The American Minervan

Tag: Reconstruction Era

  • The Conflicted Albert Pike, and a Wounded Union: Early Years 1830s to 1880s

    The Conflicted Albert Pike, and a Wounded Union: Early Years 1830s to 1880s

    INTRODUCTION: ECLECTIC MASONIC PHILOSOPHER IN CONFLICT Albert Pike’s editorial career exhibits a philosopher highly in conflict with himself, and I hope his inner conflicts alongside his philosophical legacy may provide us the chance for reflection about similar men of our day. People fixate on Albert Pike’s pro-slavery stance (and often exaggerate or distort it) for…

  • Columbia (American Minerva) and the Fasces in Harper’s Weekly “Reconstruction” for Equal Rights (1868)

    Columbia (American Minerva) and the Fasces in Harper’s Weekly “Reconstruction” for Equal Rights (1868)

    EQUAL RIGHTS ADVOCACY “Reconstruction” by German-born American political cartoonist, Thomas Nast illustrates the Southern states being brought back into order with the North under the ancient symbol of collective power, authority and fraternity, the fasces and the nation’s motto, E Pluribus Unum (“Out of Many, One”). The symbolism of Columbia (America) depicted in Thomas Nast’s…