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Collection Reference Number GLC05877
From Archive Folder Documents Relating to 1856 
Title Campaign ribbon on silk: "Old buck is coming"
Date 1856
Document Type Object
Content Description Faded pink silk ribbon with black ink images and text. Begins with an image of a buck (male dear), and the statement "Old Buck is Coming," referring to 1856 presidential candidate James Buchanan. Below the buck, the ribbon depicts blacks with knapsacks and a bear, apparently fleeing westward, with the exclamation "Fremont! Free Niggers! Off for the Rocky Mountains" (Buchanan's opponent, Senator John C. Fremont, argued that the government should prevent the spread of slavery into the new western territories). The next image on the ribbon portrays a pistol, and the exclamation "'National Candidate Carries One Little State!" Finally, includes a depiction of a ship on a dark sea, accompanied by the statement "The Long, Low, Black and Rakish Craft 'Know-Nothing,' will leave Baltimore for Salt River at 12 M., on the Fourth of March, 1857, Commander Millard Fillmore..." Subsequent text is obscured in the fray of ribbon.
Subjects Politics  Government and Civics  Election  President  African American History  Slavery  Westward Expansion  Runaway Slave  Fugitive Slave Act  Know Nothing Party  Humor and Satire  
People Frémont, John Charles (1813-1890)  Buchanan, James (1791-1868)  Fillmore, Millard (1800-1874)  
Theme Government & Politics; Slavery & Abolition; African Americans; The Presidency; Westward Expansion
Sub-collection The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859
Additional Information In 1856, Millard Fillmore was the American, or "Know Nothing" party Presidential candidate. Buchanan won the election.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859