Stany Zjednoczone po wojnie secesyjnej w świetle "Tygodnika Ilustrowanego"

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore the image of the United States created in the weekly Tygodnik Ilustrowany in the years 1865-1877. Edited in Warsaw since 1859, Tygodnik Ilustrowany was a magazine of literary, artistic and social character. It represented mainly interests of the gentry, and thus, addressed its contents to wealthy social strata. In the beginning, current issues had not been discussed in the magazine. The situation changed at the beginning of the seventies, when the number of socio-political articles increased. This turn to up-to dateness was forced by the competition of other illustrated magazines. In that period Tygodnik Ilustrowany was one the magazines of the widest circulation in the Russian partition. In the late 1860s the United States was not often described in Polish press. In the next decade the number of articles concerning this country increased considerably. They dealt mainly with American society, economy, philanthropy, Mormons, New York and the Centennial Exhibition. Less attention was paid to political changes taking place in the United States since 1876, when this country celebrated the centenary of the Declaration of Independence. In this period Tygodnik Ilustrowany issued a series of articles by Sygurd Wiśniowski describing the Centennial Exhibition prepared for the occasion.