"To Provide a Great Seal": Interpreting the Wisconsin State Seal as an Example of Antebellum Political Culture

Abstract

Each state seal provides a glimpse into that state’s political culture and values around the time of its design. With an emphasis on easily accessible sources, this article examines Wisconsin’s state seal, designed in 1851. The article places Wisconsin’s seal in the context of all the antebellum state seals to better interpret its symbolism. In so doing it uncovers an intriguing sectional difference between northern and southern seals—an absence of working white men as symbols in nearly all southern seals adopted after 1790. In this context, the Wisconsin seal stands as an example of the free white democracy’s values. The article concludes with a brief discussion of ways these symbols can be used in the classroom and by scholars to examine broader themes, including a comparison to the commemorative state quarters issued at the turn of the millennium.