, 'made a president. Nast's final contribution to ''Harper's Weekly'' was his Christmas illustration in December 1886. Journalist Henry Watterson said that "in quitting ''Harper's Weekly'', Nast lost his forum: in losing him, ''Harper's Weekly'' lost its political importance." Nast's biographer Fiona Deans Halloran says "the former is true to a certain extent, the latter unlikely. Readers may have missed Nast's cartoons, but ''Harper's Weekly'' remained influential."


Early 1900s

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. ''Harper's'' editor George Harvey was an early supporter of
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of P ...
's candidacy, proposing him for the Presidency at a Lotos Club dinner in 1906. After that dinner, Harvey would make sure that he "emblazoned each issue of ''Harper's Weekly'' with the words 'For President—Woodrow Wilson. ''Harper's Weekly'' published its final issue on May 13, 1916. It was absorbed by ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'', which in turn merged with '' The Outlook'' in 1928.


1970s

In the mid-1970s '' Harper's Magazine'' used the ''Harper's Weekly'' title for a spinoff publication, again published in New York. Published biweekly for most of its run, the revived ''Harper's Weekly'' depended on contributions from readers for much of its content.


Publications

On January 14, 1893, ''Harper's Weekly'' became the first American magazine to publish a Sherlock Holmes story—" The Adventure of the Cardboard Box".Panek 1990
p. 53


See also

* Harper & Brothers


Notes


References

* DeBrava, Valerie (2001). "The Offending Hand of War in ''Harper's Weekly,"'' ''American Periodicals,'' vol. 11, pp. 49-64
In JSTOR
* * Halloran, Fiona Deans (2012). ''Thomas Nast: The Father of Modern Political Cartoons''. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press. . * * * * * * * * Prettyman, Gib (2001). ''"Harper's Weekly'' and the Spectacle of Industrialization," ''American Periodicals,'' vol. 11, pp. 24–28
In JSTOR
*


External links

* Online Books Page
Weekly''
digitized issues, various dates
Virginia Civil War Archive
– online images including those illustrations in ''Harper's Weekly'' during 1861–1865 that relate specifically to the Commonwealth of Virginia and its part in the Civil War.

* Hathi Trust
''Harper's Weekly''
{{Authority control 1857 establishments in New York (state) 1916 disestablishments in New York (state) American Civil War magazines Defunct political magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1857 Magazines disestablished in 1916 Magazines published in New York City New York (state) in the American Civil War Weekly magazines published in the United States