'The Savior's Entry into Jerusalem' — Palm Sunday as Reconstruction Allegory

Published weeks after Appomattox, this full-page plate pairs a conventional biblical engraving — Jesus riding into Jerusalem through a Gothic arch, crowds waving palm fronds, figures prostrating themselves in the foreground — with an explicitly political caption below: 'We hold out the olive branch to our erring and misguided brethren of the Southern states, and pledge to all of them who are loyal a hearty welcome to all the benefits of our free republic.' The word 'LIBERTY' appears in a medallion at lower left; 'PALM' runs vertically along the top border. The sacred image is consciously recruited to frame Lincoln-era magnanimity toward the defeated Confederacy — framing secessionists as wayward rather than treasonous, urging reconciliation over punishment. The theological analogy positions the Union as Christlike and Reconstruction as a triumphal but merciful entry, not a conquest.