Today, the 112th Congress begins its session. I thought it appropriate we look back towards the Congress most resembling the temperament of our current incoming members — the 36th Congress, which ushered in the American Civil War. (Double-appropriate, as 2011 is also the start of five years’ worth of 150th anniversaries of Civil War dates of interest. I anticipate we will be posting numerous cartoons from that era.)

So to begin our 112th Congress/Civil War coverage - from the December 31st, 1859 debut issue of the Northern weekly humor magazine, Vanity Fair, comes the below prose piece and illustration, Opened with Prayer, by Vanity Fair‘s cartoonist/founder/editor, Henry Louis Stephens.

P.S., for 2011 — or at least until I change my mind — I’m moving my regular weekly postings to Wednesdays.

Doug Wheeler

AmCivilWar HLStephens CongressCartoons