Analyzing The Satirical Cartoon 'This Is A White Man's Government'

On the anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination and the emancipation of slaves in D.C., on April 14, 1876, a memorial of Abraham Lincoln was put on full display. Frederick Douglass, a former slave and advocate of black citizens, gave an arousing address during the celebration. This speech is given 11 years after the assassination of Lincoln and during this time in the U.S. many political issues are arising. For instance, the government ordered all Native Americans onto the reservations on the western side of the United States causing many of them to fight back the government. The presidential election also had its despairing moments when the democratic nomination won the popular vote but then lost in the Electoral and many were still feeling the effects of the Lincoln’s assassination. The monument shows a black kneeling at Lincoln’s feet which Douglass had his issues with. He questioned why the man was not standing as a free man.

In “Colored Rule in a Reconstructed State” by Thomas Nash, there is an obvious difference in how the African American politicians and the Southern white politicians are depicted. The African American politicians are standing, yelling and seem more aggressive. In the description, there are claims that these politicians are calling each other “thieves, liars, rascals, and cowards.” However, the southern white politicians seem to be reluctant to join in the argument as they stand to the side. I believe Nash is trying to portray the African American politicians based on how many Americans thought they would be, which is unprofessional and incompetent. By having the two separate groups of politicians to contrast, Nash if creating a dramatic effect to exhibit his point. Because the cartoon was published in 1874, support for reconstruction had eroded and this cartoon speaks for the many people who had changed their opinions about Reconstruction.

This duality, this mixture of something wonderful and something equally terrible really captures for me the state of the country during the Reconstruction period. A lot of pulling and pushing. The african-americans had been freed but to what purpose? Even when granted the Fifteenth amendment allowing black males the right to vote, they were still disenfranchised through state laws which kept them from voting through legal loopholes and to top it off, none of this did much in the way of women's suffrage. Again, back to the pulling and pushing struggle. Sort of like "two steps forward but three steps back." When thinking of the Reconstruction era one must also remember the violence that lingered on. The formation of the Ku Klux Klan was birthed in that era and from that violence. Such a prolific group full of hate and detestable rhetoric that lingers on to this day. One good example of that violence is given in our text when it describes the events of Hamburg, South Carolina on July 4th, 1876. The violence of one-thousand armed white men obliterating one-hundred african amercan men. I would be remiss not to recall the freedmen bureau, the many charities towards education as well as the government

Radical Republicans offered amendments for the Constitution to the House of Representatives. The cartoon depicts Columbia standing adjacent to the black Union soldier. She gestures towards him, with one hand gingerly placed upon his shoulder as if asking, “What about him?” My claims could be supported by the title of this piece, “Franchise. But not this man?” Columbia is depicted as the representation of the freed blacks, asking about their rights as citizens. In this depiction of Columbia by Nast in which he opted in drawing her with her sword, unlike the accompanying cartoon that comes with this cartoon. In the accompanying cartoon, “Pardon” by Nast, Columbia is depicted sitting with one arm crossed, next to the hilt of her sword, and her other hand is propped against her cheek and face, which holds a more than annoyed expression on her face. In “Pardon” Columbia faces a kneeling mass of ex-confederate men asking for pardon, that party is led by Robert E. Lee. Columbia’s sword is pointed towards the man as a symbol of distrust from the nation towards ex-confederate generals. From this depiction it can be inferred that the people believed they could not trust those that left the United States. By placing these two cartoons adjacent to each other one could infer that Nast and some portion of those viewing this newspaper thought that freed slaves should be able to vote and those in the ex-confederacy have their rights to vote revoked. Many Radical Republicans, including Thaddeus Stevens, encouraged Congress to protect not only the voting rights of blacks but also the protection of the black economics, political and social rights (Harrold

The Confederate Flag is a demoralizing symbol to many African Americans in the United States. To a number of African Americans because they think this flag is a symbol of slavery and the domination whites had over slaves during the time of the civil war. This flag is

Because President Lincoln and the Republicans changed the course of the Civil War by making it a war over the abolition of slavery, the consequences that would emerge after the conclusion of the war would therefore be different than what they had originally believed. Although the war had ended, many of the issues that had existed before the conflict still lingered. To deal with these long-lasting issues, the Republicans passed the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in all of the United States. Thomas Nast’s political cartoon published in Harpers Weekly in 1865 depicted leaning liberty, the symbol of American democracy asking for equality for African American veterans of the Civil War. In the cartoon, the black soldier has lost his leg fighting for the Union, showing the great sacrifices that African-American soldiers had made [G]. Nast’s cartoon revealed that although African-American slaves were emancipated, they remained to be considered as second-class citizens were not well treated after the war and that the South had not

