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“The Tall Sycamore of the Wabash in His Whirligig of Oratory”
"The Senate gave him full swing, and he handled the British Lion in a masterly way."--Washington News.
This Harper's Weekly cartoon by Thomas Nast presents Senate
firebrand Daniel Voorhees of Indiana whirling the British Lion by its
tail over the issue of Irish-Americans arrested by the British
police. The relations between the United States and Great Britain fluctuated
over the nineteenth century. A low point came during the Civil
War, when British shipbuilders outfitted Confederate warships and the
Union feared the British government would formally recognize the
Confederacy (they did not). Relations began to improve after the
Treaty of Washington (1871) resolved outstanding issues from the war,
but there were still occasional disputes.
One of the most serious controversies arose in the early 1880s over
American support of Irish nationalists. During the Land War
(1879-1882), angry tenant farmers in Ireland boycotted and protested
against their British landlords and government officials. In
reaction, the British Parliament enacted a temporary Coercion Act in
1881, which allowed British agents in Ireland to arrest and detain the
agitators indefinitely without trial (thus suspending the traditional
right of habeas corpus--to be charged with a crime or
released). Under the new law's authority, the British arrested
Charles Stewart Parnell, president of the Irish Land League, and several
of his colleagues.
Some of those arrested claimed (naturalized) American citizenship,
which set off a firestorm of protest in the United States. Many
Irish-Americans contributed their time or money to affiliates of the
Land League or similar Irish-nationalist organizations, and their large
numbers made them an influential force in American politics.
Secretary of State James Blaine demanded release of the American
citizens, but the British refused, fearing such an act would incite
further protests and violence. James Russell Lowell, the U.S.
minister to Great Britain, worked behind the scenes for their release,
even though he was vilified in the Irish-American and Democratic press.
The issue remained deadlocked for several months until William
Gladstone, the British prime minister, decided that it was better to
work with the moderate wing of the Irish nationalists, represented by
Parnell, than to provoke the extremists. On April 2-3, 1882, the
British released Parnell and all of the prisoners except for
three. Irish-Americans and their political spokesmen, however,
were not satisfied. Frederick Frelinhuysen, the new U.S. secretary
of state, criticized the detentions, while Senator Voorhees (pictured in
the cartoon) marshaled his renowned oratorical skills against the
British policy. The scene brings to life the phrase "twisting
the Lion's tail," which refers to an American tweaking the British
government, especially through exaggerated rhetoric
The assassination of high-ranking British officials in Dublin, Ireland,
on May 6, 1882 (the "Phoenix Park murders") led to widespread
condemnation of the violence means used by some Irish
nationalists. In reaction, the British Parliament enacted the
Prevention of Crime Act, which substituted judicial tribunals for jury
trials and gave sweeping powers to British authorities in Ireland.
Secretary of State Frelinghuysen denounced the policy as a violation of
civil liberties. The last of the prisoners were set free when the
Coercion Act expired in October 1882. The stance of American
politicians on the issue of Irish nationalism would continue to be
important through the 1880s, as would British irritation at support
among some Irish-Americans for violence resistance in Ireland. For related cartoons, see the archive for February 28, 1880, "The Herald of Relief from America," and April 28, 1883, "The Balance of Trade with Great Britain Seems to be Still Against Us."
Robert C. Kennedy
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