The freedom of the seas, our inalienable right! – Antique Wall Art
![The freedom of the seas, our inalienable right!, [Philadelphia] : L. Johnson & Co. 606 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, c [1857 or 1858] — antique engraving](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/7b/7b20c878384d-L.webp)
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
Step back in time with The freedom of the seas, our inalienable right!, an antique engraving rich in period detail. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.
Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. A conversation-starting piece for home, office, or as a meaningful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
The freedom of the seas, our inalienable right!
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Its title, "The freedom of the seas, our inalienable right!", states its argument in a single line, which sets it apart from many prints of the period. The wood engraving was made by L. Johnson and Company, a Philadelphia typefounding firm, and its copyright deposit in January 1858 places it just before the Civil War. The principle it invokes dated back to the early republic, when British impressment of American sailors and seizures of neutral cargoes helped lead to the War of 1812. The print is listed as entry 1858-1 in Bernard Reilly's *American Political Prints, 1766-1876*, a useful reference for tracing how such claims were argued in pictures.
| Created / published | [Philadelphia] : L. Johnson & Co. 606 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, c [1857 or 1858] |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print on wove paper: wood engraving with letterpress ; image 34 x 66.9 cm. |
| Genre | Wood engravings 1850-1860. |
| Notes | Title from item. The Philadelphia typefounders L. Johnson and Company produced the woodcut in 1857 or 1858. The Library's impression was deposited for copyright on January 9, 1858. DLC Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1858-1. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,145 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-160988 |
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