Recollecting Union: “Rebel Flags” and the Epideictic Vision of Washington's Farewell Address

Abstract

In February 1862 numerous celebrations of George Washington's birthday commenced with ceremonial readings of the Farewell Address. With heightened public interest, Harper's Weekly published a flag display in its reporting of the event. This essay explores how the illustration functioned as an epideictic vision to reconstitute the meaning of the Farewell Address within the context of competing Civil War ideologies and disparate strategies of commemoration. Moreover, this study demonstrates how epideictic visions like the Harper's Weekly image work as public pedagogy that aid audiences in understanding the civic virtue relevant to ceremonial repetition.