New York Illustrated News – November 11, 1861

In November 1861, Nast’s cartoon on the subject of European funding for the South featured Jeff Davis trying to sell Confederate bonds collateralized by cotton. Nast used Shakespeare’s Henry IV (Part I): “I can call spirits from the vasty deep” said Glendower to Hotspur; “Why so can I, or so can any man, but they will come when you do call for them?” replied Hotspur. That was a problem Davis never solved.