The Confederate flag is the last image in the section; it gets to have the last word. In contrast to the lively football game where the flag is proudly displayed, Faulkner’s dusty, silent grave (and by extension, much of the civil rights movement) seems forgotten and ignored. Though the civil rights movement was powerful and inspired change during its time, it did not generate fear on the same level as the Confederate, white supremacy movement did. For these reasons, Walton makes the decision to end a chapter on rebellion with the image of the Confederate flag, as the cause it symbolizes survived a

“It is a time when one’s spirit is subdued and sad,” wrote Mark Twain in his bitter, nihilistic satire on the post-Reconstruction era of the United States: The Gilded Age. “[T]he past seems a storm-swept desolation…What is the use of struggling, and toiling and worrying anymore?” Such was the mood of the late 1800s; the racism and prejudice that had festered in the pre-Civil War South had not abated, and progress in civil rights was undermined by indifference among Northerners and Southerners alike. The deep sectional divisions from the War had not yet been repaired, and the struggle between justice and unity was bloody and heated. The deadly tug-of-war between the two culminated in a win for unity; Reconstruction ended not with the blessings and consent of freedmen, but with a quiet compromise between apathetic bureaucrats.

Although African-Americans had won the right to vote and theoretically won equality, this was not the case for them in reality. They were still being denied the same freedoms as they had been denied when they were slaves; the most prominent being the right to vote. In the political cartoon “This is a White Man Government,” Thomas Nast (the author) critiques yet exploits the sentiments of the South. The title itself gives away the anti-black attitudes, but the content of the image itself portrays the true feelings and actions actually taken by whites to restrict blacks from the freedoms they earned. In the image, three white men are standing on a black man and the American flag, while the black man is attempting to reach for a ballot box to cast his vote. The white men are clearly hurting the black man through these actions, which emphasizes the fact that they are threatening not only the black’s freedoms (in this case specifically, the freedom to vote), but their safety as well. This makes the argument that blacks were more harmed after their freedoms than during their slavery.

Chapter 23: The "Bloody Shirt" Elects Grant Post-Civil War Reconstruction: Andrew Johnson was impeached and the Democrats/Republicans both nominated new candidates (Democrats - Horatio Seymour and Republicans - Ulysses S. Grant) Election of 1868: Grant was nominated by Republicans despite his lack of political experience (a war general) Due to his popularity in the North he had around 300,000 more popular votes than his opponent (turning point was the 500,000 votes of Blacks given to Grant: Republicans protected the voting rights of the freedmen) 15th amendment: Republicans passed this amendment to secure black voting rights...stated that states cannot prohibit a citizen’s right to vote despite race and color Republicans believed for continued

Those that stand in support of the flag maintain it is not a symbol of racism at all, but rather stands as a declaration of rebellion and the pride they take in being a rebel. They argue that the flag did not represent being pro slavery, but simply the more generic idea of being pro rebellion against government infringement. This is an issue because even if it was about rebellion, what the rebellion was in opposition so (the emancipation of slaves) taints the cause. It is not possible to simply extract the key issue from the cause and maintain the “purity” of the

The American flag not only stands for pride, freedom, and strength but the colors on the flag have a meaning behind them that all Americans should understand. In a description of the flag on a website dedicated solely to the Flag of the United States of America is states "The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice" (US Flag 2005). The flag was not just thrown together to represent the country but also have a true meaning behind them. The stars and stripes on the flag have both an exact meaning but also have the meaning of

First off, let’s start with the most blatantly obvious reason this flags basically stands for slavery and racism. A quote I found to represent this fact is “For him, the flag represented slavery - the main cause of the civil war. Therefore, if we do not condone slavery any

He greets them with a reserved yet cheerful, “Mr. President, Friends, and Fellow Citizens…” (117). He remains respectful of those in authority, while simultaneously conveying to his audience that he, a black man and freed slave, shares in their celebrated citizenship. Douglass, however, does not limit his correlation with the audience there; he then goes so far as to address them as “friends”. This greeting and introduction perfectly prefaces the righteous ridicule that is to come. These men, products of the free town of Rochester, are oblivious to the absurd juxtaposition that is present before

The author mentioned that some citizens are still perturbed by the Confederate flag. While the number is slowly waning, many citizens were a part of the civil rights movement. They watched racist people protest against them using the flag as a symbol of racism, oppression, and hatred. To some, the flag may serve as a permanent reminder that racism is not truly dead in America.