The Civil War in 50 objects

Chains that bind: slave shackles intended for a child, ca. 1800

The human face of slavery: daguerreotype of Caesar, a slave, ca. 1850

Old Kentucky home: Negro life at the South, painting by Eastman Johnson, 1859

For sale to the highest bidder: The slave auction, sculpture by John Rogers, 1859

Weapon of last resort: "John Brown" pike, ca. 1857-1859

John Brown's body: John Brown's blessing, painting by Thomas Satterwhite Noble, 1867

The animal himself: Right hand of Abraham Lincoln, cast by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1886, from 1860 original by Leonard Wells Volk

Secession, New York style: To the people of Louisiana, their executive and representatives greeting, broadside, January 19, 1861

Where the Civil War began: South-western angle of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, S.C., April 15, 1861, photographic print by Alma A. Pelot

"Flagmania": flag, 1861

The palmetto and the snake: Confederate palmetto flag, 1861

To arms!: A great rush to join the 36th Regiment, New York Volunteers, woodcut, ca. 1862

Uniform courage: Zouave uniform, ca. 1861-1863

Divided loyalties: letter from Howard Cushing Wright to his mother, 1861

Blarney from Bull Run?: Return of the 69th (Irish) Regiment, N.Y.S.M. from the seat of war, painting by Louis Lang, 1862-1863

"Reuniting" a shattered family: The Lincoln family in 1861, painting by Francis Bicknell Carpenter, ca. 1865

Distant drums: snare drum, ca. 1860-1865

Thoughts of the future

but where?: Thoughts of the future, painting by Edwin White, 1861

There's something in it: half model of the USS Monitor, 1862

Key to Confederate victory?: cipher key, ca. 1861

Hidden glory: An episode of the war

the cavalry charge of Lt. Henry B. Hidden, painting by Victor Nehlig, 1862

A diarist in action: diary of William Rothert, 1861-1862

Tailor-made souvenirs of battle: military buttons mounted on card, 1860-1864

An early call to recruit black troops: petition to Abraham Lincoln for recruitment of black troops, 1862

If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act: By the president of the United States of America. A proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, 1863

A dentist drills Lincoln: Writing the Emancipation Proclamation, etching by Adalbert Johann Volck, 1863.

Frederick Douglass's call to arms: Men of color, to arms!, broadside by Frederick Douglass, 1863

Suffered severely and behaved well: Emily J. Semmes to Paul Jones Semmes, letter, June 1, 1863

Emancipated by war: Arrival at Chickasaw Bayou of Jefferson Davis' Negroes from his plantation on the Mississippi below Vicksburg, Mississippi, drawing by Frederick B. Schell, ca. 1863

Wallpaper news for cave dwellers: The Daily Citizen, newsprint on wallpaper, 1863

Wheel of misfortune: draft wheel, ca. 1863

Charred survivor of an urban riot: Bible used at colored orphan asylum, ca. 1863

Traveling light: footlocker with belongings, 1860-1890

Learning to read, Dixie style: the first Dixie reader, 1864

An ovation

and a banner

for black troops: presentation address of the ladies of the city of New York to the officers and men of the Twentieth United States Colored Troops, 1864

A modern major general: Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-1885), painting by James Reid Lambdin, 1868

All's fair: entry ticket for the New York Metropolitan Fair, 1864

The faces of war: photograph album presented to Major M.S. Euen by Co. C, P.P., 1860-1869

Strong opinions: entries from the diary of George Templeton Strong, 1864

Prison art: Point Lookout sketches, watercolor drawings, 1864

Tribute from a bad man?: Colored troops before Richmond, engraved silver, 1864-1865

Political dirty tricks: The miscegenation ball, lithograph, 1864

Lincoln's worst mistake?: campaign flag, 1864

Counting votes, Lincoln's way: projection of November 1864 election, Abraham Lincoln, 1864

Publish or perish?: Prison Times, newspaper, 1865

The draft that really ended the war: Terms of surrender, April 9, 1865, Ulysses S. Grant

Bloody good Friday: Letter from Clara Harris to Mary, April 25, 1865

A sprig from Lincoln's bier: framed leaves from Abraham Lincoln's bier, 1865

A helping hand for the wounded veteran: autograph letter from Joe W. Mersereau to William Oland Bourne, 1865

It winds the whole thing up: the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, manuscript, 1865.